Servicing a Canon VR-HF600
 

The VCR in the den died today - it's a Philips VR660 from 2000. It acts like it isn't recognizing the tape after it loads. Well, c'est la vie, I was told it was one of those machines that NAP didn't even offer parts or service literature on.

So I dug out the Canon VR-HF600, which has been in storage since I bought it a few years ago. I got it to play a tape, but it seems like the grease is tacky or dried up and hanging up some of the mechanism, especially the one that loads the tape - I have to turn the motor by hand to fully eject a cassette.

Now this is quite a fundamental machine. I have never done anything with a VCR beyond cleaning the tape path & heads or changing a very accessible belt or two.

I need some guidance on what to lubricate, what to watch out for, etc. I would like to change the belts since this is going into regular service again - Studio Sound lists a kit that rates "uber hard" on their difficulty scale :worried:

Also I'm interested in a service manual if anyone has one for sale or to lend.

Ryan

Here's a pic of the Canon next to the Philips - the Canon has a bonafide power transformer in it, something I don't think I've ever seen in a VCR!

That Canon looks very similar to the Panasonic D-deck, not quite sure on 1 or 2 bits with it, like the mode motor. Great decks, run forever virtually.
The only tricky bits in these is pulling it apart around the idler to replace the tyre that drives the idler that flops back and forth. Nothing really tricky, just a lot of disassembly and reassembly in the correct order. A sketchpad and pencil as well as a digital camera on macro will help you put it back together.
A great resource for repair of decks is http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/vcrfaq.htm
Also there are 1 or 2 things on google books.
One other thing you may want to do is replace the electrolytic capacitors in the power supply. At least on the 240V models this solves some tuner issues and maybe some video playback issues. There aren't many to do, and no big pricy ones so it is a cheap operation.
The Philips might actually be salvageable. You may just need to find the equivalent JVC model that it is based on. I can give an Aussie model (HRJ-655) based on what i can make out in the picture, but this may not be helpful. They are generally very reliable machines and quite mechanically simple.
Good luck
Tony

That's a linear-power transformer. In fact, all VCRs made from 1976 to 1990 (except Panasonic PV models after 1984) had them.

Check and replace all belts. Studio Sound Electronics sells a kit for this:

http://www.studiosoundelectronics.com/mbk-121.htm

You will need MBK-121-CB and MBK-121.

That's for replacing the drive tire only (hidden behind the main tire). It's a pain to replace, actually. Otherwise, everything else is quite easy.

Good luck.

Yes they did. I worked on those when they were still in warranty. Like Tony75 mentioned, it's a JVC-built machine and was serviceable.

What does it do exactly? Takes the tape and won't do anything else? If so, it might be in child-lock mode. I had a few JVCs come in like that, had inadvertently been locked. I recall that holding down the Power button on the remote for 4 or 5 seconds takes it out of Child Lock.

It loads the tape, then plays it at a faster than normal speed, like its searching for video. After about ten seconds, it just stops and shuts itself off with the tape still threaded in.

And thanks for the advice on the Canon - I will be ordering a kit this week.

Not good. Likely one of the reel sensors has failed.

I'm going to try cleaning them and see what happens.

What it sounds like it's doing is the tape slack take-up routine, it has to sense the supply reel turn a bit after load to sense no slack condition, but never senses the supply reel turns, so it just shuts down.

The sensors I am talking about (PC3001, 3002) are soldered to the main board, plastic, stick up, and have a phototransistor and LED arrangement that gets interrupted when the reels turn. Part number is GP3S123 (I own a JVC with the same mechanism so I have some service info.)

Tape still threaded means the idler tire has a crack or a slippage. Check it.

That would be the case for the Canon which would have an idler tyre but not the Philips/JVC unit as mentioned. They have a gear and felt clutch system.
Just replaced the idler tyre on one of my old D-deck National (Panasonic) units after a failure to record on Wednesday night, took all of 4 minutes, most of which was spent looking for the little split washer that flew away:sigh:

Yep. JVC = gear drive.

I replaced all the rubber in the Canon this afternoon, with the exception of the tire that drives the idler gear. I started taking stuff apart and became very reluctant to proceed any further - the tire looked and felt okay, so I left well enough alone. She seems to work fine now, just have to thoroughly clean the head. The Philips has gone to the great round file in the sky - didn't think replacing the reel sensors was a cost effective option, especially since the machine has been heavily used.

Thanks again for all you advice guys :)

Too bad. A $6 part and 30 min of time to fix it...

Well, it came down to picking my battles. From what I was able to find, two sensors plus shipping was over $20 (no local supply house here.) It had some other minor problems with the remote and the head was still fair but the picture quality definitely wasn't what it was a few years ago. The Philips was well-used for eleven years and I have no complaints, but I thought it wiser to invest my money bringing the Canon and my top-loader Quasar up to snuff.