Let's talk about vintage VCR repair.

[ChrisW6ATV]

I worked on VCRs often in the 1990s, replacing idlers and so on, but none of the "big stuff" such as tape path alignment. A weird problem or two, such as a bad crystal that killed the Hi-Fi sound in a Sony Beta SL-2700, as well. At some point, I will get back into restoring a couple of early Sony Beta machines, and two early RCA VHS ones as well.

Safe and effective VCR head cleaning is the same now as it was in 1979: Get some cellular-foam cleaning swabs (still often sold for head cleaning) and head-cleaner fluid (if still available). With the cover off the VCR, figure out how to rotate the video head drum, and identify the heads on it. Moisten one of the swabs with the fluid, and hold it steady against the drum, then rotate the drum so that the heads go past the swab in both directions a few times. DO NOT move the swab while doing the cleaning of the heads themselves, and DO NOT slide the swab in any direction except the same way that the head drum spins (left and right, with a bit of a diagonal tilt to the whole head assembly) when cleaning the rest of the drum/cylinder where the video tape wraps around it. Also clean the audio, control, and erase heads, and the various tape guides and rollers as well as the pinch roller and capstan.