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Old 05-31-2017, 10:13 PM
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Jeffhs Jeffhs is offline
<----Zenith C845
 
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Location: Fairport Harbor, Ohio (near Lake Erie)
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My Panasonic VCR - 10+ years old and still works like new

The Sharp VCR thread started by VK member TUD1 inspired me to start a thread of my own on Panasonic VCRs. In the '80s I had one with VCR+, but a tape jammed in that machine shortly after I moved here; I had to practically wreck it to get the cassette out. Hated to have that happen, because the tape I lost was of a program I had recorded some three hours earlier. Never saw that show again.

My present Panasonic VCR is about 12 years old, give or take (it has no drive belts; full gear drive, no VCR+), and still works wonderfully. I don't use it much these days, except to watch old VHS tapes I recorded from TV some 25-30+ years ago (I have about 50 or so such tapes in a large rack in my bedroom, along with DVDs). I could use it for time-shifting, since my cable service still (for the time being, anyway) carries analog channels 2 to 100+; I guess I'd better make use of this while I can, before the cable operator does away with the analog ones altogether--and they will, as the company, Time Warner Cable/Spectrum, has already converted most if not all its cable systems to 100-percent digital. I still get most cable channels through the VCR and even on my flat-screen TV (on the latter's "TV" input mode), but I suspect this is just a fluke that could be done away with at any time.

My Panny VCR works very well for its age, as I said. However, one thing which is somewhat annoying is a loud screeching sound it makes when in rewind mode. The machine has done this since it was new, so I should be (and am) used to it by now; I don't rewind tapes in the machine anyway, preferring instead to use an old Radio Shack VHS rewinder I've had for years. Since the VCR has all gear drive, no belts, I am thinking the noise I am hearing is coming directly from those gears. No other VCR I have ever owned (I've had several, all of which were belt-driven) has made this noise, so the noisy gear theory makes sense to me.
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Collecting, restoring and enjoying vintage Zenith radios since 2002

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Old 06-01-2017, 12:12 AM
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TUD1 TUD1 is offline
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I wouldn't recommend rewinding a tape in any newer VCR, since new ones keep the tape wrapped around the drum at all times. The tape moves in the opposite direction of the drum and causes lots of friction. That's why a lot of old Beta decks have severly worn heads. BTW, I didn't start the Sharp VCR thread. Crt89 did.
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Old 06-18-2017, 08:09 PM
Dude111 Dude111 is offline
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Alot of VCRs slam the tape @ full speed also when it reaches the beggining WHICH IS QUITE BAD!!!!!!! (All rewinders from radio shack I have seen do this and its aweful)


Im glad you have a good player Jeff,I hope she keeps doing good for you
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Old 08-11-2017, 11:50 PM
8traxrule 8traxrule is offline
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Oldest VHS I have is a Zenith Hi-Fi from 1987, won it that year in an MTV contest along with 50 music video tapes which I also have. The grand prize winner got that plus MTV did a live show from their house with Howard Jones, I found the winner posted their MTV appearance on YouTube recently. Took it in for a head cleaning in the 90s as I didn't know how to do it myself yet, otherwise it's been running fine for 30 years. I used to record a lot of TV on it in the 80s and early 90s too, but stopped after that when network TV became unwatchable, also didn't watch as many VHS tapes as I used to after getting a laserdisc player.
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Old 08-13-2017, 11:45 PM
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OvenMaster OvenMaster is offline
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Location: Red Sox Nation
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The Panasonic I have in my signature is about 20 years old. After about 8 years of service, it started having trouble automatically recording scheduled programs, so I put it in the basement for another day. Reading up on it a few years later, I found that something called a "mode switch" could get dirty contacts.
I dug up info from the public library and online and found the switch at the rear hiding under a gear. With a can of contact cleaner, I blasted it as best I could and presto: one repaired VCR! For future cleaning ease, I used a Dremel to cut a hole in the rear panel to squirt contact cleaner in again when necessary. It's been running fine being pressed into service at least weekly for at least 7 years now.
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  #6  
Old 08-14-2017, 01:11 AM
centralradio centralradio is offline
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I'm still running a few 1990's Panasonic's and Sharp's here.Second hand from the fleamarket years ago .I think the previous owners never used them since they were not beat up when I got them.I think I payed not more then $10 bucks each of 5 of them at different times that I went to the fleamarket. I wish my 1985 Panasonic PV9600 would last as these are going. I had issues with it since 6 months after owning it new.The 1990's JVC SVHS did not last,The same with my 2 1990's Mitsubishi's one SVHS and one regular and a 1987 NEC which was a basket case of problems since day one.. I have a few 1990's Sony's here which they have their own issues I had to work out of them time after time.The moral of the story here is all the $10 dollar specials are outlasting all of my bought brand new VCRs.What a shame and waste of money at the time.

Last edited by centralradio; 08-14-2017 at 01:15 AM.
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Old 08-14-2017, 10:23 AM
dieseljeep dieseljeep is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by centralradio View Post
I'm still running a few 1990's Panasonic's and Sharp's here.Second hand from the fleamarket years ago .I think the previous owners never used them since they were not beat up when I got them.I think I payed not more then $10 bucks each of 5 of them at different times that I went to the fleamarket. I wish my 1985 Panasonic PV9600 would last as these are going. I had issues with it since 6 months after owning it new.The 1990's JVC SVHS did not last,The same with my 2 1990's Mitsubishi's one SVHS and one regular and a 1987 NEC which was a basket case of problems since day one.. I have a few 1990's Sony's here which they have their own issues I had to work out of them time after time.The moral of the story here is all the $10 dollar specials are outlasting all of my bought brand new VCRs.What a shame and waste of money at the time.
I bought a like new Panasonic-built GE VCR for $3.00 a while back. A mono unit that still unthreads the tape when the stop button is pressed and also rewinds and fast forwards without the tape threaded, which is a good thing.
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Old 08-14-2017, 01:08 PM
centralradio centralradio is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dieseljeep View Post
I bought a like new Panasonic-built GE VCR for $3.00 a while back. A mono unit that still unthreads the tape when the stop button is pressed and also rewinds and fast forwards without the tape threaded, which is a good thing.
Yes.All the running VCRs here are around the head for rewind and FF.So far after all these years I have not had issues of bad heads with the newer tape threading setup.since I never rented videos .Buy used tapes and dont rewind and FF tapes much maybe thats why the heads lasted this long.
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