I HATE Funai TV/VCR combinations!
 

Today, someone brought me a 2006 Magnavox branded Funai-built TV/VCR/DVD combination with a torn up VCR mechanism. These units are designed to shut off when the VCR mechanism screws up. They will power on for a few seconds and then shut off. On the one I'm working on, I pulled the mechanism out and I have tried jumping terminals to ground, as well as jumping terminals together and nothing I do will force the chassis to stay powered up. Surely, there's a way to make it stay on; but, I can't find it.

I swear, I think they made them like this on purpose so if the VCR mechanism goes bad; then, the owner loses the TV and therefore can get no use from the unit.

So, does anyone know how to force this thing to stay on before I lose my temper on it?

As someone who HAS lost their temper on a few, and flung them in the dumpster as hard as I could, I don't have a "fix" answer for you. However.. I did have one a little older that if I left a tape in it, the TV portion would stay on.

Join my I hate Funai club. I refused to work on them. Anyhows
be sure the deck is in "park" & the basket is in the empty state.
You can do it manually by turning the load belt. IIRC its a small
belt on one side that was prone to break. Kinda hard to
explain but you basicly have to get the mech. into its no
cassette pos. There was also something else that was common,
end sensors ???
Glad its you and not me.

73 Zeno:smoke:

Perhaps some electrical tape over the little tape sensor stalk, which is roughly between the two reel hubs?

If I remember correctly, this will work. I remember also taking a VHS tape apart and removing the tape from the reels and using the empty case to "fool" it into allowing the TV to stay powered up.

I was an authorized service center for Funai back in the 90's, and (at that time), they were pretty much garbage.

And, they only got worse by 2006.

Perhaps losing your temper on it would be the best use for one of these, and more fun than trying to fix it.

Hehehehehe...And I have a GREAT "Temper-Losing Control Device"...A fully automatic Uzi...Its AMAZING how much better you feel after unloading several clips of 9 MikeMike at an unrepentant cranky BPC/POS TV, BoomBox, what have you...Or Roof-Testing the Funai into a empty dumpster...

You cound have sent'em all to me I made lots of $$ fixing those sets in and out of warranty, or under service contract. Some people got their moneysworth out of those extended service contracts! We were a Funai-Symphonic and Philips-Magnavox authorized service center. Had those suckers mastered. I'm still trying to remember how to get one to stay powered on, seems like just pulling out the mechanism and making sure the rotary mode encoder switch on the main board is in the proper position with the ^ alignment marking lined up properly to the Eject position. But it's been 5-6 years since I worked on any.

Ed
I feel your pain.
I was the jig man & dog man so didnt have to deal with VCR's.
Mechanics were not fun for me so I stuck with TV & kept an eye on
what was going on. when the flats came out I worked on a few
and it wasnt fun so I went part time & did whatever CRT's
were left. Shop now closed abt 3 yrs.

73 Zeno:smoke:

The small rotary switch under the transport cam gear gets oxidized and the unit thinks it needs to eject the tape even tho it is already out. Usually they make a loud clicking noise as the worm gear slips on the drive gear. It will eventually break the drive gear or loader gear. Cleaning that switch usually fixes that problem. On some later ones the tension arm won't move properly due to a broken pin on it's lever underneath. These can be hateful as the later ones had no plugs on the transport. The wire harness' were solded on both ends making it a time consuming repair to remove the transport. I've got a few customers that love the 13 inch versions. I've "retired" a few that were too broken up. It amazes me how they can get any transport stability as it is nealy all plastic. Once running, the tape path is pretty tight from tape to tape.
And before I forget, no take up is usually the clutch has fallen apart. Put it back together, straighten any broken levers.

Roof-Testing; Gracie??

hey hey hey now. by damn your 100% right those are a bonified piece of crap. i never fixed many of those. steve

I tried playing around with the mode switch and it still won't stay on. I'll play with it a little while longer before I give up on it. If the owner gives it to me, I'll have fun destroying it. Actually, a friend has a 13" Funai TV/VCR combo that he thinks needs a new remote sensor; so, I'll make sure to save the one out of this set before destroying it.

Yeah...Time-honored way of testing/disposing of BPC/POS electronics, or the fraternity next door's furniture...You haul it up on the roof, & then toss it over the side...The bigger the loud, greasy BANG the offending item in question makes, the better the beer-addled participants like it...

...

I've tried everything, without luck. I'm waiting for the moment when the owner gives me permission to junk hunk of garbage and then I'll have to come up with a fitting way to "end of the line" it! I can honestly say that these are my most hated TV out of any that I've worked on!

^ Oh man, I hope to see a video of this.

If you know any one with one of those gigantic catapults that goes to those pumpkin throwing competitions then convincing them to use it to throw that set half a mile might be a fun way to end it.

Trebouchet !!! (grin)

Kazuentheit! :D

...

I hate those machines. Back when I was willing to work on these, I usually would clean the mode switch, and if there was anything still wrong I would just use zip ties to lock the mechanism in the stop-eject position and hope the TV would still work. And those end sensors are a royal PITA!! I have had to work on the machines almost in the dark to keep stray light from tripping the sensors.

On those later ones that the deck ribbon cable was soldered to the main board, I could still separate the board from the deck enough to slip in a new take-up clutch and mode switch. The earlier ones with the sensor LED that would fail, man I must have fixed hundreds of those. And the bad clutches that would leave tape hanging out upon eject. Good stuff!

The TV section seemed pretty reliable though. I recall a lot came in with the picture vertically stretched and had to use a modified remote to access the adjustments.

Just remembered! The LED down under the prism opens and shuts the set down also. Remove the prism and use a cell phone camera to look at the LED. It can see the infrared. If the diode is dim or out, use one from an old remote.
Cell phone cameras work to test remotes also!
If all the info here now doesn't repair it, tell it "If you don't work on the bench, work on the floor! Pitch it to the floor!!

And if you need some inspiration along those lines, watch this video -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAYL5H46QnQ

Magnapop!
 

Best junk TV destruction video I have see thus far:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vv7MMkrTJOw

Saw it in the related videos section while checking out a Magnavox Touch-Tune TV video. The action starts at 0:29.

Well, it's now mine. I'm going to salvage any parts off the chassis that I may have a need for down the road and the rest will meet it's end.

Check out this video, along with other creative videos, where he EOL's BPC TV's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8B8K9kE5Q0

It's unfortunate that perfectly working TV's have to meet this fate; but, I was talking to him once about this and he told me that in LA, NOBODY wants CRT TV's and that on any given day, he can take a 20 minute drive and come home with several CRT TV's; so, might as well have some fun with them. He found it hard to believe that I was able to sell any CRT TV in my part of the country; but, I now think the "LA effect" has made it's way to the deep south.

Currently, I have a 2003 19" Orion that someone gave me and I repaired it by replacing the main filter cap (out of a junk chassis, of course) and rejuvenating it's weak CRT (it was still watchable; but, I wanted it to look it's best). I've been trying to sell it with zero interest; so, if it doesn't go away pretty quick, I may be having some fun with it (along with the '93 RCA console and two 13" TV's that no one seems to want). Today, my criteria for fixing used BPC/SPC TV's is that the TV has to be free and it has to be something that I can fix in 20 minutes, or less, out of my junk stash. The only ones I might spend a little money on are Sony's and TV's with built-in DTV tuners.

Concerning EOL, I have a 19" Funai/Emerson LCD with a broken panel that I'm going to destroy and post the video to youtube. I haven't got all the small details worked out yet; but, it should be interesting. Since I have a lot of neighbors close to me, I'm sort of limited on how creative I can get without getting too much attention.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vv7MMkrTJOw

He's lucky the implosion blew out the torch, or that tarp would have caught fire when the torch fell over

Shouldn't folks down your way be used to random explosions? No offense intended, I got the "Eh" recently and just laughed it off. ;)

That would have been even funnier to me.

Funai was at the top before in 1980s...
 

But during the 1980s, Funai once was at the top for reliability. I regularly service and recondition vintage 1980s VCR, and I found Funai/Symphonic VCRs one of the most-reliable out there. Funai was rated fifth (#5) most-reliable 1980s Japanese electronic manufacturer after Panasonic (#1), Toshiba (#2), Sanyo (#3), and JVC (#4), according to Consumer Reports. Funai did better than Mitsubishi (#6), Sony (#7), Sharp (#8), Hitachi (#9), NEC (#10), Orion/Emerson (#11), and Fisher (#12).

Well, I didn't do anything spectacular with the Funai. I simply removed what I wanted from the chassis, busted the exhaust tip off the CRT, replaced the back cover, and the garbage truck hauled it off this morning.

I do have a working 19" BPC Orion from 2003 that I may try to do something spectacular with. It's a TV that a lady gave me and I quickly fixed it out of my junk; but, despite me advertising the hell out of it, no one thinks it's worth $20. It's too new for my collection and if it isn't worth $20; then, I'd just as soon have some fun with it. Right now, I'm debating on rather to drop it from the roof of my shop with it turned on or throwing it in a tub of water with it turned on. Then, I'll smash the remains into pieces, take a picture of the flattened pile, and post an ad on CL and on that local facebook classified page that reads something like, "FOR SALE: 19" Orion color flatscreen TV for $75. This was one of thoes embarrassing black box TV's that everyone thinks they're too good to own and since it wasn't worth the $20 I was previously asking; I converted it to something flatter and I now hope it's flat enough for y'all." I'll probably get kicked off the FB page; but, who cares. It's not doing me any good in the first place.

So, what's your suggestion? throw it off the roof or submerge it? Should I have it playing Jerry Springer or Maury Povich at the time of it's death.

TREBUCHET...Sling that sucker to the yon side of the field...Mbwahahahahahaha..

Hooray for my '89 Panny console! :banana:

Might I suggest a cheap Elvis impersonation? By that I mean shooting the screen out of it with Robert Goulet or Mel Torme on there. You have some really good ideas though, I really like the fakebook gag idea.

There is an RCA BPC down the street from me right now, or there was earlier today at least, and for some time before that. It was sitting by a dumpster with its power cord hacked off. TVs aren't accepted for trash pick up around here. Heck, they're not even accepted by thrift shops. If I had a blowtorch and a video camera with a tripod I would sneak down there in the middle of the night and have some fun with it. Then I would grab the tripod and camera and run like crazy.

Down here, they don't give a shit WHAT you throw away, long as its not medical waste. But the guy who runs the dump I usually frequent stays in his little shed jerking off to porn in the A/C..I took a dud 12LP4 out there, tossed it in the dumpster, & turned it on & heard a VERY satisfying CRASH/KA-WHOOM ! ! when it died..

set it on fire, while it's playing some idiot reality tv show. Then post to you tube

I was recently given a 13" Funai/Magnavox TV/VCR combo from '99 and the TV works; however, the VCR misbehaves. It will accept a tape, act like it wants to play the tape, then ejects the tape with the actual tape hanging out of the cartridge. I've been trying to sell it as a TV-only unit for $15 with no takers. I'm debating on rather I want to attempt repair of the VCR or just let it go. I doubt it would bring much more $, if any more $, with the VCR working.

I think the frustration of trying to fix it would outweigh any benefit, unless you just like doing it for fun.

If it was still an era when one of these would bring $75 on the used market, I'd be more interested in going for it; and, yes, I've actually sold these for $75 and I generally didn't have a hard time getting rid of them at that price. Speaking of $75, I was looking on CL the other day and some jackass had basically the same unit with the same problem and he was asking $100 for it. I'd like to think that his finger held down the zero key too long; but, given what's on CL these days, I doubt it.