Remote control can't be opened

Jean Paul said :
Can recommend it to everyone to sit down with your beloved (certainly parents/elderly) and just let the camcorder record average chit chat for let's say 30 minutes. This a few times over a few years.


I prefer Chinese torture...🤣
 
I still have a VCR with a rotary control on the remote like this. It acts as a speed control, so from play going clockwise goes through ever faster modes of fast forward . Anticlockwise is rewind. You may find it works from pause as well and will step forward or back frame by frame. Quite handy but its a while since I used it!
 
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Hello
Update: The CR is working fine, but the VCR still won't play video, only audio... 🙁
The video is "rainy," and when I adjust the tracking, I see changes but the image doesn't return. It's as if it's missing "travel." I really don't know how that works; maybe I messed it up trying to adjust it beforehand...
I'll see if I can get a technician to look at it.
Thanks everyone.
Rolo
 
I still have a VCR with a rotary control on the remote like this. It acts as a speed control, so from play going clockwise goes through ever faster modes of fast forward . Anticlockwise is rewind. You may find it works from pause as well and will step forward or back frame by frame. Quite handy but its a while since I used it!
Thanks for the info! Interesting feature! It's a shame it looks like I won't be able to watch the tapes again. I just spoke to the technician I always used, and not only does he tell me he no longer works with these devices, but it's also going to be very difficult to find another one; it's no longer profitable, there are no spare parts, etc. 😡
 
You may find forums out there that are dedicated to restoring VCRs, worth a few searches at least. If it's anything like the situation with cd players, certain parts like read/record heads or drive motors may well have been used in several models, so the pool of spares could be larger than you think. Good luck!
 
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Try cleaning the heads, they need iso alcohol, and they protrude slightly from the drum, use a spray or micro fiber cloth, never cotton.
Sray from above into the holes in the drum, that will blow out the dirt away from the drum.
And do digitize the tapes, if the recordings are of relatives, or your wedding album, or similar.

I had a tech sitting on a friend's Panasonic L-15 (IIRC) VCR for 5 years waiting for a pulled IC, but the head (sometimes the coils used in the drums are available) is not so difficult to get.
And do get spare rubber parts, they are nearly impossible to get as well.
Also, the SMPS capacitors on some Panasonic VCRs are known to grow weak and damage the coils, very difficult then to rebuild.