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Old 06-23-2010, 08:15 PM
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'90's Magnavox BPC VCR braking problem

I bought this for $10 under the pretense that it was working properly. It actually started off OK, until I placed the machine in "FF" and then pressed the "stop" and then the "play" button. The picture was very jumpy and unwatchable for a few seconds. Upon removing the top cover, I noticed a problem. When the machine is placed into FF and then stopped, the tape supply reel does not immediately stop; thus, spilling tape inside the cassette housing. When play is pressed, the picture is distorted and the supply reel does not turn until the take up reel has time to wind the excess tape that spilled out into the tape housing. Attempting to rewind was a near fatal mistake, as the machine locked up and went into protect mode when the rewind cycle was stopped. After playing with it for several minutes, the machine finally agreed to eject the tape. Besides belt replacement, head cleaning, and power supply repairs; I have never been that great on repairing VCR's and never really wanted to be that great. I know this is not a great VCR; but, it's a little better than the junk made over the last few years. If I can fix it cheap enough, I'd like to keep it for a spare. If it's not worth repairing, at least it can be used for an RF modulator and an analog cable tuner. This is a Magnavox VCR and the model number is VRU262AT23 and I have an idea that this unit was actually built by Funai.



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Old 06-23-2010, 08:39 PM
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Yeah, that brings back memories. I worked on a lot of VCR's in the late 80's and 90's, including those Funai models. I first started seeing the VRU262 in '97. I worked for a Mag authorized servicer at the time and looked at 8 units of that model in my 'career' (ha! such as it was...).

I remember brake problems but I don't remember details- it's been over 10 years since I worked on that model. I went back through my notes database to try and jog my memory (and your photos helped too, thanks!). I seem to recall that the arm that extends all the way down the top right side of the deck (from the large cam gear and loading motor all the way down to the hard brake on the supply reel) would bind. Said bind would keep the hard brake from hitting the reel at STOP. But I can't for the life of me remember WHY. The long arm extends up underneath the cam gear. Maybe that's where it needs to be re-lubed...

There's something that holds said arm (with said brake) off the supply reel until the cam gear moves just a fraction when STOP is pressed. That's what makes it act so fast. But there is something about the 'trip' mechanism that won't allow the 'snap' to occur which is supposed to engage the hard brake.

Put a blank cassette in and keep working it. You'll see when the 'snap' is supposed to happen and maybe you can figure out why it doesn't. It could be lube needed under the cam gear. I've pulled many of those gears off- just can't remember.

Sorry I couldn't nail it down better.

Last edited by Blast; 06-23-2010 at 08:43 PM.
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Old 06-27-2010, 09:33 AM
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Blast has it, you just have to watch whats going on, and what its not doing. I have one like it and it has a really really good picture on the slow speed. I had the plastic brake arm on the take up reel break off. I got some music wire and melted it into the old brake arm using the tip of the soldering iron. The thin steel wire kept the "spring" in the plastic part and now its been several months and it works well. But switching from play, to FF, or Rew. I have to let all the clicking moving parts stop fully or the unit jams as tape comes off the reel. I have not seen the cause of the new thing as it only happens once in a while. This machine is worth fixing. Use a crappy tape to discover whats going on. And learn how to trick it on with no tape in it so you can see the stuff move that is normally out of view whan the tape is in it. Shake it upside down on a completely clear table just in case some plastic part is broken. The part will fall out than just figure out where its from.
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Old 06-27-2010, 10:07 AM
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I had a Magnavox VCR like this one in the mid-1990s. It worked quite well the five years or so I had it, but shortly after I moved here in 1999 the heads wore out. The tape drive mechanism was working just fine.
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Old 06-29-2010, 06:59 PM
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Mag's were made by a number of vendors over the years. At first, mostly Panasonic and a little JVC. Then, sometime in the later 90's by Funai. If memory serves I'm not sure I've ever replaced many Funai heads. Certainly more Panasonics and JVC's.

There was a JVC manufactured machine for Mag in the very early 90's that had a strange head. Every other vendor's head- it never mattered if you turned it back and forth while cleaning it. But, it seems if you turned this JVC backwards (as I later found out) the reverse motion spun a lubricant back out of a spiral groove (per instructions and per my memory) and ruined the head. The 2-head version was the VR9020 and the 4-head the VR9040. This first happened to me in the early/mid '90's while cleaning my friend's 9020. It worked fine before I touched it, I gave it a simple cleaning and BOOM no more video. Gosh, was that head expensive... I think I toasted one more before I figured out what was going on. Fortunately, I didn't see too many of those models...
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Old 08-10-2010, 09:27 AM
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I looked at Magnavox's web site yesterday, and found that everything made in the last 10-20 years or so with that name on it is actually made by Funai. In fact, "Magnavox" is now a trademark of Philips Electronics Corporation and is being used under license by Funai.

What a shame to see a once-proud American TV/stereo manufacturer's name on Pacific Rim import electronics that do not last longer than the warranty period, but that's the way of it these days with all of the older brands -- Zenith, Admiral, Emerson, et al., where these brand names are placed on cheaply-made TVs and audio gear without a second thought. I remember the original Magnavox (I have a friend whose parents owned a Magnavox 19" b&w remote TV and a Mag stereo console years ago), and they were excellent sets. The only thing I ever had against Magnavox televisions was that they used PC boards, even in their large, fabulous 3-way entertainment units of the '60s; I have read here that these sets ran extremely hot, which only added to the problem of making the boards extremely brittle, especially around high-power tubes such as the horizontal output. Also, these sets made the electric utility companies rich because of their very high current consumption -- many of them probably drew perhaps 250-300 watts with the stereo on full blast (as was very likely the case in homes with one or more teenagers). If it were possible to operate the TV and the stereo in these consoles simultaneously (I think they were made with a switching arrangement so that such operation would be impossible--you could use either the TV or the stereo, but not both at once), the current draw would increase, of course; I think a console such as this could draw close to 400 watts under these conditions.
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  #7  
Old 08-10-2010, 10:38 PM
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Been a while since I overhauled one of those, but the brake problems are usually caused by worn out slider plate (?) that moves the brake arms etc. that is under the cassette loading assy and is operated by a lever you see to the right by the cam gear and mode motor. Was a pretty common problem. Those mechanisms were common in Magnavox TV-VCR combos that would come in under an extended warranty or just out of warranty, people would pay to fix because of the TV. Replace the old white plastic slider plate with a newer tougher gray plastic upgraded part fixes it.

Last edited by Ed in Tx; 08-10-2010 at 10:41 PM.
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