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  #1  
Old 06-13-2017, 06:53 PM
ZenithDude88 ZenithDude88 is offline
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Early 1980s RCA SelectaVision VHS Player

Hello everyone the other day I was browsing around the local Goodwill and sure enough I saw on the shelf just begging me to buy it, and early 1980s vintage top-loader RCA SelectaVision VHS VCR Model VLT-260 that I ended up buying for about $5 and some change, anyways, I got it home and went to try it out and sure enough it tried to load and play a tape but didn't do anything which I attributed to bad belts because of how old the VCR was (its pushing 30+ years old already and the belts had to of either dry-rotted or turned to goo by now) and when I took the unit apart my fears had been confirmed all 6 belts this unit used had turned to goo over the years.

So I had to bust out the 70% Isopropyl Alcohol and Q-Tips and Cotton Swabs to clean off the old belts off the pulleys and thankfully I had some replacement belts laying around that I was able to use in the VCR (a couple of the belts I had to substitute rubber bands for because I didn't have the right belts for them like the Capstan Drive Pulley which used a large flat belt and one of the loading mechanism pulleys which I didn't have a belt the right size for but I did have a rubberband that was the right size for it when it was doubled over).

Anyways once I replaced the belts the VCR worked fine, but then the only issue I noticed about this VCR is that its front panel VFD display doesn't work anymore and I was wondering if there was any way to fix that easily or what would of caused it to fail, and also I noticed that it seems to be a fairly common issue with this particular model of RCA VCR because I've seen other VCRs just like this (the same exact model) that were listed for sale on fleabay that also had dead VFD displays in the front panel.

Any help and assistance would be welcome, as this is my very first RCA SelectaVision VCR I've ever owned and from what I've read on here the RCA SelecaVision line of Video equipment (like VCRs, Betamaxes, Video Disc Players, etc, have kind of a cult following on here.

Also, the reason why I don't have any pictures posted on here is because you can find several pictures of this particular model of VCR in GIS so that's why I'm not too concerned about posting any pictures of mine on here.

Last edited by ZenithDude88; 06-14-2017 at 11:10 AM.
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Old 06-13-2017, 09:55 PM
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Findm-Keepm Findm-Keepm is offline
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Those Hitachi-made RCA VCRs suffered a failure of the DC-DC converter that drives the VFD.

RCA part number is either 163818/Hitachi# 5262063. There are three electrolytics associated with it that cause repeat failures - they are right there next to the DC-DC converter. When the Converter fails, it eats the IC Protector on the board as well - ICP-N15, IIRC. Get the 163818 kit - they are on eBay occasionally, but definitely ask if the instruction sheet is with it. Makes like simpler.

Hope this helps - those VCRs were the best of the era. One belt kit, one DC-DC converter kit, and one Idler tire, and it was fixed. $11.10 total parts cost (I do remember the RCA price on the belt kit was $5.05...). I repaired my first on the USS Forrestal in late 1989 - I called home from Marseille and had my Dad send all three RCA parts - the kits and idler tire - I had a happy QA Officer after that....
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Old 06-14-2017, 10:48 AM
ZenithDude88 ZenithDude88 is offline
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Originally Posted by Findm-Keepm View Post
Those Hitachi-made RCA VCRs suffered a failure of the DC-DC converter that drives the VFD.

RCA part number is either 163818/Hitachi# 5262063. There are three electrolytics associated with it that cause repeat failures - they are right there next to the DC-DC converter. When the Converter fails, it eats the IC Protector on the board as well - ICP-N15, IIRC. Get the 163818 kit - they are on eBay occasionally, but definitely ask if the instruction sheet is with it. Makes like simpler.

Hope this helps - those VCRs were the best of the era. One belt kit, one DC-DC converter kit, and one Idler tire, and it was fixed. $11.10 total parts cost (I do remember the RCA price on the belt kit was $5.05...). I repaired my first on the USS Forrestal in late 1989 - I called home from Marseille and had my Dad send all three RCA parts - the kits and idler tire - I had a happy QA Officer after that....
Sweet, I'll keep an eye out for that DC-DC Converter kit you were talking about on ebay.
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Old 06-14-2017, 04:40 PM
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Last edited by andy; 11-18-2021 at 05:05 PM.
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Old 06-14-2017, 09:28 PM
ZenithDude88 ZenithDude88 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by andy View Post
About 75% of the time I was able to save the DC-DC converter by removing it and resoldering all the connections on the bottom of the converter (they will be badly oxidized, and difficult to solder). You will also need to replace the nearby caps and the blown IC protector (fuse that looks like a transistor with only 2 pins).
OK so what does the DC-DC Converter look like so I can find it in the VCR when I take my unit apart? Also where might I source the IC Protector? And how many capacitors will I need to replace and are they fairly common values?
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Old 06-15-2017, 02:12 AM
waltchan waltchan is offline
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Originally Posted by Findm-Keepm View Post
Hope this helps - those VCRs were the best of the era.
I disagree, and I'm tired of techs telling me repeatedly Hitachi VCRs were the most-reliable. They're not at all. They liked them only because they made a lot of money from them on service, while customers were never pleased seeing that. They wished they bought a different brand. That's not what reliability means. People could have avoided going through this belt-change procedure and goo-cleaning mess if Hitachi designed a chassis using fewer belts in the first place, along with standard direct-drive capstan motor. Instead, they cut costs in production using multiple pulley motors with more belts in it, along with some of the stupidest Japanese engineers I've seen working for Hitachi. They finally caught that belt problems too late in 1987, and immediately changed the chassis to one-belt starting in 1988, but it still had multiple common problems. Hitachi didn't actually build a really reliable VCR until after 1993 or so until 2000 with the Hi-Fi models, while all the mono models were made by Funai.

Last edited by waltchan; 06-15-2017 at 02:32 AM.
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Old 06-15-2017, 05:17 AM
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Originally Posted by waltchan View Post
I disagree, and I'm tired of techs telling me repeatedly Hitachi VCRs were the most-reliable. They're not at all. They liked them only because they made a lot of money from them on service, while customers were never pleased seeing that. They wished they bought a different brand. That's not what reliability means. People could have avoided going through this belt-change procedure and goo-cleaning mess if Hitachi designed a chassis using fewer belts in the first place, along with standard direct-drive capstan motor. Instead, they cut costs in production using multiple pulley motors with more belts in it, along with some of the stupidest Japanese engineers I've seen working for Hitachi. They finally caught that belt problems too late in 1987, and immediately changed the chassis to one-belt starting in 1988, but it still had multiple common problems. Hitachi didn't actually build a really reliable VCR until after 1993 or so until 2000 with the Hi-Fi models, while all the mono models were made by Funai.
Evolution/progress changed the deck to the one-belter. JVC and Toshiba tried the direct drive solution first, but they were noisy and got noisier as they wore out.

I remember only Sanyo/Fisher units with belts that would goo up, save for the older-than-dirt top loaders stored in closet for 25+ years. I've got one of my own, a 5-hour project for sure.

RCA made a huge wrong turn though - we serviced far more of the newer RCAs than the old Hitachi RCAs, once the belts were replaced (after 4 years, typically....) I was recently given an RCA that I serviced in 1990 - still works! Nothing but the belt kit and idler have ever been replaced.

Later RCA VR-XXX VCRs were very famous for the bad power supply diodes (replaced them with 1N4004's per the SPS that RCA issued) and later when they went to the Panasonic units, the whole switching supply module would go. As you may know, RCA preferred techs replace the whole module and avoid the cap , transistor, optocoupler and ICP kit solution. I once knew the whole RCA part number matrix for those VES/VESP switchers. There were 9 different Panasonic made supplies in all - RCA stocked 5 of them. I still have two NOS/NIB RCA units. They were strictly throw-away from Panasonic's view. We serviced them with the kits initially, but once we got an ESR meter, caps and the opto generally fixed them.

The worst to best, IMHO:

- Funai anything (NAP used their stuff, and we saw TONs) TV-VCR combos of any ilk - Panasonic Quasar doesn't escape this either..
- JVC/Zenith "Sun Gear" decks - Delrin gears that ate themselves if you looked at them wrong.
- Sharp decks with the drop-the-whole-timing-gear setup to replace the idler or tire. Sharp's replacement philosophy was replace the whole deck in an exchange for $39/dealer net.
- Early Panasonic/RCA piano key units with their 8/9-belt deck. Hour or so to replace the belts, and hunt for any problems you may have induced in moving the beast around. Good once fixed, but let the power go out....
- Sanyo Beta (early, with the Sony VP deck and the steel studs that would break.)
- The later Toshiba units with the bad 78XX regulators, buried on a corner of the main board.
- Late Sony Beta and Beta-II decks - the loading timing was a pain.
- Panasonic/RCA/NAP '88-91 VES-###### switching power supply units that had the boards that would overheat. Obviously not made for the long haul. Sure, one belt, but the tape carriage was fragile, and the switching power supplies were crap.
- Late Sony SLV-N units. Cheap deck (Orion or Funai?) - we saw but a few, but what a cheapie. Other SLV-letter prefixed units were generally good.
- Samsungs - never the same problem twice. Memorex/Radio Shack units were the same deck, and timing switches, head-switching and bad heads plagued these.
- Sanyo/Fisher "FVH" units - belts, idlers, and the tuning voltage resistor that was buried in the unit.
- RCA/Hitachi VKT/VLT decks - replace the usual suspects, and you never saw them again, save for bad or dirty heads.
- Late Hitachi units - I still have the owners manual for the one I bought.
- Sony SLV 6XX and 7XX series 4-head units. Mostly saw only dirty heads, although I had one with the oddest color problems. A CX-series chip replace (Sony upgraded it) and it was fixed. We saw a few with customer-induced problems such as broken drop-down doors, or the jog wheel broken off. The Navy Exchange, Circuit City and Sears here sold thousands of these at discounts, and we rarely saw them. They are now my daily driver, albeit only for transcribing to DVD....

We saw a lot more, and I'm leaving out some for sure. My brother serviced far more than I ever did. Heck, we even serviced a Technics Audio deck that used a VCR tape - remember those?

When dad closed up shop after 30+ years, he had a VCR junkyard of units that was telling of the reliability.....50% or more were Sharp/Samsung/JVC and Sanyo stuff. Surprisingly, we got $1/pound at the scrap metal place for VCRs if the cover was intact.

YMMV/all opinions highly respected - we all served different markets and clientèle.

Anyone that serviced VCRs in the golden years is gold to me - many shops avoided them altogether.....
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Last edited by Findm-Keepm; 06-15-2017 at 05:28 AM.
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Old 06-15-2017, 09:06 AM
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One thing to consider is that some decks may have been good enough to not make it in to repair shops....As the throw away culture was beginning to set in in the 80's I would not be surprised if some models were good enough to last 8-20 years at which point the average owner might be more prone to can it and maybe get a new one.

A repair perspective shows which have low failure rates and are easy to fix, but there may have been some models that never needed repair...
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Old 06-15-2017, 10:13 AM
andy andy is offline
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Originally Posted by ZenithDude88 View Post
OK so what does the DC-DC Converter look like so I can find it in the VCR when I take my unit apart? Also where might I source the IC Protector? And how many capacitors will I need to replace and are they fairly common values?
It's a rectangular metal box on the board behind the display. Replace all the electrolytics near it. The IC protector is a common part that should still be available from parts suppliers. It's just a fast acting fuse.

I'm not completely sure if this is what you need, but it looks like it probably is (I don't see the IC protector in there).

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-HITACHI-...-/141802554517

The main problem with these VCRs were the poor quality belts they used. Better rubber doesn't turn to goo like that. I didn't care for the belt driven capstan because it only allowed for 3x visual search speed instead of the normal 7x. This is probably one of the last top loading VCRs made. Most RCA/Hitachi VCRs had been front loading for a few years by the time the L line was made.

Last edited by andy; 06-15-2017 at 10:19 AM.
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Old 06-15-2017, 12:22 PM
waltchan waltchan is offline
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I didn't care for the belt driven capstan because it only allowed for 3x visual search speed instead of the normal 7x.
Some of the old Hitachis I've seen had the optional direct-drive capstan motor with no belt installed, along with its individual idler motor. They were found in 5-head Hi-FI and 7-head Hi-Fi models. So, a few people ended up dealing with 4 replacement belts instead.
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Old 06-15-2017, 12:32 PM
waltchan waltchan is offline
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Originally Posted by Findm-Keepm View Post
Late Sony SLV-N units. Cheap deck (Orion or Funai?) - we saw but a few, but what a cheapie. Other SLV-letter prefixed units were generally good.
The last and final Sony VCRs were made by Samsung in DVD/VCR combos.
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Old 06-15-2017, 01:23 PM
ZenithDude88 ZenithDude88 is offline
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Originally Posted by andy View Post
It's a rectangular metal box on the board behind the display. Replace all the electrolytics near it. The IC protector is a common part that should still be available from parts suppliers. It's just a fast acting fuse.

I'm not completely sure if this is what you need, but it looks like it probably is (I don't see the IC protector in there).

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-HITACHI-...-/141802554517

The main problem with these VCRs were the poor quality belts they used. Better rubber doesn't turn to goo like that. I didn't care for the belt driven capstan because it only allowed for 3x visual search speed instead of the normal 7x. This is probably one of the last top loading VCRs made. Most RCA/Hitachi VCRs had been front loading for a few years by the time the L line was made.
Alright thanks, that will be a help. How hard is it to take this part out and put it back in? I'm wondering because I tried replacing a Convergence STK chip in an old Rear-Projection TV once and that was a pain in the butt, ended up ruining the circuit traces on the board because the soldering iron slipped several times when I was trying to remove the old STK Chip from the board which I had to do it one at a time.

Speaking of STK Chips I noticed that this VCR uses an STK chip for the power supply, not sure if its for a voltage regulator or what, but that was the first time I had seen an STK Chip in that position before on a VCR.

I believe this is a 2-Head VCR which might explain why they used so many belts, but I'm not sure.
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Old 06-15-2017, 03:28 PM
waltchan waltchan is offline
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I believe this is a 2-Head VCR which might explain why they used so many belts, but I'm not sure.
The number of belts were determined who's the manufacturer of the VCR, not the number of heads. 1985 Panasonic 2-head VCR only used 2 belts. That's all.
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Old 06-15-2017, 03:30 PM
waltchan waltchan is offline
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- Sharp decks with the drop-the-whole-timing-gear setup to replace the idler or tire. Sharp's replacement philosophy was replace the whole deck in an exchange for $39/dealer net.
The owner of Studio Sound Electronics, the largest VCR belt kits supplier, would love to know which year and chassis from the Sharp VCR decks you're referring? I have regular contacts with him daily for the last 17 years. He claims Sharp was one of his more-reliable VCR brands.
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Old 06-15-2017, 08:35 PM
ZenithDude88 ZenithDude88 is offline
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The number of belts were determined who's the manufacturer of the VCR, not the number of heads. 1985 Panasonic 2-head VCR only used 2 belts. That's all.
Yes, but someone else on here mentioned that the more elaborate 4,5 and 7 head VCRs needed less belts because of the fact that the visual search feature needed more stability for clearer and faster visual searches than a belt drive for that particular feature didn't provide but direct drive did, and a 2-head VCR which lacks the visual scan feature wouldn't necessarily need direct drive for the rewind and fast forward because it doesn't utilize the visual search capability hence why a 2-head VCR might have more belts than a 4 or a 6 head VCR would.

I know for a fact that my parents first VCR a Goldstar made Zenith 2-Head Mono VCR from 1990 had about 6 belts in it but then the JVC Sourced Zenith VCRs from the 1980s (which all of them were 4-head units even the lower end mono units) had only 2 belts and they were for the loading mechanisms, the rest of the unit was direct drive (the capstans, the idler tires, the video drum, etc.) on all of the JVC made Zenith VCRs from the 1980s, and those VCRs were actually quite nice and quite reliable units because they were 90% direct drive (the other 10% was belt driven but those parts weren't super critical parts that needed to be direct drive).
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