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  #1  
Old 05-04-2012, 01:46 AM
waltchan waltchan is offline
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1980s VHS VCR 15-year median reliability data (1978-1993)...

Based on nearly 2,500,000 responses total to Consumer Reports' 1983 to 1993 Annual Questionnaires. Readers were asked about any repairs to VCRs bought new between 1978 and 1993. All are VHS format. Data have been standardized to eliminate differences among brands due solely to age and how much the VCRs were used.

FEWER-REPAIRS
<<<<<
  • 01 -- Panasonic/Quasar/Magnavox/Canon/General Electric/JCPenny/Philco/RCA/Sylvania (most-reliable)
  • 02 -- Toshiba/RCA/General Electric/ProScan/Vector Research
  • 03 -- Funai/Shintom/Symphonic/Multitech/Realistic/Sylvania/TEAC/Teknika/Toshiba/XR-1000
  • 04 -- JVC/Zenith/Magnavox/Kenwood/Tatung
  • 05 -- Sanyo/Sears/Fisher, after 1988
  • 06 -- Mitsubishi/MGA/Emerson/Video Concepts
  • 07 -- Orion/Emerson/Broksonic/Sansui/TMK
  • 08 -- Akai/Citizen *
  • 09 -- Sharp/Montgomery Ward/Realistic/Signature 2000/Admiral
  • 10 -- Samsung/RCA/Toshiba/General Electric/ProScan
  • 11 -- NEC/Harmon Kardon/Marantz/Vector Research/Yamaha
  • 12 -- Hitachi/RCA/Sears/Bang & Olufsen/General Electric/JCPenny/Minolta/ProScan/Pioneer
  • 13 -- Daewoo/Capehart/Daytron *
  • 14 -- GoldStar/Zenith/LXI/JCPenny/Radio Shack/Sears/Totevision
  • 15 -- Fisher, before 1988 (least-reliable)
>>>>>
MORE-REPAIRS

(*) not listed, estimation only

Last edited by waltchan; 10-26-2022 at 05:34 PM.
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  #2  
Old 05-04-2012, 01:50 AM
waltchan waltchan is offline
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Panasonic was the most-reliable brand, while Fisher was the least-reliable brand. Toshiba was the most-reliable brand with linear power supply inside, while Funai/Symphonic was the most-reliable brand with geared idler wheel system (no rubber tire).

Last edited by waltchan; 05-06-2012 at 03:50 AM.
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  #3  
Old 05-04-2012, 12:07 PM
dieseljeep dieseljeep is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by waltchan View Post
Panasonic was the most-reliable brand, while Fisher was the least-reliable brand.
At one time that was true. Fisher was made by Sanyo. The Sanyo VHS units seemed more reliable. I never thought much of their Beta units.
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Old 05-04-2012, 12:43 PM
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..but those Fishers #14 on the list were usually very simple repairs, 99% of the time was the squealing loading belt 143-2-7504-00600 or 01000. Still have the part numbers memorized did so many of them. Likewise the older pre-'83 or so Panasonics (Quasar/Magnavox/GE//RCA/Sylvania) with the XAMV0019 sensor bulb that when burned out would disable the machine.. not so reliable actually. Ah the memories.

Last edited by Ed in Tx; 05-04-2012 at 12:53 PM.
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Old 05-04-2012, 01:21 PM
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I replaced a LOT of idlers on Fisher decks, too. Particularly this guy:



The Hitachi/RCA idler (RCA #164113--isn't it scary how some of these numbers stick with you even 25 years later?) was another "fast mover", but at least it was designed in such a way that it could be swapped out in seconds with no tools. One shop I worked at had a tech who had small enough hands that he could reach in through the front-load door and swap those idlers out without even taking the cover off...
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Old 05-04-2012, 01:40 PM
waltchan waltchan is offline
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I regularly collect, restore, and resell vintage VHS VCRs made from the 1980s, and the most-reliable idler wheel system came from Funai/Symphonic VCRs (I'm not kidding, man).
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Old 05-04-2012, 02:41 PM
waltchan waltchan is offline
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I need someone's opinion with Sharp/Montgomery Ward VCR on reliability? Do you find them reliable, and what were the problems you saw?

A tech guy, who is also my friend, used to work on VCRs before and regularly sells VCR parts at studiosoundelectronics.com. He is upset at me for placing Sharp at #9 in the list.

Last edited by waltchan; 05-04-2012 at 07:21 PM.
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  #8  
Old 05-04-2012, 03:47 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dieseljeep View Post
At one time that was true. Fisher was made by Sanyo. The Sanyo VHS units seemed more reliable. I never thought much of their Beta units.
I've got a pair of identical front load Sanyo Beta decks (plain Jane units with no desirable features) which are probably early front loaders given their bulky size, and they are the ONLY beta decks I have that work well without me ever having had to open them up.

Back when I was a kid in the mid-late 90's my folks got me a Sharp new VHS deck for my birthday, and that has been one of the most reliable decks trouble free decks I've owned (or seen). I still have it and occasionally use it. I seem to recall that thing has survived falls that other decks I've had would have died from(some did!).
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  #9  
Old 05-06-2012, 12:26 AM
waltchan waltchan is offline
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How good were the Sharp/Montgomery Ward 80s VCRs???

I need someone's opinion with Sharp/Montgomery Ward VCR on reliability? Do you find them reliable, and what were the problems you saw? In several issues published by Consumer Reports between 1982 and 1986, responders voted Sharp as the "least-reliable, most frequently-repaired" VHS brand.

A tech guy, who is also my friend, used to repair VCRs before and currently sells VCR parts at studiosoundelectronics.com. He is upset at me for placing Sharp at #9 in the list.

Last edited by waltchan; 05-06-2012 at 12:42 AM.
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  #10  
Old 05-06-2012, 07:48 AM
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Those CR lists are why I dropped my subscription many years ago. I could always think of exceptions to their lists.

About all I recall about Sharps was replacing idler clutch assemblies, idler arms, capstan motors, pinch rollers, and some upper head drums mostly because of loose head height set-screws, they had a bad run of those. On recordings one head would partially erase what the first head had just laid down on the tape making for poor record quality on EP especially, playback of head A might be strong, head B very weak when looking at the RF envelope. Remember the Sharp upper drums that were solid brass?
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Old 05-06-2012, 02:03 PM
waltchan waltchan is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed in Tx View Post
Remember the Sharp upper drums that were solid brass?
Is this the one with a brass-color video head that Sharp used from 1979 to 1981 model years? Initially, I thought it was really cool-looking at first, and I thought it was a durable design due to heavier-weight. But, later I realized I repeatedly had to clean the video head every 3 months, since it gets dirty very fast, so I ditched the unit. This one was a 1981 Sharp VC-8500 model.

I also used to own a 1979 Sharp VC-6800 model, which was the very first front-loading VHS VCR ever made, but later re-sold it for $300. It uses the same brass-color video head, but it requires a pulley motor to turn the video head. A flat rubber belt was placed on top of the video head, connected to a pulley motor. A strange design, indeed.

Right now, I have a 1981 Sharp XA-900 portable VCR unit, which sits in my storage due to snowy picture on playback. Probably the brass-color video head problem again. Overall, I do find the 1979-1981 Sharp VCRs quite troublesome, just as Consumer Reports clearly pointed out.

Reliability began to improve starting with the 1982 models when Sharp decided to switch to chrome-color video head. Sharp VCR reliability improved to average beginning with the late-80s/early-90s chassis with three belts, and accelerated quickly beginning with the mid-90s, one-belt chassis. By the time year 2000 has reached, Sharp, successfully, ended becoming the 2nd most-reliable VCR brand after Panasonic.

Of all the VCR makes out there since the last 30 years, Sharp was definitely the most improved brand, with every new chassis that came out were always more better and more reliable than the previous one.
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  #12  
Old 05-06-2012, 02:35 PM
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Later I recall Sharp had some sort of specially treated diamond-hardened surface or somesuch of the upper drum they touted. Those old ones were solid brass I was talking about. The mass served as a flywheel too. Take one off and it's heavy unlike the usual aluminum alloy. And that belt drive arrangement. Oddly the "Inventor" of VHS, JVC, used a belt drive head drum on their first home VCR, the HR-3300, but that belt was on the bottom of the deck. One thing about Matsushita (parent company of JVC) they always used a DD cylinder from their first PV-1000.

Last edited by Ed in Tx; 05-06-2012 at 02:39 PM.
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Old 05-06-2012, 04:09 PM
waltchan waltchan is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed in Tx View Post
Later I recall Sharp had some sort of specially treated diamond-hardened surface or somesuch of the upper drum they touted.
I've seen a 8-head Sharp VCR before with the "Titanium-coated feature" that was released in the early-90s. Maybe this video head is identical.

On the Toshiba, how reliable were they, and what kind of problems you saw that came in for service? Toshiba was 2nd most-reliable, while Sharp was 9th most-reliable, which looks very significant to me.

Of all the fifty 80s vintage VHS VCRs I have in my collection, personally, I find Toshiba and Funai/Symphonic to be the most-reliable, cheapest to fix, and aging the best as they get older. I don't really care for Panasonic much, despite it being the most-reliable, due to the switching power supply it used, and they often have serious electronic-aging issues when they get old.
.

Last edited by waltchan; 05-07-2012 at 12:31 AM.
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Old 05-06-2012, 05:12 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by waltchan View Post
..."Titanium-coated feature"..
That's it.

We saw our share of Toshibas. I remember a few Betas from the late '70s-early '80s. VHS mostly rubber drive parts. The later line early-mid-'90s that included M-752 I think it was, tended to get a cracked capstan motor pulley to the reel drive, many came in with that pulley loose spinning around, or some the belt would just break and/or get soft and fall off, and of course no reel drive eats tapes. RCA decided to sell Toshiba-made VCRs at that time with that same mechanism so we saw a lot of those too. Another common fail was the die-cast loading arm that went from under the cam gear and operated the FL mechanism. Many of those came in with that cast arm broken, from operator getting a tape jammed. There was also one certain electrolytic in the SMPS that would fail and PS would not start up after a power failure. Another Toshiba model would not tune to certain HRC cable channels, would just hunt back-and-forth across the channel not lock. We got in over 50 of those all in warranty to add a capacitor to the tuner circuit to change a timing issue and make it work.

Agree about the Panasonics and their offspring, capacitors especially not aging well. I gambled and lost when I bought an AG-1830 new in 1989 for roughly $1000, even bought a spare head drum, but every capacitor in that thing must be bad. It started showing symptoms after maybe 5-6 years.

There were a few Panasonics and Quasars in the early '80s that had a big ol' power transformer in 'em before they started getting SMPS. Some of those had remarkably durable rubber parts too, that didn't seem to deteriorate like newer rubber.

My current VCR that's always hooked up ready to go is a JVC HR-S5900. Simple, reliable, not a whole lot to break in one, plays all my S-VHS tapes I made starting in '89 with the AG-1830 Panasonic on.

Last edited by Ed in Tx; 05-06-2012 at 05:16 PM.
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  #15  
Old 05-07-2012, 12:16 AM
waltchan waltchan is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed in Tx View Post
We saw our share of Toshibas. I remember a few Betas from the late '70s-early '80s. VHS mostly rubber drive parts. The later line early-mid-'90s that included M-752 I think it was, tended to get a cracked capstan motor pulley to the reel drive, many came in with that pulley loose spinning around, or some the belt would just break and/or get soft and fall off, and of course no reel drive eats tapes. RCA decided to sell Toshiba-made VCRs at that time with that same mechanism so we saw a lot of those too. Another common fail was the die-cast loading arm that went from under the cam gear and operated the FL mechanism. Many of those came in with that cast arm broken, from operator getting a tape jammed. There was also one certain electrolytic in the SMPS that would fail and PS would not start up after a power failure. Another Toshiba model would not tune to certain HRC cable channels, would just hunt back-and-forth across the channel not lock. We got in over 50 of those all in warranty to add a capacitor to the tuner circuit to change a timing issue and make it work.
Ahhh, yes, this was the mid-90s Toshiba chassis, which was a joint-venture with Thomson/RCA. Studio Sound Electronics, the largest online DIY VCR parts store, called this the MBK-48 chassis, and the owner also agrees this was a junky, unreliable VCR. Frankly, I'm never interested in this chassis.

What about the mid-to-late-1980s Toshibas with linear power supply inside? No major problems, right, besides rubber parts? I assume it's reliable overall, and the #2 most-reliable rating must be valid after all.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed in Tx View Post
Agree about the Panasonics and their offspring, capacitors especially not aging well. I gambled and lost when I bought an AG-1830 new in 1989 for roughly $1000, even bought a spare head drum, but every capacitor in that thing must be bad. It started showing symptoms after maybe 5-6 years.
The most common caps failed in the Panasonics are the surface-mount caps located on the video and Hi-Fi audio board, and I've seen this in many Panasonic units made after 1988, whether it's a simple, no-frill 2-head mono or 6-head Hi-Fi S-VHS unit. Video that turns black, no color, and distorted video, or distorted or no Hi-Fi audio sound are all caused by the surface-mount caps placed on bottom of the hybrid IC board. Repairs are always costly, and they will eventually fail again shortly in the future, due to poor design. They overheated most of the time due to poor ventilation, so the surface-mount caps dried up faster than normal.

My local technician is always not happy fixing this for me. Every time I sent him a Panasonic board to fix, he had to unsoldered 55 joints total, then 10 joints for all the surface-mount caps, and then re-soldered 55 joints again when finished. Total: 120 solder joints, and I only paid him $40 total, and the tech quoted me a wrong price in the end and told me I got a great deal. Re-soldering all 55 joints were the most difficult to do for him, as the tiny solder joints could make contact with each other easily and blow out the power supply if not soldered right.

Tech told me to stay away from Panasonic units made after 1988 (aka. G-Chassis decks) if I plan to keep vintage VCRs running for another 50 years in the future.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed in Tx View Post
There were a few Panasonics and Quasars in the early '80s that had a big ol' power transformer in 'em before they started getting SMPS. Some of those had remarkably durable rubber parts too, that didn't seem to deteriorate like newer rubber.
All the Panasonic/Quasar VCRs made before 1983 used the big ol' linear power transformer. The AG models used this until 1987. The last, linear-powered Panasonic VCRs were the 1986 AG-1810, 1986 AG-1950, and 1986 Canon VR-HF720.

Last edited by waltchan; 05-07-2012 at 01:40 AM.
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