I have a Toshiba VCR model W614R; it’s about 7 years old. I wanted to give it a good cleaning. So I took it apart (removed the drive assembly and circuit board) to give it a good cleaning and grease some parts (the VCR did work before this). After I finished, I put the circuit board and drive assembly back together (I made sure I aligned the timing gear with the circuit board).

When I plugged it in, everything powered up okay, but, when I tried to play a tape, the VCR only displayed jumping white lines and noise out of the audio. It also didn’t want to eject the tape, only after I unplug it and plugged it back in did it finally did. When I check the tape on another VCR, the video was corrupted (like the VCR erased part of the tape).

I rechecked the drive assembly and the circuit board, I also checked the timing gear as well. I can’t find why it’s not working now…

Oops....:tears:

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:(
Been there myself, where after working on a project for a long time and something unobtanium going bad....

My apologies. I'm sorry if it appeared as though I was being insensitive. I hope you get the solution you're looking for.

My apologies. I'm sorry if it appeared as though I was being insensitive.It’s cool.. I just thought maybe I was going to get the “why fix it when can replace it” speech from everyone.

Anyway, I still couldn’t find the problem, I may have to buy a service manual.

This is driving me crazy…

It has been awhile but I used to service VCR's and it sounds like
it may be a couple of things are out of whack, First, The timing plate, or "Wheel"
if you will, is out of sync. Take it apart and re-check, Next, Sounds
like possibly one of the heads mounted in the carousel are either
out of alignment, "You didn't take them out did you", damaged,
or have some debris on them. That would score the tape and make
the audio sound out of whack! Open her up and do it again, taking
care to look for lint and hair. I bet the second time through you find it?

I rechecked the timing wheel, it’s not dirty and it is lined up properly with the assembly. I never took the drum apart.

Could it be that the NVRAM lost its settings?

I have never had any luck working on the innards of a VCR, they are incredibly fussy.

If cleaning the heads and he pinch roller doesn't fix it I don't go any further.

Sorry, I know this isn't any help, it's just my take on VCR repair.

Also look to see if some debri is on the capstains.
They are long, and they wrap the tape around the carousel.

I would try cleaning the audio and video heads again. You are aware the you need foam swabs to clean the heads Q tips simply will not due. I am not trying to be smart only helpfull as I have seen many people use Q tips which will really mess up a video head.

I should have not used the cotton ones that I did
for so many years. It was wrong, I was always careful
not to push very hard or let the cotton get stuck in the head.
I also should not have used acetone but, boy it cleaned fast
and really brought the drive wheels back life..............
Bad Speakerlust:whip: :whip: :whip:

I didn't use q-tips to clean the heads, I used compressed air.

Try recording on the tape in another VCR to see if it did really erase the tape, or if it's actually damaged. If it erased part of it, then there's probably some magnetized oxide on one of the tape guides. I've seen this before and it usually causes a white line to appear on the recording. If it's damaged, then you should look for what's causing the damage. Bottom edge damage will cause an unstable picture since that's where the control track is. Usually a bad, or dirty pinch roller causes this. A bent pinch roller arm will also cause edge of tape damage (it doesn't take much to bend it).

I used Hi-Strength acetone to remove a gunk that was like varnish
that was stuck to the heads of one VCR. Nothing else would clean it
and it was a toss it or try it type of deal. It worked. I just used
Hi-Strength acetone after that for probably less than 100 units.
I thnk that I bought the acetone at a paint supply. Like, 6 bucks
or something. But it really restored alot of drive wheels as well.
One's that would normally need replacing with the hard glaze over
them. It just wiped that away and they were black and had grip to
them again.

Well, I think Eric H is right, I spent 2 weeks trying to get it to work, its time to throw in the towel.

If the head was damaged that would explain why it’s not playing video or sound (and also why its erasing the tape as well). But, it’s not explaining why the VCR refuses to eject the tape, also it doesn’t rewind now, it only goes into forward.

I may take it to a repair shop (its just beyond my abilities). But if you think you can fix it, PM me…

PS

Do you know any good VCR repair shops in Maryland?