I've been looking around for a nice older VCR for some time, usually I find ones that are all scratched and cracked and look like they've been tossed off a roof by a pack of monkeys, but still work. Today I picked up this nice looking 1982 RCA, I brought it home, plugged it in, hooked it up, found that the tuner worked really well (I could pull in ch 56 with no antenna at all), I could also set the clock. Next I put a tape in, and nothing, none of the buttons with anything to do with operating the tape player do anything at all. I've never attempted any VCR repair beyond simple stuff like changing belts before, but I'd like to get this unit working again. Is this the sort of problem something I could likely track down and fix if dug up a schematic, or is this one of those things where there would be no way to fix it without replacing large amounts of parts from another identical VCR?

That VCR is old enough to use a light bulb for the end of tape sensors. It will be located between the two tape reels sticking up about 3/4". When it blows, all functions are disabled to protect the VCR which can no longer detect the end of the tape. More modern VCRs use an IR LED.

Any VCR that old will need new belts and rubber tires. Panasonic (who made that VCR) also usually also need a new pinch roller. If the belts and tires are still tight and free of cracks, you can resurface them by gently snading them and cleaning them with alcohol. If the belts are loose, gummy, or cracked, they must be replaced.

This is based on my observations with these VCRs from 10 years ago. Obviously, the rubber parts won't have improved with age! Don't test it with a tape you plan on keeping.

1982's right on the border of lamp/IR led... If it has a lamp, I have those. Take the lid off the cassette tray, look in the middle of where the cassette goes. If it has a bulb, you'll see it there about the size of a mini-Maglite bulb in a white base. It solders in, but easy to change. Also, those have a lot of fuses for the various motors and power supplies. Never seen one blow, though. My bet is on the bulb (and all the belts and idler tires, which I also have if you need.)

Charles
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Ok, it has the bulb, and I can see where the filament in it is broken. If you can find one of those bulbs, let me know, I don't have anything like that around here. Thanks. From what I can see so far it looks really clean in there, nothing gunked up, no rubber parts cracked or obviously bad.

I have them here, so I'm sending a PM with my new phone#.

Charles

I got the lights from Charles, I put it in, and it lights up. But I still have the same problem. In the pic the new light is on the right and the old one on the left, not exactly the same, but I set the new one in so it would be at the same height as the old one. Any ideas what might still be wrong, thanks for the help so far.

Are you testing it out with the top cover of the VCR still removed..? If so, there may be enough room light "leaking in" to the light sensors that it thinks there still isn't a cassette in the tray. Otherwise, apparently there's still something amiss with the tape sensing.

You might try operating the VCR without a tape in it and see if you can figure out what's wrong; perhaps there's some sort of mechanical/microswitch interlock that's out of whack. To operate the VCR without a tape, you'll have to remove the top cover of the VCR *and* the lid to the cassette tray, and cover up the light sensors (there should be one on both sides of the casette area, directly in line with the light bulb you just replaced). With the light sensors covered, if you push down the empty casette tray, you should be able to "fool" the VCR into thinking there's a casette present.

Another possibility is the dew sensor which is used to prevent the VCR from operating if there's moisture on the heads. That VCR might have a light labeled "dew". If it's on the VCR won't work. I've seen them fail before.

The dew light isn't on. I tried covering the light sensors and trying to get it to do something with no tape in there and nothing. The tape does move a bit if I turn the VCR on and off, but none of the control buttons have any effect. I took a look underneath and it is really clean in there, all the belts look more or less ok.

Perhaps you have a bad ribbon connection somewhere, maybe for the keyboard or control section

Its funny about the dew sensor because one time around 5 years ago me and a friend were working on some run-of-the mill vcr and condensation wrecked the micro and some other logic circuits... The clock ran and everything, but every feature was erratic-- It would eject for no reason, the display would go crazy, etc. Anyways good luck on this one-Its Definitely a nice collectible deck

Very nice VCR. Your RCA VCR was actually one of their lowest-end models. I have the highest-end model made by RCA in 1982. Your's a 2-head mono. The 2-head mono ones show up on eBay all the time without a single bid, even for $0.99.

I had this same unit except it was branded Sylvania.
The "Remote" consisted of a wired Pause switch. :D
Cost me almost $500 in 1983!