Hi In the first post I have on this VCR I fixed a rewind and fast forward problem I solved that . but Now Im not getting any video out the composite RCA Cable . I am getting sound in one channel and My video wont show no the television . My cables are fine . I thought I seen a post on a forum about bad caps on the video board for composite also the sound can be caused by bad caps . So my question is where is the boards I need to rebuild in it . I would need to rebuild the audio and videro boards on her . Which board are for video and audio . Oh Also Im getting sound and video on the RF cable out to the RF cable to the television . The signal is a little snow covered but I think my cable are bad on the connectors for coax cable . How can I fix this vcr . I want her working right .

Well The video and audio is on the same board and that board (picture please?) is usually either the very top board of the VCR or the very bottom board it all depends on where the RCA jacks are on the VCR (Are they on the top side of the back or the bottom side of the back?) Anyways usually with the Panasonic/Matsushida built VCRs (Panasonic or Quasar like yours) has each circuit marked (e.g. Power Circuit Ref. No. 1000) and in the case of the video circuit its more than likely gonna be marked on the board Video Circuit Ref. No. XXXX and the sound circuits are gonna be marked Audio Circuit Ref. No. XXXX.
And those circuit markings should be pretty easy to spot as its etched onto the board in white circuit board ink with the words "Audio Circuit Ref. No. XXXX" (the "X's" represent numbers that would be on the label) is surrounded by a rectangle and the same goes for the video circuit. :)

I hope this helps.

I had My cable hooked up the wrong way in my television . I forgot to disconnect my S-Video cable and plugged in my composite cable . My television didn't like that and wouldn't display a video signal . After I removed the S-Video cable the picture came on . Im having a problem with the audio tracking in HIFI I get low sound and one channel . If adjust the tracking she will goto normal audio will light and its in linear mono audio . I had the audio working just fine on a small television fine but it for some reason went out . Im thinking I have a shorting cap in the audio board . It maybe a dirty head or a bad audio head too . Im not sure .

It might be just a dirty head, I know I've dealt with a lot of these old Panasonic made VCRs in the past and I've had tracking issues as well that a lot of times wouldn't be cured unless I cleaned the heads.

I thought I cleaned the head But Ill try today again Im hoping that's it . I can get a replacement head if needed to .

If you did I'm sorry for suggesting that, I read through your postings but I didn't see where you mentioned where you cleaned the heads already, I must have missed that by mistake. :(

When I was reading through it earlier it looked like it said that you were considering cleaning the heads or some other options, but like I said I must of misread your post.

There just maybe dirt I missed on cleaning them . Im going to try again before ruling out the videohead or something bad on the audio board like bad caps . I thought when I was playing a tape last night she was tracking on the HIFI head but the sound kep switching from HIFI to normal mix . Im thinking maybe a piece of cotton is in it or its just got some dirt that need to be removed for the HIFI sound to track and come back .

How can you tell if the video head is bad Just wondering . I was reading that you can look at them with magnifier glass to see them .

well, as far as how to tell if video/audio heads being bad I'm not sure about that but I know its rather easy to damage them if you aren't careful about how you clean them.
Just out of curiosity, have you tried a different tape and seen if the VCR tracks better with a different tape?
I know that sometimes a worn or damaged tape can sometimes cause a hifi VCR to track intermittently as far as audio and video goes and sometimes it can't always be fixed with the tracking control adjustment.

I cleaned the heads and my sound is fine in the left HIFI Channel , But I have low sound level in the Right channel .The HIFI sound gets read off the video head right . My tape is fine I have a good tape and am getting the same thing off every tape it wont matter .Linear stereo is fine . Im wondering if the video head is bad . It looks fine to the eye but that's not the case , it may as well be bad or damaged on one of the heads reading the tape .. Ill Try cleaning the head once ome time to see .

bad head shows streaks in picture a lot of snow and looks like the tracking is off, butt you just cant get it to lock in. that's what bad heads look like, if you clean with denatured alcohol and a clean lint free paper towel, and you wiped the whole drum. if your picture still looks bad you have bad heads. the audio heads are on the right its separate from the video drum.

My problem is with low sound on the HIFI Sound from the right channel , the left is loud and fine the right channel is off Getting lower sound in the right channel . My picture s clear as a bell its my sound Im having problems with. Could my tape adjustments be off . But in linear stereo I get the two stereo channels .I wondering if the HIFI sound tracks are lower in the right cannel .I can adjust the tracking fine but like a said my stereo hifi channel is lower . Do I need my tape path adjusted ?.

If it shows switched into HiFi mode when playing, then you should have equal output L and R. Tape path would effect both channels equally since the are picked up equally by the hifi heads on the head cylinder. The hifi audio tracks are two FM signals at 1.3 and 1.7 mHz combined together going to the hifi heads and records the composite hifi signal onto the tape just before the video heads.

Playback is a composite FM signal coming off the hifi heads and preamp that looks like the RF video head signal. This gets separated into L and R in the hifi FM audio demodulator process. May have a problem on the Hifi audio board. :scratch2:

You have a schematic or a service manual you can share with me . Im Model is Quasar VH5846XE . Where is the HIFI audio board at in the player . I found the FM Audio Board in the top front of my machine .You think there's some bad Electrolytic capacitors on the HiFi Audio Board . I thought I read a post on another forum about bad caps or a single cap going bad on the audio board .

I may have a service manual but not handy. A friend had that same machine back in the '80s and ran who knows how many rental tapes through it to wear out two sets of heads before sending it off to the video graveyard.

As far as troubleshooting I'd guess yes probably a bad electrolytic or two, maybe more. This is where an ESR meter comes in handy. You can go through and easily check all the capacitors in circuit on a board, and replace the bad ones, or with no way to test, shotgun the whole thing with all new electrolytics.

Would you happen to know where the audio board for the HiFi circuit is located in my VCR .I don't happen to have a ESR meter. But I have a volt meter that will read the value of the caps . If there's a bad cap I can bet the value will me low if my sound level is low in my right channel on the HIFI Board . My sound should me even levels on Hifi as in linear audio is .

Oh If you can find a copy of the Hifi board and can post it so I can look at It would be useful to me . But first I ned to find the audio Hifi board to replace the caps

I do not know off hand which board it is. If I find the manual I will post the hi fi board location. It may be labeled on the board.

A capacitance tester will not show high ESR, sorry. In fact, sometimes a capacitor with high ESR will also show a higher uFd making you think the capacitor is good. Not so. You can buy an ESR meter for $50 on up. If you plan to do any other repairs to electronics, an ESR meter is indispensable in my opinion.

Yes the ESR meter Off eBay I seen them On there . I seen them from 25.00 to about 100.00 bucks . A Oscilloscope also is good to have too , if I had the money I would goto town On buying electronic repair equipment . I fond the manual On line but its like 18.00 servicemanuals.net . They have three different versions of it .But I can download it .Oh I was going to ask you , I seen on the internet that the Power supply can cause problems too, but I think mine is fine as of now .Im going to try to fix this VCR . If I can My self its hard to find people in my area that will repair a VCR anymore .I can get most parts for this vcr .I really like this machine the day I got from the thrift store . Like I said it was working but one day it started to eat the tapes .I really didn't know much more about until now .I wont buy the newer walmart machines I don't trust them with my tapes

The board are labeled in the corners But Im sure its hidden under something the HiFi board .

Even if you had the hi fi board laid out in front of you, it won't do any good without the proper test instrument to go through and find the bad caps. Otherwise all you can do is replace them all.

Im going to buy a esr meter off eBay . So I can get her fixed

You will also likely need some suitable test probes to get onto the capacitor leads. The ones I use I bought on e-bay years ago. Sharp pointed test probes that have banana connections to plug onto the ESR meter leads, slightly bent in at the tips to get under the capacitors to test.

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p72/tblazed/esrmeter-testing.jpg

Yes those are handy to have , but im most likely going to use what I have handy

Update I recleaned the Video head and for some reason the sound is clear in the Left channel now . If I have anymore problems Ill look at downloading the service manual for it and repair the HiFi board or audio board . I could still have a bad cap or two , after all She's 30 years old . For a VCR after thirty years to still be work is fanatic . Great quality Panasonic put in those old machines

Well the same problem came back after playing it for a hour on my surround sound receiver . Im going to have to look at the hifi and audio board for problems .

Ed In TX@

Where did you get that test connector for testing the caps on top of the circuit board . I would like to get a set like that to get under the cap for testing .

Ed In TX@

Where did you get that test connector for testing the caps on top of the circuit board . I would like to get a set like that to get under the cap for testing .
I bought those 6-7 years ago like I said. Seller is long gone.

However a quick search on e-bay I find these... http://www.ebay.com/itm/Test-Probes-Extra-Thin-and-Sharp-0-7mm-Stainless-Steel-Tip-1-Pair-Red-Black-/200922717139?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ec7ed5bd3

Look to be very similar. Just bend the tips in at an angle, should work fine. Look's like they're priced right too.

Thanks Ed