A friend wanted me to look at his JVC HR-S3600U SVHS Deck. He said it occasionally eats tapes. Well, I haven't worked on a VCR in ages, but I couldn't get it to ever eat a tape under normal operating conditions.

However, I did notice something strange. When you have a tape in, and you power it off, it keeps the tape guides extended and the tape around the head. Then when you power it up, the drum spins up and flings tape around the back. The tape is essentially eaten at that point.

My question is, don't VCRs normally pull the guides back in and roll the tape back up when you power off?

If so, what could be causing this deck to function fully under all other scenarios, but not power down/up properly?

I worked on a LOT of VCR's in the late 80's and 90's. Although I did just now look the model number up on eBay to see what we're dealing with I don't know which generation (i.e. "what year", or "what mechanism") this VCR is by the model number. So, disclaimer, I haven't thought much about the repair of VCR's in the past 15 years.

The short answer to your question is, no, not all VCR's are designed to pull the guides back in on power down. Now, whether your's SHOULD is another question.

And, IF it should pull them back in (and doesn't) the first thing I would look at would be the mode switch- the device used to 'tell' the uP what state the transport is in.

But, if the mode switch is failing/intermittent typically this shows up in other operations as well. But, doesn't always have to.

If the guides are SUPPOSED to stay out during power down (and, my gut feeling says they are) and the upper cylinder is catching the tape I would ask- 1) does this happen on more than one tape? 2) Is the tape path, particularly the upper and lower cylinders, "squeaky" clean? 3) All heads on the cylinder in good condition (i.e. use a magnifying glass- any broken/chipped heads snagging the tape)? 4) All guides straight and fit into their locks properly- nothing bent or out of place?

That's a nice unit and may be worth a simple repair. Keep us updated and good luck!

Brian