My Sony EV-C3 recently started kicking and eating tapes. I discovered a cracked gear (pictured) that is part of the loading chain for the video cassette. What would be the best way to go about repairing this?

Honestly look for another machine. The gears were almost always made of "duralon" a type of nylon which doesn't take well to adhesives. I worked in plastics molding for many years with this dreaded resin and have nothing nice to say about it. I know there were some solutions posted on YouTube about how to go about reproducing plastic gears and such and there might be someone who could 3D print this.

With a similar gear on a GE radio, I pulled off the broken gear, clamped the crack tight with a visegrip pliers, gluing it together with Superglue. I then used a tiny round file to bore it out a little so it would fit back over the metal shaft, then glued it to the shaft.

Good luck.

.

I've tried super gluing cracked Sony VHS deck gears and they always break again within a short time. One thing I have thought of is there are silicone molds that can hold up to low melting point metals like tin. I've thought about making a mold of the glued gear then casting a new one out of the ingots of used solder I've got... haven't gotten to it yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js5W5Tx9Png

Update: I have fixed the gear. Ended up just measuring and 3D printing a new one. Seems to work alright.

Nice job on the 3D printing!

One way I've fixed them is to cut a thin groove around the gear and then wrap it tightly with a good strong string. Upholstery thread works good. While the string is still under tension, soak the wraps with superglue and leave it till it's set.

for anyone looking for a printable gear, i uploaded it to printables. https://www.printables.com/model/1171272-gear-for-sony-ev-c3-8mm-video-recorder

Dude seriously you made a 3D printed gear? That totally rocks! Very well done!

Dude seriously you made a 3D printed gear? That totally rocks! Very well done!

I did indeed, and released the files so others in the community with this issue can use it too.

Very nice work! And, thank you for sharing it.