Not sure if this is the right forum to post in, but I have a question on 2 VCR's (I still have entirely too much stuff on VHS, and really need to work on getting them burned to DVD) I've got 2 VCR's that have been in storage forever, and am curious as to what caused the problems as they worked fine when put into storage. The first is an Emerson (cheap Funai junk?) that turns itself off when you insert a tape. I did get it to play a tape and rewind and FF, but it must have been a one time deal as now it just turns itself off and ejects the tape the instant you put one in. The 2nd is on a 1994 "high end" Panasonic. This one was pricey in the day and see that there must be a tunar problem. All of the channels are snowy or "ghost". The menu is clear and playback is fine. These will probably get pitched but am curios as to what you think. The Panasonic I'm upset about as it is built like a tank, unlike the cheap Emerson.

the funai has a bad tape reel sensor led. Very common. I dunno about the Panasonic. Storage shouldn't hurt the tuner. Make sure you connect the antenna to the in, not the out.

If the Emerson was made by Orion, it probably has a dirty mode switch. These were a big problem when the VCRs weren't that old. After years of storage, the contacts would have tarnished. The Panasonic could have bad caps in the power supply (common on Panasonics).

Cool. Is that hard to clean on the Emerson-Funai-slash Orion? or would you chuck it? And ya Nakdoc, it's hooked up correctly. I even tried 3 different sources. It even does it if I switch it to "air" and use rabbit ears. The Panasonic is from 1994 and has not seen use for probably 6 years, and the Emerson is from 2000 and has been stored the last 3. both of them not in the best environments. The Panasonic had me stumped tho. Have NEVER seen a tunar problem on a VCR before.