Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed in Tx
Didn't say they were not good. Indeed they were. But just like anything else mechanical, parts still wear out. Many I've seen come in to the shop not tracking properly with the felt lining from the back-tension band laying down in the mechanism. Worn out pinch roller causing tape skewing was another. And worn out heads. And intermittent mechanism mode sensing switch, and the reel belt. Been probably 10 years since I've seen one so I'm sure I'm missing another common problem or two! We were a Canon and a Panasonic warranty shop so I saw both brands.
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I actually serviced several of this version. This one was made only for 2 years, 1985 and 1986. I used to own a Canon VR-HF600, like the OP has, Canon VR-HF710, Canon VR-HF720, Panaosnic AG-1810, and Panasonic NV-H70PX. Yes, I agree with you that the felt strip in the tension band tends to slip off easily because of the weak glue applied from the factory, and I always had to re-glue it, but this falling off felt-strip also applies to Panasonic's consumer PV models made in 1984-1985 as well. Worn-out pinch roller is indeed one problem, but the spring that drives the pinch roller loses tension really easily, causing it to wrinkle tapes, even with a new pinch roller. I haven't seen one with a worn-out video head yet, but there is no reel belt inside, unless you mean the cassette carriage belt. There are only 2 belts to drive the mechanism. The 1985 models, including Canon VR-HF600, has a carriage belt, but the 1986 models don't.
The 1986 version is a lot better than 1985 as it omits a carriage belt for better reliability, adds an auto play (when cassette tab is broken), control buttons are located at the bottom left instead at the right side, and the Hi-Fi meter display uses LED separate bulbs for easier reading.
The best model in this series for me is the 1986 Panasonic NV-H70PX because it's full black color, looks like a consumer VCR, and the Panasonic name at the front is more appealing to see than a Canon name at the front (see attached picture of this unit). It is currently my daily-use VCR.
