VCR Suddenly Displaying Fixed Distorted Horizontal Line

[Username1]

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After Freezing The Q-Tip, you place it on the drum before the head and move
it past the head with the direction of rotation only, not up and down but
moving as if it was the video tape on the heads in normal operation.

Demagnetize The Head using a Cassette demagnetizer tool just as you would
a regular cassette player head, move across the VCR heads each one and
move away from the entire unit before turning it off. Same as if you
were degaussing a picture tube.

If all this does not work, you have to play a tape and disconnect the pickup from
the tape head and see if it still makes noise in that spot. If the head connections
can be disconnected before the Rotary Coupling Transformer that might be a
good thing to try....

After that, you could get a service manual and see if there is a gain control
that you can try and tweek on it.... Some units have several controls
as mini pots that can increase gain & stuff like that.... Last resort.

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