Panasonic PV-1231 idler trouble
 

I recently acquired a classic Panasonic VCR, the PV-1231 (photos of one here, not mine) from 1984. After cleaning the heads I fired it up and found that the only issue with it was that it couldn't properly rewind. Since there were no major problems, I bought a rubber replacement kit from Studio Sound Electronics (MBK-07) that also included the idler arm (which they don't seem to have any more).

Last night, I decided to take the VCR apart and install the kit. I had no issue with the belts or the pinch roller, but the idler arm is a different story. Since putting in the new idler arm the VCR doesn't work properly. The arm doesn't seem to want to swing to either the supply or take-up reel, thus preventing any operation. Has anyone seen this before? And if so, what might cause this?

Thanks.

Couple of things come to mind. When you put the idler assembly on the shaft, did you a) lube the shaft? and b) pull the idler wheel part out as you were sliding the arm down the shaft so that the rubber idler roller runs on the edge of the roller that drives it, not on the top of it.
The other possibility is whether the spring that goes across this part of the deck is under the arm, it should be above.
Also check if the thing is the right way round.
Usually when I install these arms it just works.

Thanks for the response.

Yes to both A and B. The spring is also in the correct place.

For the fun of it, I decided reinstall the old arm but with the new wheel on it (the wheel and tire combined are the right size, but the new tire doesn't fit the old wheel). Oddly enough, that solved the problem. Perhaps the new idler arm is a little bit off somehow. No big deal, though, since I have fresh rubber now.

All said and done, the VCR is now working like a champ. The great thing about it is that this thing does much better with my tapes recorded years ago on a similar deck than my JVC SR-V101US does. That is especially true of the audio!

I was going to suggest that but you figured it out. Ran into the same problem several times with aftermarket VCR parts, either out of dimension slightly, warped, or who knows. When I serviced VCRs for a living I refused to use anything but OE parts on customer sets I had to guarantee would work.

If I had easy access to OE parts they would have been my first choice, too. In this case, I had to take what I could get. All's well that ends well, though. Right?

Absolutely. These days you've gotta make do with what you've got. OE parts likely were discontinued 10 or more years ago anyway.