Working on a 1979 RCA VCT 400 can be a pain.
 

Well how often do see a 1979 RCA VCT 400 everyday? managed to find one at a thrift store a couple of weekends ago, the price was more then reasonable and even included the manuals. I think I had a little bit of a workout hauling it to the checkout at 38 1/4 pounds.

Anyway I found Rinoa Super-Genius on YouTube has a 78 RCA VBT-200 and I appreciated the tear down video on as it helped me out. After taking the time i too thought it was a belt issue i was having, since rewind and fastward both work but play didn't. Turns out the belt was slipping on the loading motor. I used rubber renvue to solve that issue temporary, but i ran into another problem that seems common on these late 70s RCA VCR's. There's two gears attached to the loading motor. One on the outside and one on the inside, that is kind of a pain to get to. On the RCA VBT-200 it's just a matter of unscrewing two screws on the underside of the vide head to access the screws to pull out the loading motor to get to the inside gear. On the RCA 400 there's three screws further in that you have to unscrew before you can get to the screw behind the underneath of the video head. the inside gear likes to crack and slips on the shaft that prevents the guide posts from moving. As the gear just slips on the shaft. I am in the process of trying some JB weld to see if the gear will hold. "Crossing fingers" i know from past projects the type of plastic they use to make gears it made of polypropylene and it seems nothing will stick to it. Maybe someone know's a better product to use.

Anyway will keep updates as the project goes. I heard these old vcr's were some of the best made, as i remember retrochad working on one.

This would be a great application for 3-D printing if you can accurately re-create the gear.


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Off-brand (less diluted) super-glue works well on later VCR gears...Never had an early one break on me (knock on wood).

Hi. The VCT400 is actually from 1978 and it was the first VCR with a multi-event programmable timer and it is a clone/rebadge of the Panasonic PV-1500. You can see the manufacturing date on a sticker on the back. I have the service manual for the European version, the NV-8600 in PDF. If you need that just send me a PM. This machine is definitely worth restoring.
Good luck.