Sanyo VCR4400 Betamax doesn't play tapes
 

I just recently got a Sanyo VCR4400 Betamax player in dirty but otherwise solid condition. After some serious internal and external cleaning I gave it a try but it doesn't play tapes. It does thread tapes but when you try to play it makes this strange...squealing noise and then just gives up. Is this just a case of bad belts or could there be something worse?

needs belts after so long they turn to mush.

I've managed to find belt kits for sale but so far not a guide/diagram for how to replace them. Without digging deeper than I have so far I can only reach one belt, and the kit comes with three. Beta mechs are a bit more complicated than VHS ones, even a "cheaper" mech like Sanyo's, and I really do not want to misalign anything.

I don't like to necro my own threads, but tonight (after waiting weeks for my belt kit to arrive after ordering it) I replaced the two belts in my Sanyo VCR4400 and now instead of just doing nothing when you try to play a tape, it seems to be threading my tape improperly and not retracting it fully into the tape when I hit Stop. I notice that I have an idler tire that's very cracked, could that be the cause?

Weirdly, fast forward and rewind work absolutely fine, it's playing and retracting the tape into the cassette that cause problems. Attempting to play actually causes a loud high-pitched squealing sound so something is slipping and slipping badly.

I did a bit more maintenance tonight, including cleaning the various pinch rollers and tape guides and cleaning and greasing the reels, which stopped the tape eating and improved the unwinding, but when you press Play the right reel (the take up reel) still does not turn. I notice it has some kind of sensor underneath, maybe that sensor is dirty? This particular problem is very much new to me.

Some machines use different motor and or belt/pulley systems for play and fast wind modes.

Most decks can be tricked into loading and threading up without a tape (I recently did this on a couple of Sony beta mechs one a top loader the other an early front loader) if you can figure out which levers and buttons to push. Sometimes watching it run without a tape blocking your view of the mechanism can reveal hidden problems.

Hmm, I don't see a way to do that with this deck, but I suppose I could try oiling what YouTube videos I've watched call the "reel motor", which drives the idler assembly. I already tried cleaning the sensor under the takeup reel and that didn't fix anything.

Speaking in general terms because my brother was the Beta expert.

Sensors under the hubs are usually dual element opto devices (trans and receive) and the underside of the hubs usually have a reflective surface plated onto the plastic. Sensor failures won't stop the hub from turning initially, but will cause a shutdown if the sensors detect no movement within a programmed window.

Usually, the idler tire is the problem when reels don't act right. A new tire will improve grip, and sometimes taking apart the clutch pack it's attached to and stretching the spring a *wee* bit will improve torque. Too much stretch and it will pull the tape through the capstan and stretch it.

Also, the transport may be experiencing an incomplete load. It may look like the guides are full wrapped around the heads (and they may be), but often the large cycle gear has to rotate another few degrees after loading to satisfy the position encoder, which is another troublemaker.

John

Years ago, our parts suppliers sold clear, open frame fixtures that fit in place of the cartridge in both VHS and Beta format to allow easier views of the mechanism, plus it prevented tapes from being eaten.

The other option is cover the two end sensors or the center lamp/led with black tape. In most machines, this allowed the loader to be pushed by hand and allowed the machine to run without a tape.

Some machines however would act up as soon as a sensor was covered, so for those, the loader would be manually pushed in, and the sensors covered after the basket reached bottom but before the machine would raise the basket back out. Timing on those was fun.

The problem for either method is that any ambient room light might fool the machine into thinking there's a problem, so sometimes a shade had to be propped up.

I don't miss VCRs at all.


John

For now I'm going to try getting a new upper idler tire and see if that helps, I think the playback was stopping because the take-up reel wasn't being engaged.