Video Recorder problem

[commoner]

Hi ..I have a Panasonic NV-HS880B SVHS video recorder which has suddenly started misbehaving......

On playing a tape, either rcorded by me or a commercially recorded tape the picture displays ok for a couple of minutes and then over about a 9 or ten second period the picture breaks down with small horizontal streaks of light starting at the bottom until the whole screen is filled with "snow" then it slowly returns to a perfect picture.......this cycle then repeats over and over.
I have run a head cleaning tape through the machine but no better........

Any ideas as to whether this is a simple problem or if it could be terminal would be greatly appreciated....thanks for any answers you might post...commoner.

[smouse]

Hubby says it is the heads that are dirty but that a head cleaning tape wont clean them properly. Suppose it depends therefore on how old the machine is whether it is worth getting them cleaned

[wideboy]

Worth going inside it with cleaning fluid and cleaning pads (or cotton buds carefully). Don't forget to do all rollers and guides.

[commoner]

Thanks Guys.....I'll probably wreck the darned thing <G>...commoner.

[smorodina]

It's a tracking fault. Two likely causes, dirty tracking head or the delicate wire to the head has broken. There are other possibilities, but you can do more damage if you are unfamiliar with vcr repairs. Unfortunately, these days it probably costs as much to have one repaired as buy a new one.

[wideboy]

As commoner probably knows, replacing a model like the NV-HS880B is not so easy nowadays - especially if editing is needed (look at the original cost!!). There are S-VHS models (esp JVC) now under �100 (see Comet) but they don't have all the facilities one might expect. Most people are going over to DVD recorders of course. It helps if one knows a friendly AV technician (mine is called Bill).

[commoner]

...mmm...what puzzles me as a "know nowt" is why is it doing this in a 50 second cycle.......why not all the time..........:-(

[wideboy]

Would think something in a cycle like that suggests something wrong in the electronics rather than the heads? Will try to remember to ask my technician friend when I see hime Thurs. or Fri.

[wideboy]

Technician thought it might be switching between NTSC and PAL!

[commoner]

......and how did that happen I wonder wideboy.........more to the point how would I stop it?....mmmm......interesting..<g>

[wideboy]

I can ask him again, probably a faulty component that needs replacing.