Frozen VHF Tape

[Echo]

Sorry to be off from boolits, but I have a tape of the movie "Chicago" that won't run. I try to turn the sockets, and they won't move. Am I missing some sort of lock, or is there a problem? Yes, there is a problem, but I don't know what it is. Should I throw it into a bucket of gasoline? No, I guess not...

[fc60]

Greetings,

You are testing my memory; but, I believe you need to manually open the "door" and that allows the two spools to move.

Cheers,

Dave

[imashooter2]

I recall the same as Dave.

[Winger Ed.]

There's a little release button on the end that allows the door to open and expose the tape when its in the player.
Trigger that, open the door, and the spools will release & rotate.

[myg30]

You press the little square tab on side by door to open the door. Take a pen, small anything that fits in the round hole on the bottom of the cassette, between the two spools, it’s almost a 1/4” hole with a plastic plunger inside. When you push the in it releases the lock on the reels.
You don’t need the door open the turn the tape but it lets you see it moving.
Tapes that sat a long time kinda stick together and it’s best to fully rewind or fast forward to the end, then rewind fully, then play.

On some machines you can rewind or fully forward without the tape loading around the play head.
If the tape counter shows it’s turning but nothing plays, try FF the tape and hit play.
Good luck,Mike

[Echo]

Thanks all - I had opened the door, and it still didn't move. May there also be another catch? Or should I just chuck it - I'll bet I could get a DVD from Amazon cheap...

[bangerjim]

I didn't know people still had VHS tapes. I gave perhaps 400+ of them to goodwill over 5 years ago. I don't even have a player anymore. Totally dead inferior technology. Everything is BluRay now....I have hundreds of them. Players are dirt cheap and the video quality on the 70" TV is astounding. There are some movies that are only DVD still, but most have been released in BluRay quality.

And YES you CAN see the big difference! BluRay has no "jpeg-like video artifacts" like DVD's do. Check out a scene with a gray sky and you will see the artifact banding.

Hope you get your tape fixed. Chicago is one of my favorite musicals.

[MaryB]

Look on the bottom between the spools, there is a hole just the right size to stick a pen into to release the brake on the spools

[GregLaROCHE]

Some younger people don’t even have something to play a DVD on these days.
I’d look for the movie on Amazon. There’s also The Pirates Bay if you are into that sort of thing.

[Cowhide]

Speaking of old technology. In 2019 a few months before the Christmas sale season there was a new item on the shelfs. Walmart listed it as "A new media of sound marvel. The Turn table" It was so funny to see younger people marvel at new technology that used a big flat black disk to make music when a needle was on it when turning. Walmart re marketed the record player and sold lots of them to young people. They even re made the records but did not call them vinyl records, Just called them "Rounders"

Walmart still sells VHS and DVD combo players. I won't be surprised if they re marked VHS tapes one of these days. My father in-law still uses his 8 track player and hopes that it makes a comeback so he can get some new songs.

[imashooter2]

I didn't know people still had VHS tapes. I gave perhaps 400+ of them to goodwill over 5 years ago. I don't even have a player anymore. Totally dead inferior technology. Everything is BluRay now....I have hundreds of them. Players are dirt cheap and the video quality on the 70" TV is astounding. There are some movies that are only DVD still, but most have been released in BluRay quality.

And YES you CAN see the big difference! BluRay has no "jpeg-like video artifacts" like DVD's do. Check out a scene with a gray sky and you will see the artifact banding.

Hope you get your tape fixed. Chicago is one of my favorite musicals.

While it is true that the VHS technology is old and dated, sometimes I just want to watch a good movie and if that movie is free on a VHS tape, the VHS tape gets played. Some day I may buy a blue ray player. Probably not though. By the time I’m ready, no one will have owned a disk in a decade.

[jim147]

We lost internet and phone for a couple days a few weeks ago. I hit power on the VCR and put a tape in. It turned itself off. Turned it back on and it turned back off. Not the first time with this unit. I figure a 5 volt voltage regulator is out again. I have a spare around here somewhere from when I could look up LG brown goods. I was certified to do whitegoods for them only at the the time but I could get all the info on other products.

My hands are not as steady as they once were and need to use a magnifying headset but I think I might fix it one more time.