Betamax PALsite: VTC-5000 : Technical

Technical

Rear view

Idler Assembly

Fault and repair guide

No reel rotation

This is a very common problem which can have several causes. The first thing which fails is usually the reel idler assembly. Replacement units are readily available and can be fitted easily after removal of the cassette carriage. Before replacement check for a broken reel motor belt. This is a small belt which transfers drive to the idler. Finally, the last thing to suspect is the reel motor. Sanyo produced a modification to improve drive to this motor. This involved decreasing the value of the in-series resistor in the motor power supply (replacing a 3.3Ω with a 2.2Ω). However, it is not uncommon for the motor itself to fail in which case it needs to be replaced.

No tuner input

This is usually caused by failure of the RF combiner / splitter unit. Unfortunately it is not easy to repair this unit.

Timer and/or standby LED fail to illuminate

This is caused by dry joints where the LED are soldered onto the front PCB. In order to gain access to the PCB you'll need to remove the front panel and the servo board on the LHS of the deck.

Loss of servo lock in record

Recordings can suffer from a loss of drum lock which produces a picture roll and usually occurs between sudden bright/dark transitions. It is caused by problems with the sync separator in the servo circuits, usually due to dried out electrolytic capacitors.

System Control Bug

The machine had a strange bug in the system control software. Whenever an error occurred with the tape transport the VCR would lace up and shutdown. This is exactly the opposite of what you would expect and made sure that it was not possible to remove the cassette without damaging the tape. This 'feature' was not present in the later VTC-5150 model.

AM / PM clock modification

12 Hour Clock Display Mod

On the clock PCB there is a position for 12H or 24H clock. Usually they are 24H, but fit a 1N4148 diode in this position (note polarity as per PCB marking) and you get 12H clock with AM/PM illuminated in the display.

Further Information

For further information on general servicing on this model, take a look at Colin McCormick's excellent guide on How to service a Sanyo Beta.

Colin is also able to supply a service kit for this model.

Quick fault guide

Please click on the button if you are able to contribute a solution to this list or would like to add to, or update PALsite's information on this model. Please note, questions will be removed.

Submit entry

If you have a question about this model, please raise it on the chatpage.

Fault	Solution
No function or power LED's working. 9 Volt supply dead on SY2	Print broken next to pin 19 (S3004) on servo board SY1. Jumper wire fitted to bridge gap.
Fluttering noise in playback	VR10 adjusted till stable reproduction on SV-1 Servo board. Some electrolytic capacitors on that board may need to be replaced.
Clock resets to 88:88 (and blinks) when switching the VCR to ON position	Replace the C5207 16v 100uF capacitor located on the large PSU board.
Machine won't rewind/fast forward and cuts out after a few seconds	Replace the reel idler belts and tires.
Tape will not lace up fully then stops and unlaces	Remove idler and base plate give a good clean remove both reels clean main shafts light oil plus bearings
Unstable color with horizontal lines on playback	Replace 2200uF 35V capacitor in the small power supply board.
Bad picture on video output terminal, good picture on RF output	Replace capacitor C1080 on the VD-1 board. Also applies for the VTC 5150 and VTC 5550.
The tape wil load the tape but not unload. Tape jam follows	There is not enough motor torque to pull the tape back to the cassette. The motor needs lubricating. Perform a mechanical maintenance of the right take up and surrounding parts. Add a small drop of precision oil to the bearing area of the main reel motor. Access the bottom part of the machine, locate the motor. Unscrew its bottom "cap". You will see the bottom bearing. It is very important to add 1-2 drops of precision oil here and a to be on a safe side, also a little bit of precision, thin grease (G 1/3 by Orelube for example). This procedure will save most motors.
Detailed YouTube video on servicing Sanyo video recorders	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHT3QJ-r2w0
black zig zag lines on screen when playing a tape. Also some bad recordings	The head control box at the top left hand of the beta. This has a earth clip with black wire that hold it into place and earth the box. Your box will most likely be rusty or dull grey. The earth has bad connection. Remove the box and very carefully remove cover that sits at the back of the beta. Then solder a wire to the PCB at the terminals that connect PCB to the outside case. Now bring this wire outside box, and refit back cover. Refit box and solder the new wire to the black one that you removed from clamp. now you are done. it has fixed 6 of these for me and friends!!
Take-up not working	Check reel motor for dead spot or IC3006.
Mains fuse blown	Check regulator IC5101 and mains filter capacitor 0.0047μF. Also check fuse is anti-surge type.
Poor capstan servo lock on own recordings	Add 390 Ohm resistor across R4515.
Intermittently stopping in record or playback	If this is not due to faulty reel motor/take-up, then check output of reel sensor optocoupler for 6 volt peak to peak. If it's significantly lower then clean or replace the optocoupler.
Tape looping during unlacing	If the reel drive is ok, then change R3049 to a value of 1R0.
Vertical red and green stripes on the pictures	Replace VC1 trimmer capacitor on the video board with one of a 50pf value.
Intermittently pauses itself when playing cassette, counter works fine	symptoms continued... and plays fine with no cassette but counter intermittently not counting. Solution: C5204 on PSU needs checking. Found one example to be low in value, ESR high at 12Ohms and leaking electrolyte on the board.
Submit entry