hi all - I'm wondering if anyone here is (or knows) an old school video repair engineer in Wales or the South West? While I can do basic belt changes etc., more complicated reopairs are beyond my ken, and I could really do with finding a retired video repair man who is happy to earn a few quid. Thanks.

After my parents both passed away, I dragged their old Sony SL-c9ub back to the United States in the hope of seeing if there were any old family movies we had not captured. To be honest, it never even crossed my mind that it might not be functional, but today I plugged it in, hooked up a cheap BNC to HDMI converter and lo and behold. Behold, the tape that was in it played and was a family movie!

In hindsight now and after looking at the tape mechanism and its complexity, and the plethora of capacitors all over the boards, I'm actually shocked it is in such Tip-Top shape.

I have a dozen or so tapes to go through and review. As I think about it, I realize if any rubber is in bad shape on the captains, further use may end in a jam. I've only played about 2 minutes worth, but confirmed that slow-mo shuttle is working just as I used to (I remember age 9 shuttling torville and Dean back and forth making it appear that he was kicking her in the head at the end of their Bolero routine).

Knowing that it is working 100%, do you have any guidance on what I can do to maintain it? I don't really want to unscrew anything.

Secondarily, once I'm done capturing, I will have no need for it beyond having a badass piece of technology. What do you think someone would pay for it? I have seen some posts of enthusiasts bemoaning their players slow demise...

To Clive Leyland What model and make of TV are you using and have you tuned the Test signal from your Sanyo so it's displaying on your TV if so when you play a tape the picture and sound should be displayed have you used the RF Converter which is normally channel 36 but it can be adjusted some TVs have a dedicated channel for viewing vhs or betamax tapes

I HAVE A SANYO VTC5000 THAT LOADS TAPES PLAYS AND DOES ALL THE TAPE FUNCTIONS. HOWEVER CAN GET A PICTURE ON A FLAT SCREEN LG TV. HAVE CONNECTED ANT OUT TO ANTENNA/CABLE IN ON TV, ALSO BNC VIDEO OUT ON VRC TO TV VIDEO/Y (GREEN AND YELLOW FHONO PLUG) AND AUDIO SIGNALS ON TV AND VRC RCA PLUGS. NO PICTURE AND NO SOUND

THE CABLES PHONO ARE OK AS WHEN CONNECTING A VHS PLAYER IT HAS A PICTURE

David,

Regarding SLHF950 power supply repair checkout https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39jExUdYy_M

cheers Noel

David,

I have not heard from you in a very long time. I don't check chat page very often these days but I have gotten back into Beta repairs recently. I am still learning!

I just searched Palsite and found a few pages I didn't even know were there such as a page which compares the features of a large number of beta machines in a chart.

Amazing that you got a new SLC9 video head. I wonder if there are any more and how much it cost? I can't buy new heads anymore from Wagner in Australia.

Check out https://www.palsite.com/pref_headsh.html to find the part numbers for SLHF950 heads. There are also pages for other Sony models.

I repair the SLHF950 power supplies by replacing the AC/to DC first section of the power supply with an external 12V DC 5 Amp supply which are much more efficient.

These have a three wire mains connection including an earth lead which cant be accommodated internally without extensive modification of the machine - not a safe hobbyist job.

Others have provided information on repairing the original supplies in the past. I probably have emails copied or hard copies of that information.

Basically if the supply still works, changing the electrolytic capacitors is the obvious thing to do. But be sure to get high quality replacements. I use an ESR meter and capacitance meter to check them.

The second half of the power supply going from DC to all the other voltages the machine requires is less problematic over time but you could also check/change the capacitors there.

You don't need the eccentricity gauge for the later Sony models such as SLC9 and SLHF950. I do have quite a few SLHF950 original remotes.

Most have lost black paint off the corners due to use over time. I also know that the SLV777 and SLV815 top of the range VHS machines had remotes with a jog shuttle control which work on VCR 1 setting with the HF950s.

I will get back to you via email is I find the power supply repair information.

regards Noel

Greetings everyone!

I recently acquired a Sanyo Betamovie VRC-200P (which is just a rebadge of the Sony BMC-200 ). When I first got the camcorder, I verified that the charger works, and that the batteries are good. One battery is good but the other is dead. I plan to rebuild the batteries anyways so that's fine.

I attempted to power on the camcorder with the good battery but gave no signs of life. The barrel power plug from the charger was mangled so I could not plug that directly into the camcorder. Then I decided to take the camcorder apart to see what's wrong, and I discovered that the JK-2 board (the PCB with the power input and mic/headphone jacks) was brittle, and a crack has developed over one of the traces. I bridged the trace, and decided to test the camcorder with the good battery again. This time, the fuse lit up and then burnt out.

Since the fuse burnt out, does this possibly mean that there could be a short circuit somewhere? Or could the age of the fuse play a part in blowing? I disassembled the camcorder further last night, and found that the rest of the PCBs still appear to be good as new, as well as all the other components soldered to the PCBs. I'm not sure where the short circuits could be. I ordered a box of new fuses for the camcorder as replacements so I can replace the fuse if I were to blow any more in the future.

If anyone has any info that can assist me in bringing this camcorder back to life, please do reply to me or contact me through email!

Many thanks,

Daniel

Hello Noel I have posted for a very long time and I have just purchased a Brand new Sony DSR 21 video head disc l am looking for a good SL-HF950 remote control and perhaps you can remind me of the DSR number of the SL-HF950 video head disc. I am hoping you could provide me with a repair process to repair the faulty power supply panel in the SL-HF950, l have now got 3 good condition SL-HF950 and a low hours SL-C9 l have just finished replacing the Capacitors in the DC-DC Converter it was working but the Capacitors looked like they were on the point of failure so l rebuilt it and l have one more SL-C9 complete drum assembly that needs new video head fitting and no l have got them l will get out the eccentricity gauge and fit them l itend to have 2 950s and 2 C9s l can use .l also have 2 Sanyo VTC9300P and I have fitted new belts pinch roller and video heads and l use it on a daily basis so any help would be very grateful regards David Grant [email protected].

Craig Munten

I'd assume you mean L631? If so, It is shown in the schematic and the parts list but for some strange reason the value of it is not shown. Does dimming the display using the switch on the front panel reduce the whine?

Sony SL-2000

does anybody have a Sony SL2000 ? im looking to get one as my bmc 100 does not have playback.

Hello, my c6 plays tapes correctly in video and audio, but when recording it records the video correctly, but the audio undulates in a constant out of tune, it only happens when playing something recorded from the video itself.Help please

Hey y'all new here!

So i have a sl-c9 where L361 in the PSU is very high pitched whining it is so anoying! I've spent 5 hours trying to find out why.

All caps in the PSU have been changed and before that it also had the same whine.

Is this common for L361 to whine? Other PSU from my second c9s also does that!

The whining is dependent on the load off the PSU, for example rewind and it pitches up

Are there any Infos in which value L361 has and which new Coil could be fitted and if it's even the Coil? I'm just out off ideas now.

Thx in advance!

Hi JoeyTech2000

Although I don't have a manual for this model, it almost certainly uses a switching power supply like the earlier T30 /T50ME multi system Betas. That being said, you may have a failed switching transistor or a failed MB3759/TL494CN PWM IC. If the mains fuse has blown up with burn marks then something is short-circuit in the primary side of the PSU.

Hello Everyone. I have a Sony Model Sl-800ME Multistandard.

The power is completely DEAD. Just tearing into it now. no sign of anything obvious, so far components all seem ok.

Just in the cursory check over phase of things right now.

Does anyone have a schematic or service manual on this one?

or perhaps a list of similar decks with same power supply? any help would be appreciated.

and just for you capacitor guys, none of them are bulging, or leaking on the board.

I will be going through them soon anyway.

To John Till,

I have not seen any commercial beta video tape cleaners but I have an original Sony tape winder/rewinder.

However here is a video from a guy who made his own unit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYPxLwgXbbE

Some ideas there on making a cleaning machine. See him demonstrating the cleaning process using his "do it yourself" home made cleaning machine but personally I would be using a mask whilst doing that.

I have previously tried to convert Sony SLC6 but tape drag was too high. Maybe an old Sanyo top loader would be a better starting point - stronger motors.

cheers Noel - Also in Australia (Betaheaven.com)

Good evening

I have some Betamax machines I want to use so I can begin digitising the numerous tapes I have. One of the machines is an old Sony SL C20 unit which is like to use. However, the sound is faulty

The alternative is a Toshiba unit which works fine but Id still like to get the C20 repaired if possible.

Does anyone know if there is a UK service centre I can send my C20 unit to so it can be refurbished/repaired?

I have a couple of Sanyo units which can be used by someone who needs spares - just let me know if its of use to anyone.

Best regards

Mark

Hi folks - I have recently acquired a Sony C5 -UB. It powers up, all appears to work - however, it won't rewind tapes. I found this: https://www.palsite.com/slc5tech.html - I'm assuming a 'rewind kit' is a set of replacement belts, which may have snapped over time. I'm going to roll up my sleeves and take a crack at fixing the old girl, but does anyone know where / how I can get hold of one of these rewind kits? Thanks all!

Does anyone know if a Betamax tape winder/cleaner has been made and where I can find one?

There are some available for VHS but I r yet to fine any for Betamax.

Regards, John in Australia