Betamax PALsite: VTC-M20 : Technical

Technical

Rear view

VTC-M20 inside top view
Inside top

VTC-M20 inside front view
Inside front

Fault and repair guide

No reel rotation

This is a very common problem which plagues all Sanyo machines and 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. Next thing to check is the drive belt connecting the motor to the idler assembly. Finally suspect failure of the motor itself.

Belts

These machines develop rubber belt and drive wheel wear and ageing issues similar to the Sanyo models and the rubber stretches, goes hard or cracks causing drive, tape load/unload and control issues. They can usually be restored to service with a new belt kit and a good head clean.

Playback interference from the reel motor

Another common issue on these machines is a worn or faulty reel motor. The motor starts to generate small arcs internally which are picked up by the sensitive video head amplifier circuits via the power supply. These are seen as random coloured dashes on the playback video. Adding extra capacitors and high current (low resistance) inline ferrite beads inline with the motor supply wires can partly reduce the problem but replacement with a new motor if you can get one is the best fix.

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
Poor sound especially at recording	Failure of the sound processing IC noticeable during recording only.Also check first the head is clean and the azimuth is giving the optimum response.
Problema en el sensor DEW	Les encendido constantemente, conector cn2 en la placa principal con soldaduras frías. Pérdida de imagen intermitente y prolongada,durante el visionado de una cinta, conmutador del test de señal muy sucio, se solucionó con el lubri-Limp/1.
La cinta no entra	Esto se debe a que el led DEW, está constantemente encendido, ya puse una reseña por este motivo, pero olvidé hacer la mención con respecto a la entrada de la cinta.
Submit entry