VideoProblems

VHS PROBLEMS:
“First, we absolutely promise that your tape was tested
twice before being sent to you, but obviously there is a
problem we need to solve now. If you’re having sound
problems or static lines across your picture it’s usually a
simple tracking adjustment that’s needed. Even if you have
auto-tracking with no tracking buttons on your machine,
more powerful override buttons are usually on the remote
control so look carefully. Try them out, it makes all the
difference.
If that doesn’t work, fast forward to the end, then rewind,
and try tracking again. Next, try shaking the tape to see if
you hear something like a loose piece of plastic, or a screw
rattling around. If you do, and you want to try and get the
tape to work today, keep listening until you get to the
instructions for taking the tape apart. If you don’t hear
anything unusual, try it in another machine. Not the one in
the basement, but a neighbors, or ask a salesman at
circuit city. If it works in another machine, try cleaning your
heads with a cleaning cassettes you can buy just about
anywhere. Remember, if it plays in any machine, that
means the image is on the tape correctly and the
mechanism in the cassette is working properly. Try to
borrow a friends machine, rather than buy a new one, and
understand the transfer mechanism in these machines
come down to a near rubber band size drive belt which
stretches with heat and time. This 8 hour video IS loaded to
VHS standards, but it is as heavy as a cassette gets, so
whereas a rental that is shorter and lighter may play fine, a
fully loaded tape is like putting 6 people in your car and
pressing the brakes. You may realize it’s time to replace
the break pads.. only the repair isn’t worth it with most
VCR’s.
But.. if the tape doesn’t play in anyone’s machine, call back
and listen to the rest of this message, and we may be able
to get you up and running today anyway. Especially if this
is the day you set aside to study, your exam is right around
the corner, you’ve already taken the kids to grandmas, and
now you feel like pulling your hair out because the tape
won’t work, and other things seem to play in your machine
fine.
If your machine ate the tape and it’s stuck in the machine,
you may have to cut the tape to get it out. Don’t worry, we
won’t charge you extra, just write broken on the tapes
label, cut out any bad section, then use scotch tape
sparingly to reconnect the two halves and don’t leave any
sticking over the edges. Make sure you hit STOP between
each function from then on. For example Rewind, Stop,
play. And for your information, machines eat tapes. Tapes
do not break machines.
So… you called back. Ok, take a deep breath and realize
we are trying to help you get your tape working TODAY.
Also realize damage may have occurred in shipping.
Even if you’re not mechanical, one solution you can try is
taking the tape apart to see if there are any broken parts
from shipping that are causing friction as the tape reels try
to turn. It’s worth a try because if you break the tape, or
can’t get it back together we aren’t going to charge you
extra, and we’ll just send another by 3 day. But then you’ll
lose your study day, so try it. All you need is a small
Phillips screwdriver. Just turn the tape upside down on a
well lit kitchen table and take out the 5 screws. Don’t pick
the tape up. That’s worth repeating, don’t pick the tape up,
or everything will fall out and you’ll never get it back
together. Just patiently wiggle -waggle the two halves of
the clam shell apart with it laying their on the table, you can
use a steak knife to help, then look for broken pieces
inside. They can be quite small, so carefully lift each reel
one at a time to look under while holding your finger on top
of the tape path where it comes out of the shell so that it
stays in it’s path. Reassemble and hope. If it still doesn’t
work, you’ve only lost about 10 minutes. Now go study
your paper updates and the math and call us for a new
tape. Maybe this will end up a day for serendipity.