Shed oxide in a Sony SLV-353 VCR?

[Red to black]

Apart from the usual P5 Arm sticking and the split gear already mentioned, these machines were notorious for the capstan motors failing, the original bearing housing could bend and cause tape shaving as well as the flywheel magnet rubbing through the stator coils, originally Sony supplied a modified capstan motor complete only (strengthened by cast Ally ribs on the bearing housing to prevent bending), later they also offered as a spare just the modified bearing housing "chimney" as well.

Not the best machines when badly worn (very expensive parts required even then!), if you have paid a lot for this then I would consider sending it back if you can.
They were nice machines in their day, however they aged badly.

[Leanoric]

Originally Posted by Red to black

Apart from the usual P5 Arm sticking and the split gear already mentioned, these machines were notorious for the capstan motors failing, the original bearing housing could bend and cause tape shaving as well as the flywheel magnet rubbing through the stator coils, originally Sony supplied a modified capstan motor complete only (strengthened by cast Ally ribs on the bearing housing to prevent bending), later they also offered as a spare just the modified bearing housing "chimney" as well.

Not the best machines when badly worn (very expensive parts required even then!), if you have paid a lot for this then I would consider sending it back if you can.
They were nice machines in their day, however they aged badly.

Yes my parents had one back in the day and I remember it being pretty good then. I dont actually remember us having any problems with it at all.
I think I am going to send this one back though. If it was just the gear that was at fault Id keep it and have a go at replacing it but i have feeling that its got other issues.

[ben]

I repaired a couple of these I picked up in very good condition back in the mid -late 90s. I think the hardened grease on the aforementioned lever was the main cause of all the trouble, it was like a chain reaction as the gears split. The replacement gears I bought for that blue one I think were another colour, pink or white. Maybe they were an improved version? I think the whole repair only too me about half an hour, but it was a long, long time ago!

I agree with the others though, if this unit here was bought for good money as working it should be returned. Especially if there are signs it has a lot of hours on it.

[Leanoric]

Hi all, it turns out now that I’m keeping onto the vcr. Im about to order the blue gear and hopefully it will work after that is replaced.

While waiting for it to arrive I want to remove the mechanism deck and try to clean all of the oxide or whatever that stuff is from the parts. There is still actually quite a bit of it still in there and im not sure Id feel comfortable putting a decent tape in there while it is still covered in that stuff.

I was just wondering if it would be a bad idea to remove the mechanism deck and various parts for cleaning? Could this cause other problems, parts to be out of alignment etc?

Ive never worked on a vcr before but Ive downloaded the service manual and thought that I would give it a go.

Thanks

[ben]

No need to remove the mech, and in fact I would advise against it as you may damage things like the fragile head drum flat ribbon cable or put something out of alignment.

Just use Q tips with IPA to clean the deck and guides. The drum should be cleaned only with chamois. Scrub the pinch roller with a cut up scouring pad and a bit of soapy water if it has encrusted oxide or looks shiny. You might be able to remove the roller form the pivot, often they're just friction fit and pull off.

[dj_fivos_sak]

I would also advise you not to dismantle the mechanism. If you haven't re-aligned a VCR before, it will be hard for you to do it. Most of the times, cleaning the tape transport and lubricating the mechanism doesn't require removing parts unless some grease under a lever or cam gear has become very sticky. Replacing the blue loading gear requires removing the main cam gear anyway so be very careful with the timing. There are alignment/timing marks on the gear as well as on the chassis. If you want to learn more about servicing this type of mechanism, I would suggest watching 12voltvid's YouTube videos on Sony VCRs.

[Welsh Anorak]

I would heed Red to Black's advice here. The capstan motor did cause problems, so do make sure it's free to run - early ones rubbed against the stator and could damage it irrepairably. Without the belt fitted it should run very freely.

[Leanoric]

Ok thanks guys, I wont dismantle the mechanism, I have no experience in doing it so I would probably do more harm than good. Hopefully just the gear change will be enough to get it working again.