JP1 Remotes

[motord]

Hello all.

I have a Sony SLV-575UC that needs repair, and I'm wondering if it's worth it. When I put a tape in, it tries to play it and then gets stuck, and the transport controls become unresponsive. The tape ejects with no problem and the unit seems to "reset."

I'm not averse to having it fixed if it's a model that lends itself to fairly simple repairs. From some of the reading I've done on this forum, it seems that certain older Sony models are great and easy to fix, others less so, and others don't even have service manuals available. I'm trying to see which category the 575UC fits into.

Also, am I putting myself at risk of being shocked if I open it up to see what's happening under the hood when I put a tape in?

Thanks for any info you folks can provide.

MotorD

[zaphod7501]

Just keep your hands and tools out of the power supply when you open it up.
That's a very solid machine. There are two common failures that can give that symptom. There is a swinging arm near the pinch roller that pulls the tape out so that the tape is placed between the roller and the capstan shaft. It will become sticky. If it's in the wrong position when the tape loads, then the tape misses the stationary control track head and you will only see a picture in search or pause, but not in play. If it is in the correct position, (the pin goes inside the cassette shell behind the tape) it will work normally but will eat the tape upon eject. The nut that holds it in place is also an adjustment so your first attempt would best be a little very light oil, (allow to soak in) moving the spring loaded arm back and forth to loosen it.

The other possibility is a cracked gear under the mechanism. You would notice that one of the guides that pulls the tape around the heads does not move properly and the tape is only partially wrapped around the heads. There is some mechanical alignment needed when replacing it.

From my standpoint these are simple repairs, usually in the $35 - $45 range at my shop....but, with the cost of shipping and the lack of a digital tuner (and it is VHS, not one of the high end Beta machines) the total cost might be prohibitive unless there is a compelling use that a new combo DVD/VCR would not perform. You might be able to loosen a sticky arm (called an RVS arm) but you have to be careful. If you remove the nut, it has to be adjusted precisely when re-installed or else it will damage tapes. You'd have to pretty good to replace the gear under the chassis without prior experience.
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Just call me Zaphod (or Steve) --- I never should have started using numbers in a screen name but I just can't stop now.