OT - Weird VCR Problem

[Josette]

I hope this isn't too long and involved, especially for an OT, but it was so weird, both how it happened and then was resolved.

I've taped and watched tapes regularly, every day.  Yesterday afternoon I taped something.  I then meant to watch another tape, but forgot it wasn't the one in the machine and rewound the one there, so I saw a bit of that - and what had been taped was there - all was fine.

I put the other tape in and got nothing but black and white static.  There were some bad spots on that tape, so I thought maybe it was that.  I fast forwarded and rewound it and made sure to get past the known bad spot - but no change.

I then put other tapes in.  My aunt had just returned from the hospital (nothing serious - a bunch of tests to find out about headaches she's had for years but was getting frequently lately) and I was going to show her the DS episodes that she had missed.  No matter what tape I put in, it was the same thing.  In just one instant!  It had been working a moment before.

I have a little TV with built-in VCR, so I brought that in to play the tapes.

Late at night I tried taping on the regular one.  Aside from DS there's something I really want to get on Wednesday night.  If it still taped all right, I figured I better wait until Thursday to take it to be repaired.  The first try came out with the static.

Later, I was sorting out which tapes were which on the little one and tried taping about 5 or 6 minutes on the "bad" one, and again, it didn't work.  Oh dear!  Now, not only Wednesday night but even today's DS would be impossible!!

Then, out of habit, I pressed play with one of the tapes in the "bad" machine - and there was a picture!!!  I tried a couple of others - they worked!!

So, I taped this morning as usual - all is fine as though nothing ever happened!!!!!!!

That's got to be the weirdest thing, but now, if there's something important to tape, I have no idea if I can trust it!!

[dom]

You have my sympathy. I have a few systems that do wierd things like that and it drives me bonkers. For me, the main problem is that by the time I figure out what the problem is, I am so frustrated by the situation and how many tries it took to figure it out that I forget what the solution is even though I just figured it out.

So you can imagine what I go thru when the computer starts acting up...

My advice - Get a new VCR. 

[joe integlia]

u may have experienced a HEAD CLOG. this can happen with older vcrs or old tapes.sometimes just playing the tape or another tape clears up the problem. if u r using the same tape over and over again just to record and watch and then record again, u may want to replace the tape. instead of replacing the vcr, u may just want to purchase a head cleaning tape available at any major electronic store.

[Josette]

Thank you, Joe.  In this case, while these ARE old tapes used repeatedly, none of them were working for several hours and now all of the same ones ARE working!!  It makes no sense to me at all!!

I thought about a head cleaner.  I used to have the kind where you play the head cleaning tape for a little while.  Then someone recommended the "wet" kind and I bought that.  About a month ago, I forget what problem I had, but I thought maybe I needed that.  The tape was no good.  I forget if the stuff had dried up or the tape went bad.  Whichever - I had to throw it out!!