VHS Video eject problem

[233sqn]

Hello all

I have dug our Sony combined VHS/DVD Surround Sound system out of the loft to play some VHS cassettes to enable recording to DVD. The VHS part has hardly ever been used but now when I put a video in it runs for a count of 15 (seconds?) on the little display and then ejects. I’ve tried several different videos, all do the same.

Any suggestions?

 

[big-all]

does it play normally then stop??
look inside the flap hold it open and tip and see if anything comes loose

 

[Peet]

If its been in the loft for a while the potentially large temperature variations may have accelerated deterioration of things like the rubber on the pinch rollers and also of the tapes themselves. At a guess its probably chucking the tape back out as the tension is all messed up and it takes several seconds of movement for this to occur. VCRs are very cheap on ebay. I'd buy one of those. Stick to a big known make.

Be careful you don't damage the tapes buy playing them in the old machine.

Also, with any video tape machine, let it and the tapes stand in the environment its going to be used in for 24 hours before use as the condensation can cause the tape to cling to the head drum.

 

[233sqn]

Well it seems to have solved itself, working fine now and copying to DVD!

Thanks for the replies though!