Barry777
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May 27, 2010, 12:14 AM
Post #4 of 4
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Re: [mauro] SONY Betamax SL-8080E problem
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Hi Mauro,
It sounds like the loading ring is not making a complete cycle, which would prevent any further action. On most Betas, the machine will wrap the tape around the drum and guides as soon as you insert the cassette. Then it will happily sit there awaiting further instructions. Does the machine wrap the tape around the head drum, or make an attempt? If not, you'll need to examine the mechanism underneath and you'll probably find a slipping belt somewhere.
If it does appear to wrap the tape, you'll need to make sure it's completing the cycle. That loading ring drags a bunch of other stuff with it, and places quite a load on whichever belts and/or idlers play a part in it. Particularly, you'll want to see if the loading motor pulley keeps turning after the tape finishes wrapping itself around the drum and guides. Sounds like it's slipping.
If it doesn't even try to wrap the tape, you might have a dirty "tape down" switch which is not making contact. Look for a small leaf-type switch that would be engaged when a tape is fully lowered onto the deck - it might be visible through a hole in the carriage, but it will be somewhere very near it. If the contacts are exposed, you can steal the wife's emery board and run it between the contacts a few times to clean them. If it's the type of switch that is sealed, you'll need to check its continuity with an ohmmeter (or jump it out by shorting its terminal together). Keep in mind that timing might be important - in other words, the switch may need to close as soon as the tape bottoms out, or the computer may have moved on to other things and ignore the switch thereafter.
There's also the remote possibility that your mechanism may be so gummed up from age that it won't budge. If you can hear a motor straining, humming of feel it heating up quickly, then it's trying to move something that won't move. Beta machines are much more complex mechanically than VHS, so you might have quite a challenge ahead of you.
On a machine that old, you may find some more troubles once you get the mechanism working - worn down video heads, inaccurate color rendition, little things like that. Thankfully, those old tanks hold their mechanical alignment very well because they're built so solid. And since Beta soon gave way to VHS, you might even get lucky and have a machine that wasn't used very much and failed from aging of the rubber parts. Good luck!
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Barry Fone - VCR Repair hobbyist and professional FAA Repair Station Avionics Bench Technician (top level). TEST EQUIPMENT: (4) Sencore VC93 VCR Analyzers, (11) Tentel gauges, Sencore VA48 and (2) VA62 Video Analyzers, Sigma Electronics TSG-375 NTSC/SMPTE Video Generator, several VCR Alignment Tapes, plus countless Oscilloscopes, Frequency Counters, Wow and Flutter Meters, Distortion Analyzers, Vectorscope, 136-channel Logic Analyzer, Signature Analyzer . . . . VIDEO GEAR: (6) JVC BR-S822U's, (3) JVC BR-7000 series, (3) JVC BR-S500U, (2) JVC BR-S800U, JVC GR-800U and (2) GR-860U Editing Controllers, Sony FXE-100 Video Switcher/Effects Generator, (5) Time Code Generator/Readers, (1) Sony SLO-1800 (Beta), (2) Alesis ADAT-XT, (1) Sony DXC-1200 TV Camera, Pioneer VP-1000 Laser Disc Player plus many consumer grade Beta and VHS VCR's. Passionate electronics enthusiast since 1973...most anything except computers. Check out my collection at www.barrys8trackrepair.com/MyVideoGear.html
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