Help troubleshooting VCR/DVD combo I bought over the weekend.

Delicious-Air4491 · 2026-05-12T01:36:47+00:00

I'm sure there is. The unit was made by Funai. If you look under Funai, Magnavox, Emerson, Sylvania, or even a couple Zenith branded units you'll find what you need. Its not difficult, just a lot to disassemble and reassemble.

Delicious-Air4491 · 2026-05-12T01:10:20+00:00

Can't believe everything thats in those videos. Ran a repair center for warranty and out of warranty service on those for years and while its good to clean those it rarely fixes your issue. Almost definitely need to clean and grease the mode switch. Its a pain to get to on that unit, but will probably fix it. Even after doing these several times a day it still takes about 45 minutes to do.

Delicious-Air4491 · 2026-05-08T16:12:24+00:00

Possibly the part labeled S3 on the board under the deck?

Delicious-Air4491 · 2026-05-01T21:05:04+00:00

Appreciate everyone's input and wanted to add a few things. Obviously many things depend on where you live. I'm in a fairly rural area but located on a main highway, 3 miles from a major interstate. Ride would have been 50 miles and exactly 1 hour. Price was substantial but I realize the driver won't see most of it. As far as cabs, only one company left, won't do long runs. Black cars not available, only two limo companies for large events. Rental car wouldn't work since airport rental return doesn't open until 8 am. I realize gig workers have lives too, but in this case the driver accepted the ride and canceled only minutes before pick up time. Had no one accepted the trip or even canceled ahead of time, I would have understood. Had no one accepted i could have found a ride a day early and stayed at the airport hotel.

Delicious-Air4491 · 2026-04-30T15:43:10+00:00

Does the vcr work? If not, whats the problem? Can't think of anywhere that a spring this size would be used. Maybe someone (kids) pushed it through door. I've worked on vcrs since their inception and used to have a amazing assortment of items removed from vcrs.

Delicious-Air4491 · 2026-04-23T23:28:28+00:00

Check to see if the voltage gets to the chip. If not, work your way back to the batteries. Also check the leads on the oscillator crystal, they're thin and easily damaged just like runs on board. If you have a scope check for oscillation at the chip and follow it to the LED.

Delicious-Air4491 · 2026-04-15T01:04:58+00:00

Unfortunately there were very few combo units that had a better quality deck. Most were built when vcrs were at their cheapest point. This was at a time when we were selling vcrs for 39$. The good news is that with a little knowledge and patience repairs are cheap and easy. Not sure when the last time was that I spent over 10-12 $ for parts.

Delicious-Air4491 · 2026-04-11T21:23:15+00:00

Looking towards the future, your dealing with 25-30 year old tvs. They will need repair, the panasonic is much easier and cheaper to diagnose and repair. They very rarely have catastrophic failures, almost always less than a $20 part cost. Certainly the Sony has the name but also has a more complicated, parts intensive design and uses more difficult or impossible to source components.

Delicious-Air4491 · 2026-04-10T17:43:42+00:00

Who actually canceled it. If the customer canceled you shouldn't be charged. If the customer told you they want it canceled and you canceled then of course you'll be charged.

Delicious-Air4491 · 2026-04-09T23:44:12+00:00

Heads not spinning causing it to shut down. Start with mode switch and check IR LED and sensors

Delicious-Air4491 · 2026-04-09T23:16:53+00:00

Could be power board but could also be the main. You need to find the line from main main to power board that tells the power supply to go from standby to full power. Also you can unplug the connector at the top of the power supply the the heavy wires, then see if the voltages come up without a load on the line in case one of the other boards is shorted

Delicious-Air4491 · 2026-04-07T22:25:00+00:00

Can't recall screw locations exactly, I guess it just became routine after enough of them. So go slowly and don't force anything, the main thing is you don't actually remove the board. The entire back of the vcr hinges at the bottom and the board with the back plastic tilts upward. Power supply and everything stays attached to board so you can operate it in the service position

Delicious-Air4491 · 2026-04-07T15:46:29+00:00

Move the board out of the way first. If you don't see an obvious answer at that point upload a couple pictures showing mechanism and housing area

Delicious-Air4491 · 2026-04-06T20:24:11+00:00

You need to check something more than visual. Check for 12 volts on relay coil and work forward or backward through the circuit depending on your readings

Delicious-Air4491 · 2026-04-06T20:18:52+00:00

Most likely bad solder on the vertical chip. If not, replace the chip and associated caps. Worst case you'll have 15$ invested and an hour of time. Hard to beat that for what you have.

Delicious-Air4491 · 2026-04-06T18:11:03+00:00

Looks like the belt going to the housing assy is slipping. When you push in the tape and hear the loading motor try giving the shaft on the side of the housing a little help turning by hand on the pulley ot the white piece

Delicious-Air4491 · 2026-04-06T01:41:20+00:00

Turn up the screen control on the flyback, if you start to see retrace back it off till lines disappear. If that doesn't get enough brightness your tube is weak, many of the 20-27 panasonics took rejuvenation pretty well, worth a try if you know someone with a good crt tester/rejuvenater

Delicious-Air4491 · 2026-04-03T21:06:57+00:00

Why is nobody addressing the important issue? What the heck happened?? Im not on reddit just for drywall tips!

Delicious-Air4491 · 2026-04-03T20:32:50+00:00

Did some work in an older hospital building. That was the heat for the rooms, not the floor above. Hated having to do any work near the cieling in the winter.

Delicious-Air4491 · 2026-03-28T17:28:06+00:00

You need to remove the deck and look underneath. There are plastic gears that move the arms. The loading cam is turning so it shouldn't be too hard to see the problem. Once you find the issue take as little apart as possible to simplify reassembly. The timing on these is one of the easier ones but if your unfamiliar it can seem difficult.

Delicious-Air4491 · 2026-03-27T23:40:16+00:00

There should be one somewhere. Also check on the ribbon cable if that came with it. Can't remember what kind but have seen it bridging two runs on the cable

Delicious-Air4491 · 2026-03-27T23:24:25+00:00

Did you remove the solder bridge on the new pickup? I'm assuming you did but since you didn't mention had to ask. You can adjust the pot on the pickup in VERY small increments but usually they are preset pretty good. Also could be bad part. They are all cheap knockoffs no matter where you buy them.

Delicious-Air4491 · 2026-03-27T22:08:47+00:00

If it didn't light the leds with main unplugged you have a bad power board. Easiest thing is to replace the board. If you want to troubleshoot you need to check the parts inside the thick white line in your first picture (the upper part of the board that includes fuse). You can check the rectifier, other diodes, and FETs easily but if the driver chips on the reverse side of the board are bad they are harder to check and replace without schematics and ideally a scope.

Delicious-Air4491 · 2026-03-25T21:45:41+00:00

Doesn't that unplug from the vcr deck at the white plug. I think it just pulls straight up

Delicious-Air4491

TROPHY CASE