JVC GR-DVL150 Not Playing Tapes

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Hello

Sorry if this goes on a bit - I've tried to give as much detail as
possible:

I'm having a problem with my 3 year old JVC GR-DVL150 MiniDV
camcorder. I got it out over the weekend to watch back some old tapes.
This was the first time I'd used the camera for about a month, and I
had left a tape in the camera all this time (not sure if this is
relevant).

Anyway, I connected the camera up, took the tape out and put an old
one in. This played back perfectly. Then, later in the day, I put a
different tape in. Before I pressed play, I noticed that the timecode
didn't appear - just the --.--.-- that appears when a new tape is
loaded.

I pressed play but there was just the blue screen - again, as if the
tape was blank. At first, I thought I'd put a blank tape in by
mistake, but all the tapes I tried did the same thing, even the one
that had been working a minute ago.

I tried turning it off and on and then tried again but still the same.

I then had to go out, so I took the tape out and left it over night.
The next day, I tried again with one of the tapes that hadn't worked
previously. Now it suddenly worked again! I was ready to put it down
as "one of those things" but when I ejected that tape and put another
in, it was behaving as before - no timecode and no picture/sound. I
put the tape that had just been working back in, and now that didn't
work!

And that's the situation I'm in. I've done a few searches on the
internet and I've found loads of issues with JVC cameras (I wish I'd
seen these before I bought mine!) but none that matched my symptoms.

The only thing I can think of to try (apart from taking it to be
repaired) is a head-cleaning tape, but if it is the heads, I can't
understand how it could be working one minute and not the next.

If anyone has any advice or suggestions, I'd be very grateful.

James Bird
 
Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

"James Bird" <james.bird@dollshouse.com> wrote in message news:b4352ae8.0411220321.2b375ab6@posting.google.com...
> Hello
>
> Sorry if this goes on a bit - I've tried to give as much detail as
> possible:
>
> I'm having a problem with my 3 year old JVC GR-DVL150 MiniDV
> camcorder. I got it out over the weekend to watch back some old tapes.
> This was the first time I'd used the camera for about a month, and I
> had left a tape in the camera all this time (not sure if this is
> relevant).
>
> Anyway, I connected the camera up, took the tape out and put an old
> one in. This played back perfectly. Then, later in the day, I put a
> different tape in. Before I pressed play, I noticed that the timecode
> didn't appear - just the --.--.-- that appears when a new tape is
> loaded.
>
> I pressed play but there was just the blue screen - again, as if the
> tape was blank. At first, I thought I'd put a blank tape in by
> mistake, but all the tapes I tried did the same thing, even the one
> that had been working a minute ago.
>
> I tried turning it off and on and then tried again but still the same.
>
> I then had to go out, so I took the tape out and left it over night.
> The next day, I tried again with one of the tapes that hadn't worked
> previously. Now it suddenly worked again! I was ready to put it down
> as "one of those things" but when I ejected that tape and put another
> in, it was behaving as before - no timecode and no picture/sound. I
> put the tape that had just been working back in, and now that didn't
> work!
>
> And that's the situation I'm in. I've done a few searches on the
> internet and I've found loads of issues with JVC cameras (I wish I'd
> seen these before I bought mine!) but none that matched my symptoms.
>
> The only thing I can think of to try (apart from taking it to be
> repaired) is a head-cleaning tape, but if it is the heads, I can't
> understand how it could be working one minute and not the next.
>
> If anyone has any advice or suggestions, I'd be very grateful.
>
> James Bird
>
A speck of dust or dirt in the wrong place could probably cause
intermittent read problems like that. It could shift around. If you
can, try the tapes in another camcorder. If the problem seems to
be limited to the JVC, then it's just an interesting problem to be
solved. But it would be nice to determine for certain that the
tapes are not being damaged by anything that's happening.
 
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Thanks for your reply.

I don't think the tapes are being damaged as when the camera started
working again (after being left overnight), the one I tried wasn't
working before and then it did.

If some dirt (or whatever) has got into the mechanisms, how do you
suggest I go about fixing this? A friend suggested trying compressed
air.

Thanks
James
 
Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

"jamesbird" <james.bird@dollshouse.com> wrote in message news:1101196972.511229.237650@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> Thanks for your reply.
>
> I don't think the tapes are being damaged as when the camera started
> working again (after being left overnight), the one I tried wasn't
> working before and then it did.
>
> If some dirt (or whatever) has got into the mechanisms, how do you
> suggest I go about fixing this? A friend suggested trying compressed
> air.
>
> Thanks
> James
>
I guess it should be OK to use the kind of compressed air that comes
in a can for cleaning camera lenses, etc. Or you could use the kind of
blower that is used for similar purposes. But there are a lot of delicate
things inside a camcorder, so be careful. If you can see any specks of
dust inside, I would try to pick them up with a cleaning swab moistened
with 91 pct isopropyl alcohol (the kind used to swab before injections).
A Q-tip might work, too, but be careful that it doesn't shed any fibers.
 
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Problem solved! I just bought a head-cleaning tape and all's well
again!

Thanks for your advice.

James