How to clean vcr heads without damaging and opening the VCR

[Carlos Menem]

I heard the best way of cleaning vcr heads without open it, is to use a head cleaner tape and then run a new tape all the way but I don't know if that works well. I cleaned my ag-1980 twice yesterday when I got it. On the first pass it the frames looked better but then I decided to re-clean it and I don't know if the dots where there before but there are white dots appearing in the frames at ramdom could it be the head was old anyway? please advice what to do I want to change heads if needed to make my ag new again...

PS! How do I use my AG-1980 as a TBC for my SLV-R1000 it'll be like combining the best of both worlds if I'm successful... front inputs on the AG didn't work... the image still unstabilized!

[JakeBlues]

I can tell you this.. if you haven't cleaned them in a while those cleaners can cause more harm than good.
I found this it could help...
If you rent videotapes, there's a chance you'll get one that's been around the block a few too many times and leaves an oxide mess on your VCR's tape heads. The result is a snowy picture or--if your VCR has a video-mute feature--a plain blue screen, which is less interesting than at least half the shows on TV.
Instructions
STEP 1: Play a new blank tape in your VCR. Most of the time this works to clean the heads and keep them from flaking additional oxide.
STEP 2: After an hour, remove the clean tape and try the VCR.
STEP 3: If the heads still aren't clean, try using a special head-cleaning tape (available at electronics stores). Buy one that uses a cleaning fluid; dry cleansers are more likely to damage the VCR heads.
STEP 4: To keep your heads clean longer, check rental tapes for obvious signs of damage before putting them in your VCR, and fast-forward past the first few minutes of any rental tape, which is where damage is most likely to occur.
Overall Tips & Warnings :
Fast-forward and rewind your own tapes every two years to prevent sticking and potential flaking of oxide.

and one more:
Here's How:
Eject any tape from the VCR and unplug it from wall current.
Unplug any other cables from VCR (Cable, Antenna, Audio/Video Cables, etc..).
Place VCR on flat surface, such as a table covered with newspaper or cloth to protect table surface.
With the appropriate screwdriver, remove VCR cover carefully.
You will see a shiny round drum--this is the Head Drum. Take an isopropyl alcohol-dipped chamois tipped cleaning stick and place it on the Head Drum with light pressure.
Manually rotate Head Drum with your free hand (it spins freely), keeping chamois stick stationary, allowing fluid to clean the drum (Never move the chamois stick in the vertical direction-you may snap off Head protrusions on the drum).
With fresh chamois tips and alcohol, now clean the Stationary audio head, capstans, rollers, and gears. Check for dust. Do not get excessive fluid on any parts.
Clean Belts and Pulleys using fresh chamois tips, once again, do not use excessive fluid.
Clean dust off Circuit Boards using a mini-vacuum cleaner and/or compressed air (Use just enough force to remove the dust and dirt).
Let machine site a few minutes after finishing above process.
With the VCR still open, plug into wall and TV, turn on VCR and insert a recorded tape. (Do not touch any of the interior workings of the VCR or interior metal cabinet during this process).
Press Play on VCR and confirm that everything is functioning correctly and picture and sound is restored.
Repeat steps 1-10 if results are not satisfactory.
Eject tape, Unplug VCR from wall, uplug all cables.
Screw VCR cover back on and place back in original location with proper hookups.
Tips:
Do not perform the above procedure if your VCR is still covered by Warranty or Extended Service Plan. Take unit to authorized technician instead.
Make sure you have all the proper screwdriver(s), chamois, cleaning solution, etc... before starting Step One of this process. DO NOT USE Q-TIPS.

Best

[Carlos Menem]

I don't see protrusions on the head drum, I need pictures.
Can I just use mere cotton buds?
Is it a good idea to clean 3 or 4 times the heads with the tape cleaner or just 1 is enough before I change tactics...

[JakeBlues]

Well I would NOT use cotton buds for sure! The fibers are loose and WILL cling to almost anything they touch. Why I am NOT reccomending you do so I have taken the Q-Tips and made sure they were wound tightly after I dip them in the alcohol to keep that from happening.
Also.. Radio Shack use to sell Q-Tips that had a small sponge end on them and they were longer so you could reach back and all the parts the tape follows.
"Is it a good idea to clean 3 or 4 times the heads with the tape cleaner or just 1 is enough before I change tactics..."

..good question, I'm the paranoid type I let the heads dry a few minutes then check the quality with a tape I want to watch. If it has not improved clean them again. Also if you notice the "problem" places on the movie again and again in the same places it MAY not be the machine.

Also you GOT ME THINKING today.. it may be time to clean MY HEADS also and I found this that reaffirms what I said earlier:
I have used wet type cleaning kits but I have heard that both wet and dry are not very good. New VHS tapes (unrecorded)are apparently the best way to clean your VCR. Just run the tape from beginning to end and it will clean it. Apparently though the absolute best way is to open the VCR and do it manually but I am not brave enough to do that on an expensive VCR. I wouldn't worry about it though unless you are running many tapes daily from dubious/unclean sources.

Best Of Luck

[Carlos Menem]

But is it a good idea to use new tapes to clean the heads yes or not? I think that may had damage my ag-1980 the first day of use.

[JakeBlues]

But is it a good idea to use new tapes to clean the heads yes or not? I think that may had damage my ag-1980 the first day of use.

Using a new tape like you use for your recording is VERY safe. Safer than any other method we've discussed so far. The panasonic ag-1980 s-vhs machine that I am sure you are refering to.. will be perfectly safe to play a blank type in it. Just wondering, WHY would you try to clean the heads of a new machine on the first day of use?

Peace

[Carlos Menem]

Using a new tape like you use for your recording is VERY safe. Safer than any other method we've discussed so far. The panasonic ag-1980 s-vhs machine that I am sure you are refering to.. will be perfectly safe to play a blank type in it. Just wondering, WHY would you try to clean the heads of a new machine on the first day of use?

Peace

no the machine was previously used on a editing room! I didn't know this

[RFBurns]

You can clean heads all day long and it wont matter if the tapes your using are old and have sat collecting dust. Those white particles you are seeing are the dustmites that have collected on the surface of the tape. No amount of cleaning of the machine is going to fix that.

What you need is to either buy a tape rejuvination/cleaning machine that will remove these dustmites effectively and safely, or send the tapes to a facility that can do this for you. Perhaps a video production facility or maybe even a tv station might have one of these units in their production rooms. Quite often a broadcast stations news department will have a rejuvination machine for their news tapes so they can re-cycle them instead of replacing them, which replacing tapes can get quite expensive.

Video Tape Cleaner/Rejuvinators

[Carlos Menem]

@RFBurns
I have a kinyo 2 way rewinder + tape cleaner machine cost me 27$ Do I really need 100+ $ to clean my tapes?
Oh! should I clean my tape during rewind or during forwaing? I usally do it during forwaing so rewinding does not affect tensions on the tape... Am I right?

PS! are you 100% sure the little white dots are cause of the TAPE and not the heads drums etc?

[RFBurns]

@RFBurns
I have a kinyo 2 way rewinder + tape cleaner machine cost me 27$ Do I really need 100+ $ to clean my tapes?

Compare the 27$ unit to one that is 100$. I would bet that the 100$ unit has something in it that the 27$ doesnt that effectively cleans tapes. Inside the more expensive units are elements that one would think would scrape the magnetic coating off the tape and ruin it. Not so. The key element in some of the more expensive ones is a quartz crystal that is ground on one edge in such a way that it does not scrape the magnetic surface away at all. It does scrape away any accumilated dust particles and other stuff that should not be on the surface of the tape.

You see, when dust begins to accumilate, the biggest enemy to us with tons of old tapes lying around is "moisture". Any moisture at all will make the dust stick to the tape like glue. Plus any accumilated tape particles on the player's guide posts and pinch roller can also adhere to the tape surface along with whatever already accumilated before. When the tapes sit for a period of time, all nicely wound up on its supply hub inside the case, the tension of the wound tape on the hub itself acts like a bench press, pressing and pressing the particles even harder onto the surface as the tape sits. With this kind of build up, a soft brush or soft foamy thing in the cheap cleaner will not remove the build up at all, if anything it will simply scatter or smear the build up like a paint brush spreading paint.

Thus what is needed here is a cleaner that can safely scrape away the buildup while leaving the magnetic surface intact. Thats why soem of those cleaner/rejuvinators are very expensive, but let me tell you from first hand experience....they are definately well worth and more the money spent.

Oh! should I clean my tape during rewind or during forwaing? I usally do it during forwaing so rewinding does not affect tensions on the tape... Am I right?

Well what direction does the tape move to play/record? Imagine the surface and which direction any accumilated stuff would be. Its like shaving, you want to shave with the grain, not against it. Thus cleaning during forward is the best way to prevent excessive cleaning and removing magnetic particles or removing a chunk of accumilated stuff that just might also take along a piece of magnetic surface with it!!! So yes you are right to clean as it forwards.

PS! are you 100% sure the little white dots are cause of the TAPE and not the heads drums etc?

Yes. There is only one other cause to the little white dots, actually two. One would be worn heads within the drum. The head elements can wear down due to tapes that have build up of junk going across them. You see the heads surfaces are machined so that they are very smooth. Imagine getting dirt or sand in your engine oil and what that would do to the machined bearings and cylinder walls and piston rings! Well thats what junk stuck on the surface of the tape does to the heads, scratches the fine finish and makes them chop at the tape as the tape passes over them, and that in turn causes clogged heads and chewed up magnetic surfaces which in turn causes drop outs and ruins the whole day.

The second cause to the white sparklies is loss of ground in or around the ribbon cable that leads from the pickup coils below the head drum to the pre-amps. Some head assemblies use direct solder connection to the board where the head amps are, but those can loose grounding as well. If this is the culprit, it is the drum motor noise that is being picked up and induced inductively into the signal path, and we get the white sparklies in the picture.

The second scenario would only occur if the machine had a gazillion hours use on it with never having been to a service shop for a little bit of maintenance. Just like a car engine, you do the maintenance, the engine will last and be dependable when you need it. If you neglect the maintenance on the engine, your gonna get a surprise on the day you need it most! Same with a vcr. Keep it clean, run good tapes through it, have it maintenanced properly on a regular time schedule and it will perform when you need it.

[blutach]

@RFBurns

The more and more I read from you, the more and more I learn. Thank you.

Regards

[Carlos Menem]

Actually thinking about what you said... wouldn't be better cleaning while rewinding it seems to me like cleaning while FF will be passing over the dust instead of against it...? I'm confuse now. Can anyone else confirm...

In any case the dots are not there anymore I pass it a few times over my 27$ rewinder&cleaner and they were gone.

[Carlos Menem]

@RFBurns
Do you know if Ethanol is better then Isopropyl 99% medical grade?
Is this guy doing a good review?

http://www.videointerchange.com/tips.htm

section: Cleaning Video Heads - Video Head Clogs - Head Clogging
===
-I read my AG isn't really full frame but -full field or full line-...
a guy from doom9 -chipzoller- said to me the AG is better since it has TBC build into the machine... so is a vcr with tbc buildin better then a vcr + external tbc or it doesn't matter...
-will using my AG-1980 with tbc + datavideo 1000 produce better results because there is 2 tbcs at work or not neceseraly.
-I heard slv-r1000 has better picture then ag-1980 is it true and will it be best to use the datavideo with the slv instead because of the quality...
-How about this for the cleaning pad:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130071321955

[RFBurns]

@RFBurns

The more and more I read from you, the more and more I learn. Thank you.

Regards

You bet blu!

Carlos, the reason why I prefer to clean tapes in the forward direction is to prevent large chunks of junk being removed from the tape, which if that happens it is possible that a chunk of magnetic surface will come up right along with the garbage we want to remove. It really doesnt matter, forward or reverse, but I prefer to have the machine clean them in the forward direction to prevent the "chunk-dump" from occuring.

As to head cleaner, ethanol is just as good as the 99% pure isopropyl alcohol. As long as the stuff evaporates and does not linger its good.

The TBC thing, yes the AG unit is a good unit if you dont need the corrected signal at the output.

[Carlos Menem]

@RFBurns
at first you said the forward direction was preferable because that's where the dust will pick up the better now you say is for security not necesseraly better rubber.
-what about this for chamois pads? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=130071321955
is it too big?

-I broke my AG-1980 heads as I cleaned it while it was on since I applied enough pressure to make it rotate slower. It needed head change anyway... Do you know the heads can be generic or specific for this model
-while cleaning the vcr inside using IPA 70% and antilinting towel I found a black kinda rubber cylinder thing I cleaned and it leave my towel sort of blackish I did it again and again blackish so I thought maybe I damage the rubber? was it a good idea or does it just need a lot of clean? if I damage it what is its name so I tell the tech to replace it. First tell me how to find out if is damage... I may replace it myself if is not too hard.