I think it's worth noting that heads have a life span and just go bad after time. When this happens no amount of cleaning is going to fix this. That's why the PD100/PDX10/PD150/PD170 have an hours meter. It allowed the owner to visually see when it might be time to send the camcorder back in to Sony for servicing and or repair. The TRV900/950/VX1000/2000/2100 did not have an hours meter in the menu. The only way of checking the hours on those models was with a certain version of the RM-95 (the model that has the NORADJ sticker on the top left).

Wow!!! Life saver :) this worked for my sonyhi8 camera (so far so good, don’t want to jinx it). I was able to use the Q tip and brushes without removing the door to the cassette door and had to do two deep cleanings (lots of black gunk came off the first round of Q tip cleaning on the rubber roller) but I noticed a huge difference after the first clean. I did a second clean as there was still some minor glitching. Thank you so much for sharing this!!

I watched, years ago, a guy clean VCR heads with an old flannel shirt and a sacrificial VHS tape. He removed the tape in the cassette and used it to fool the VCR into running. Then he dipped the flannel in isopropyl and cleaned the parts while they spun. These days, getting a sacrificial tape is tougher.

Thank you for your video. I bought pure isopropyl from the pharmacy as well as some solid looking qtips and the quality of the video is just amazing now. My advice for people is to get good quality qtips that dont spread hairs everywhere and the most pure isoprop alcohol to avoid any moisture. Good luck you all, from Switzerland.

Chamoi tips swabs are much better than using a brush or paper to clean your head and drum. Nice tutorial.

it literally works! man like u deserves a crown!

Thank you My Sony TRV 240 didn’t show picture or sound many years ago. Today after watching your video tho it why not I try. I did every thing you showed . Thanks it worked and I am able to watch my videos.

Very well explained I will now try this but first have to go to Dollar Tree for new paint brush 😂

thank you very much. your video is very clear and i can see how is inside this piece that is like the pisa tower that seems is wrong or broken.

I've watched professional repair techs use chamois marketed for helical scan heads. I imagine the flat surfaces of them to be more effective than paint brushes.

I want to thank you so much for this video I now have my sony hdr- fx7 running like new!

I just Subbed to you! and most of all the camera i had was a Canon Mini DV ZR900 and after following your tutorial i got my childhood camera back up and running, thank you so much for your help! 😁😁

Ok thanks,I’ll have a look when it comes.I’m getting it for a knock down price,so I can expect a few faults here and there,but cosmetically it looks good,I’ve just won a Sony RMT-811 remote on eBay to go with it,as it hadn’t got one,some people sell the accessories separately to supposedly get more for the camera,I was the only bidder on remote,so got it for 99p 😂

Insanely convenient time to upload this🙏

Note, if your old camcorder is playing back movies poorly, see if it is just overheating. I thought my heads were dirty, but I just needed to let the camcorder sit and cool for an hour after about 30 minutes of playback. Then it plays fine for another 30 minutes.

I seem to magically gain extra screws when I re assemble my camcorders !

great tutorial it worked for me ^.^ feeling proud of myself lol

Dude, my head cleaner cassette stopped working, and I followed along this video. You're a lifesaver!!! Now I can finish editing my home movies in time for Friendsmas! THANK YOU!!! Just out of curiosity, have you ever used one of those portable Walkman style mini DV recorders with the flip-up screen? I was tempted to find one, or even a VCR with a mini DV player. (To record from separately and reduce on my main camcorder)

Sick, keeping the legendary trv900 camcorder working in 2022. Cool video man.

The manufacturers recommend a head cleaning tape. You can knock the heads ect out of wack plus. They recommend this because heads are very susceptible to fine scratches using Q tips.

Got a Sony vx2000 with bad heads recently. Gonna attempt this sometime this week, hopefully it works!

I love your video and with your calming, nice presentation. I have a Sony Dsrpd 100ap and it has troubles with playing back footage. The video is ok, but the audio goes on and off, so the capture program captures in short segments of 1-10 seconds even if there are no change of scene or pauses between within a take. I tried to clean with a Sony cleaning tape. It seemed to improve somewhat. So now I can capture some scenes with audio intact for longer durations. But the DV tapes which I have used another Canon camcorder which is Mini DV and probably 44.1 KHZ audio seems difficult to capture. Here the sound goes on and off constantly. Any Advice? Are these symptoms of dirty video drum head?

Hey Brandon, really imformative video. I just wanted to ask I have been running into playback issues with my panasonic dvx100b. Even if its on vcr mode my screen is just blue cant seem to find my footages but when i check the rec-check option i could view my previous clips. Could this be a tape head issue? Thank you!

Hi Brandon, I recently pulled out my Sony Handicap DCR-TRV530 to see about converting all those analog tapes to digital. It hasn't been used for at least 10 years. It powers up with the power cord, viewfinder works, but when I put in a tape (yes, the tapes have been rewound to the beginning), all I get in the fold-out color display is a blue screen (or in the viewfinder for that matter). Same result no matter which tape I put in (they're definitely not blank tapes but ones that should have video footage on them). Do you think cleaning the video heads is what's required?

My canon Xl1s has been eating tapes, do you know any fix to this'?

Use denature alcohol only, isopropyl leaves a slight residue, especially on the heads.

Thank you for your valuable video. Can I use glass cleaner instead of alcohol?

My TRV900 don't output signal from A/V or S-Video, tips?

tq so much..now my tapes have no problem..image r clear now

awesome tutorial. Does this do the same thing as a head cleaner cassette or are those too old to do the job anymore?

Hi, a while ago I suggested an adjustment to your title so that it would say "...On Any TAPE Camcorder," since it doesn't apply to just _any_ camcorder as your title currently falsely suggests, and since a given video camera doesn't have to use tape in order to be a camcorder. And you clicked "love" on that, so thank you. Then I replied with the question that if you loved my suggestion, when you would act accordingly on the title. But apparently the site never notified you of my reply. So here's your notification. Since you loved my suggestion, when will you be making the adjustment accordingly?

I have an old 1998 sony tr917 i picked up at a thrift store. It works, but i dont have a hi8 tape. The forward, rewind, and play button dont spin the cassette wheels inside. Is that because there is no tape inside or would it still spin without the tape.

Hi Brandon! I have a camera that does not recognize the tape, could it be useful to clean the heads? Or is it something more serious? I bought a cleaning tape but it won't let me use it because it doesn't detect it. I would appreciate your opinion. thank you

Hey man! So I got an old camcorder (JVC GR-D50E) and while it seems fine, there is a problem with video playback. It gives me an error (E03: Unit in Safeguard Mode - Eject and Reinsert Tape). I tried this with multiple tapes and I always encountered the same issue. The video would play for some seconds until it eventually froze. I tried some of the quick fixes but I can't seem to understand what's wrong. Would it be easy for you if I sent you a photo of the tape heads so that you could tell me what's going on? Thanks for your time!

Hi,my mini dv says condensation operated paused (can’t play tape or record,but it works when it is fully charged)please help 🙏

he so I have a error code on Sony trv280 it’s c31:23 could that have anything to do with the heads I still have the black rubber piece on there so it’s not that but yeah idk what it could be

Great informative video thanks,I’ve got a Sony TRV 950 on the way from eBay,seller said there’s a clicking sound coming from one of the rollers that causes glitches on playback,would the cleaning you have shown us maybe fix this issue?,many thanks.

Hi Brandon! I have a TRV-20 I just got in the mail today so I can go back and watch some old recordings I have. It’s saying “No Tape” though, would that be a head problem?

I have sony trv 285e i want to open the door manually is there any way the cassette stuck in

I have a gl2 thts out of commission. It’s got the tape eject error problem and I can’t find anyone who can fix it around here. Do you do repairs?

Hi Brandon How about using minidv head cleaner. Do you recommend To use it?

would you make a tutorial on how to fix sony handycam trouble? like the c:32:11, or where the tape wont open/closed?

How do you go about fixing tape decks that ate your tape?

Hey I am from India. I have a hitachi vme358e camcorder. Actually i found in dad's wardrobe and it was kept for about 15 years untouched. Initially when i played some video tapes, it worked perfectly with crystal clear video. But after playing a few tapes , there was a bit fuzziness in the video and eventually its all fuzzy. When i switch to record mode, it flashes "TAPE". I cleaned all the rollers and head but still the problem persists. Pls tell me what could possibly be the problem with my camcorder.

Hey there! Great video. Gave cleaning a shot today but still having issues with playback. Are you knowledgeable on the Canon ZR100? Would love to pick your brain. It almost sounds like it's trying to rev up during playback and then it slows down but showing now video. Love the channel! Thanks.

How do you feel about the aerosol electronics cleaner? The kind with alcohol, not just compressed air?

Hey, I was hoping you could help me, I have my parents old JVC GR-AXM225, I was rewinding a tape and a piece fell out from the tape cage. I tried to put it back in with tweezers but couldn't. The camera still works but now the time on the tape is wrong, which isn't so bad but I don't know what to do. and I think the tweezers may have scratched the video head how bad is that? would that affect the old tapes or just new ones? Thanks

I started buying "old" camcorders but the batteries always run out in 5 minutes or never charge ,are there new batteries ?they are all batteries from the 90s? Can I buy new model battery pack that fits old camcorders? I have 2 panasonic PV-L678D/550D And a Sony CCD-TR40 the Sony battery pack is NP-77H the panasonic battery pack is PV-BP18(P-V611)

does the percentage of the alcohol matter and is it ok to use something like nail polish remover as a replacement?

If my playback is fine through the viewfinder, but there's bad distortion on the s-video and composite output does that sound like a head issue or something else?

hey I just cleaned my sony ccd trv66 with the steps you said and now my cassette holder won’t close it keep opening back up. I use 91% isopropyl alcohol so i’m not sure what the problem is

By any chance, do you know what “16bit” means? I have it displaying on my screen. I also have the format icon on screen. I never had that displaying. Thank you

Hi man I have drop video in my minidv .. any solution ?

I want to try this, but I noticed there is a ribbon cable on the side of the tape deck. Should I try it to take it apart or not? Really anxious about it, tbh. 🤔

i’ve been having a problem with trying to convert my hi8 tapes to digital but for some reason it looks fine when playing it through my camcorder but whenever i try to digitalize it it looks really glitchy and the audio is horrible. any ideas what it might be? i have examples of it on my channel

I cleaned my tape heads and now the when I put a tape in and close the door, it keeps ejecting the tape. I can't get the door to stay closed. I still can't push play, ff, or rw and get it to do anything. And I can't record.

I have Sony CCD TRV438E . When i put cassette in it record for 3 seconds and says to re insert the cassette. I am facing problem of dirty cassette head . Please help me how to fix . Is my cassette case damaged?

do you recommend this instead of using a cleaning tape?

Why did you contaminate the whole alcohol bottle?

How to fix JVC handycam in mode safeguard

TRV900 😋

Hi, I followed this tutorial and i cleaned it a few times, but i keep on getting glitchy footage and some tapes are not even recognized by the camera, i cannot record on them, I see STBY -:--:-- all the time at the top right corner. Any advice? I dont know what should i do, im worst than i was when i started

do you know why some tapes play and rewind great and others say head cleaning required and are glitchy? Using the same JVC MINIDV player on all tapes and some play perfectly, some say "head cleaning required, some say "take up reel failure" and some cant even rewind without mangling the tape up.

I used qtips on my drum and headers. Is my camcorder no good no more??

Mine won't eject. Just makes noise. How can I remove the tape?

Quite informative, but NEVER use q-tips for cleaning. These are way too hairy and there's great danger of damaging or tearing the heads with q-tips fibers that may stick around the heads. Usually you'd take leather swabs for cleaning.

Cleaning the Head Drum with White Paper. That is better. The others with Isopropanol is ok...

Why don't normal head cleaners clean the heads better?

you had it right with "cotton swabs" then went incorrectly with the name brand of q-tips. I wonder why? every qtip is a cotton swab but not every cotton swab is a qtip.

This worked but after couple months. It starts glitching again. Help….

Never use alcohol to clean a rubber piece like a capstan! It will dry it out and make it hard. Use Rubber Renew instead.

Mine wont eject anymore

There are SO many reasons why I say you don't know what you're talking about. 1. You're calling everything by the wrong name. There's the capstan, a metal cylinder rotated by a motor or it IS the shaft of the motor. (You have this right.) But the rubber cylinder is NOT called the capstan roller. It is the PINCH roller! It is rubber and it's the ONLY thing rubber, unless there are rubber belts below the chassis. The metal guides, some with rollers are NOT pinch rollers as they do not do the pinching of the capstan. If you don't know the correct terms, I'd never trust you to touch MY machines. 2. NEVER put rubbing alcohol on pinch rollers. It dries out the rubber. 3. Lots of black on your swab from the pinch roller? Duhhh. You're almost always going to get black off that, especially if you keep using alcohol. 4. You're saying get aggressive on what you incorrectly call "pinch rollers". (I've already explained that they don't pinch anything.) NO, don't be aggressive anywhere near a VCR; they are delicate machines! NO ONE has ever said use paint brushes! Further proof you're winging it with no real knowledge. You're a danger to all VCRs! 5. You wrongly say don't use Q-Tips on the rollers. NO, there should be nothing to cause the cotton fibers to snag on the rollers; ONLY on the video head. Q-Tips are fine on everything EXCEPT the video heads. 6. Brushing the upper cylinder vertically is DEFINITELY a no no! Are you trying to trick everyone into destroying their machines?? The one good thing you did was wear gloves to prevent grease contamination. Small consolation if you've ruined the machine.

How ironic cleaning a recording device and the video showing how is choppy,fluctuations in lighting, audio is a mess, focus and F stop issues are endless and now I'm dizzy.

omg, he using q-tips

Title adjustment: "On Any *Tape* Camcorder."

Music level is too low.