Ferguson Videostar 3V65 Slow Playback

[Zelandeth]

Okay, so out of nowhere today, someone from elsewhere in the building I work appeared in our office, and suddenly asked whether I was "the guy who collects old tech?" When I answered to the affirmative, I found myself with the aforementioned Ferguson VCR handed to me. Was either me or the bin...so it was saved. My arms didn't thank me for that though after I'd carried it home!

Doesn't really appear to have had much heavy use if the external appearance is anything to go by. None of the buttons appear worn, nor have any of the legends around them vanished (as happened to our old Samsung Series 7 machine).

After an initial inspection (nearly ending in disaster when I stepped backwards and trod barefoot on the upturned mains plug - luckily I managed to neither drop the machine nor fall over) revealing nothing obviously amiss, power was applied. Inserting a tape of no value (thankfully I have a useless memory, so have ended up with many duplicates from second hand shops!) resulted in no horrible noises, no lockups, and a picture on screen. A far sharper picture than that which I've been getting from the Panasonic NV-J40 I've been using for a while now (will extricate that from the AV stack at some point and clean the heads, see if that helps).

While it does play - it seems, judging from the audio to be playing slow, I'd say at about 80% of the correct speed, with a brief burst of noise on the screen about every half second. Audio, aside from being slightly slow appears normal.

Rewind appears to be struggling as well, sounds like there's a belt slipping somewhere.

Before I go and start reducing this machine to its component parts, is there anything I should be making a point of doing, or any catches that I should know about?

...Obviously, any info that anyone has on it is most appreciated as well, other than that it looks to me like a "proper" VCR, I really don't know much about it.

[davegsm82]

If I remember right, belts were a very common failing on this machine. You should also look for dead caps on the motor PCB.

Nice mechanism in these, I remember it being very quiet and not 'clunky' like the later, more 'rounded' shape machines.

Try and upload a shot of the inside, it might jog some memories.

Dave.

[Zelandeth]

It is a VERY quiet mech compared to any other that I have around - which was actually why I was quite surprised when I got a picture on screen!

Looks like getting to pretty much anything in this machine is going to involve a fair amount of dismantling...Will investigate what can be reached from underneath tomorrow. If the "hinged" PCB on top is anything to go by though, at least they've *tried* to make things accessible...

At least power supply faults shouldn't be too much of a headache, looks like a pretty conventional - and mercifully self-contained - linear regulator (and a surprisingly large heatsink) nestled in by the transformer.

I figured given that it's 26 years old (if initial research is correct), there were probably going to be at least a couple of belts in need of some attention! A few belts and possibly a handfull of electrolytic capacitors though ain't bad going...

It's also incredibly dusty inside where there are vents, so I'll need to tackle that tomorrow as well.

[ben]

after changing the belts, if you still get sluggish playback then maybe add a drop of light oil to the capstan bearing.

[davegsm82]

I doubt you'll have any power supply faults on this unit, the only instance I ever had of a failed PSU was one where the STKxxxx Voltage reg had gone a bit loopy and caused some odd faults.

Luckily we had a scrap machine with good PSU which was simply chopped in as a replacement.

One very obvious thing to check for tape speed problems is something I forgot to mention, the pinch roller. It looks a little 'aged' in the pictures, some of the original ferguson ones around this time had a habit of turning to stone, might be worth checking.

Looks like a nice machine.

Dave.

[steve c]

These were great little machines; we had a version in the rental company under model 8947. Judging by your pictures and your description there is a lot of contamination on the tape path most notably the capstan shaft. Check and thoroughly clean the A/C head as it sounds like the cue pulses are missing or at least low amplitude. If you can get one a new pinch roller is a must. As far as component failure is concerned the voltage reg IC giving up was about all that ever happend to these.

Good luck

Steve

[Heatercathodeshort]

This machine gives the very best picture I have ever seen from a VHS or Betamax video recorder. It is a very close clone to the JVC HRD140. Check to see if the mechanism is fully loading. I had a very large number of these units that required the loading motor assembly to be removed, stripped down, all the hard grease removed, lubricated an reassembled. J.

[Sideband]

Originally Posted by Heatercathodeshort

Check to see if the mechanism is fully loading.

I had a few where the loading motor had failed. It got so far in the cycle and just at the very last it would stop short. Easy to change.

Otherwise as HCS says.

Excellent machines.


SB

[Vicboduk]

I seem to remember there was a stock fault of poor capstan servo lock due to a small surface mount capacitor located on the capstan motor PCB (post #2) 2.2uf-4.7uf ? If this is the mechanism I'm thinking of... unusual and erratic faults were often caused by a loose earthing screw on the PCB that held the mode switch. Otherwise, as others have said, very good machines. We noticed at the time that the machines that were assembled in W.Germany always out-performed those assembled in Japan!

Vic

[Zelandeth]

Hmm, was planning to decontaminate the tape path this evening...but my IPA has disappeared into some alternate dimension. Will need to get some more at the weekend. The tape path is pretty grubby - though the capstan is by FAR the worst affected component. A far amount of crud was liberated with nothing more than a sheet of kitchen towel and gentle agitation with a fingertip. I'm not going near anything other than solid metal guides etc in that fashion though.

What would be the best material to clean the head drum itself with? I know of course to keep the material still and rotate the upper drum to eliminate the risk of snapping heads off - but I'm not sure what's the best cleaning medium to use.

I've checked that it's lacing fully, which required the removal of the screening cage around the heads - and it does appear to be doing so properly (photos attached). The hair in the shot looking down towards the audio (and control?) heads has since been removed and disposed of.

Looking at the pinch roller (assuming I've got my terminology right...transferring tape recorder terminology over, it seems like the only likely candidate!) it does look somewhat worse for wear. While it's not actually disintegrating, there are quite a few cracks in the surface and it's become quite shiny where the tape runs. Not being all that clued up on VCRs, I'm not certain how far gone this is - no doubt someone will be able to chime in though, and tell me how far the machine needs stripping down for its replacement. Assuming I can find one of course.

[davegsm82]

Yea, that roller has definately had it mate.

You'll still be able to get a new one however if you want to check the rest of the machine before splashing out, you can take the roller out and (for want of a better word) sand it down a touch.

Its only really the outer surface of the rubber which is knackered, if you're careful you can remove this outer layer to get down to the soft rubber which will grip on the capstan motor properly. This will likely return the tape to the correct speed.

Dave.

[Zelandeth]

Okay then, I've got a plan of action for a first step (well, in addition to the obvious tape path cleaning anyway), clean and rough up the pinch roller.

My next question is *how* to get the pinch roller out. I'm assuming that it's not as simple as the top bit of black plastic being a press fit which can lift off...more likely I need to dismantle half the deck...This is the bit which has always scared me away from VCRs before!

[love kt3]

hi,i dont think its a clone of hrd 140,its hrd 171/180.the loading mec is on the bottom and usually dosent gum up.the small belt might be loose.the cap is a big flat motor with brushes,not dd.its top gear might need a drop of oil.tighten all the screws on the bottom pcb-one needs a hole made in the plastic base(up by the cap motor).bewere of the central kluch between the two spools-to replace the tyre remove the small spring and pull off the rubber tyre,dont remove the whole unit.the new tyre can be fitted onto the plastic wheel and return the spring.wunderfull machines-i loved them!

[steve c]

You are right regarding the press fit of the plastic cap on the pinch roller, prise it off gently with a wide flat blade screwdriver. Alternatively grab it with some pliers and twist as you lift. It will be tight but should come away with a bit of gentle persuasion.

[davegsm82]

In addition to Steve C's advice, press down on the arm or hold the rubber roller while you pull/twist upwards, otherwise you could end up bending the arm which is catastrophic for the tape path.

The pliers twist/pull method is the best here.

Dave.

[steve c]

Good thinking Dave, it's been a while since I have done one of these

[AidanLunn]

I used to have one of these

Brilliant machines, and have the original JVC machine which forms the basis for this machine - the JVC HRD-170.

Belts were a common problem in these, both the 3V65 (still used as our main living room VCR now) and my HRD-170 have had belt problems, the 65 with the symptoms you describe.

So it will be the belts. Rubber mechanical components hardening or stretching are a common fault in VCRs that have been stood for a long time (i.e. several years) without use.

[Zelandeth]

The plastic cap just pulls off?!? What madness is this...That almost sounds sensible!

Sure enough, it does. Twisting gently left and right makes it do so without even needing that much force. I've taken the roller off, and given it a good clean - which has helped eliminate some, but not all of the shine. I'll pick up some very light emery paper at the weekend and give it a gentle rub down with that. Just cleaning the roller and the capstan shaft doesn't seem to have had any effect on things.

I'm convinced that this is a worthwhile project though - I've attached a screenshot from it when paused, which I'd say is clean enough to rule out any problems with worn heads etc. I reiterate - this is the PAUSED picture, the horizontal smearing in the red areas there is not visible when playing. I'm sure the picture will look ten times bettter as well when I've got it connected up to a TV with a proper CRT (this would look right at home underneath my 1984 Mitsubishi CT-2023B I reckon) I've also snapped a very brief video of the fault condition which I'll upload later on when I've got a bit more time.

Strangely enough, the rewind mode is working almost normally now it seems. Wonder if that was just things sticking a little and protesting at being woken up after about ten years.

[davegsm82]

Indeed its just a press fit! (took me long enough to figure that out the first time).

There's still a chance that the roller is not up to the task, once you sand it you might get better results.

I dont think I ever saw it with this particular chassis, but it will be worth checking the tape tension. I remember some of the FV range had issues with the tensionner on the spool, this would cause the slowing of the tape and the noise on vision. In extreme cases the head begins to slow down and the tape can ride up over the top due to the friction.

As for rewind, you'll probably find this is the belt, it will have tarnished over time, this will wear off to some extent but a new belt is ideal. Again some later units had problems with the capstan motor pulley splitting and falling off. It was only made of plastic and would split, you could glue it but replacements were only pennies.

Dave.

[Red to black]

Hi Zelandeth,

If after sorting out the tape path, cleaning etc. you get no joy, there is a stock fault for this.

Loss of capstan servo, (may be Int.), IC 2 (VC2023A) on servo panel

No capstan rotation, (may be Int.), IC 2 on servo panel

I have also had a U/S capstan motor on the odd machine.

All of these older Fergy videostars had pinch rollers like this, that one did not look too bad, many of these machines ran for years with rollers like this (or worse!), with them only being replaced by us when the machine came in for service for something else (as part of a general deck service).

I had waited until you had tried cleaning the machine, and running the tape (in case it was just stiffness), before posting this.

Cheers,
Baz