Sony SLV-N51 VCR won't stay on

[henryn]

Folks:

With no warning our SLV-N51 started malfunctioning in this odd way: You can
use the remote or the front panel switch to turn it on, but within a second
or so it turns itself off.

It's possible, if one is quick, to do minor operations, like change the
channel, while it is on. In that respect, it operates normally -- as far as
I can tell.

There's a tape loaded, and I can't get "eject" to work during this brief
window-of-opportunity.

I had a theory that maybe it got programmed to record something at some
future time, and so it's trying to stay ready to do that, but... I can't
reset that without it staying on.

I've tried disconnecting power for 10+ minutes, should be more than enough
to reset it entirely. No help.

Is this refusal to stay "on" nature's way of saying "you're gonna have to
buy a new vcr"?

Ideas?

TIA

Henry

[b]

Post by henryn
With no warning our SLV-N51 started malfunctioning in this odd way: You can
use the remote or the front panel switch to turn it on, but within a second
or so it turns itself off.
It's possible, if one is quick, to do minor operations, like change the
channel, while it is on. In that respect, it operates normally -- as far as
I can tell.
There's a tape loaded, and I can't get "eject" to work during this brief
window-of-opportunity.

sounds like it is in protection mode - tape jammed maybe- or faulty or
dirty mode switch or belt.
open it up and see if there is a motor trying to move connected to a
belt. assisting it with a finger my temporarily fix it; later you'll
need to clean the switch or replace the belt.
this could be an easy fix, it depends.
post back with results of your checking and we can take it from there
-b

[henryn]

Post by b

Post by henryn
With no warning our SLV-N51 started malfunctioning in this odd way: You can
use the remote or the front panel switch to turn it on, but within a second
or so it turns itself off.
It's possible, if one is quick, to do minor operations, like change the
channel, while it is on. In that respect, it operates normally -- as far as
I can tell.
There's a tape loaded, and I can't get "eject" to work during this brief
window-of-opportunity.

sounds like it is in protection mode - tape jammed maybe- or faulty or
dirty mode switch or belt.
open it up and see if there is a motor trying to move connected to a
belt. assisting it with a finger my temporarily fix it; later you'll
need to clean the switch or replace the belt.
this could be an easy fix, it depends.
post back with results of your checking and we can take it from there

First, in the process of disconnecting and moving to a workspace, there was
the ominous sounds of loose metal in the box. Uh oh. Sure enough, when we
got inside, there was a little metal dohicky loose, and probably a spring,
too. (That rattled around after we put the cover back on.)

There is NO WAY we were going to find the place they came from without a
complete service manual --you can start laughing now-- so we did a
tape-ectomy and then we declared the mechanism "broke." With the tape out,
the machine powers up and down normally again.

Still, the machine works find as a video switch and we put it back for the
time being. Works fine in all respects, as long as we don't try to put in a
cassette. <smile>

Thanks,

Henry

Post by b
-b