Can we fix a really nice Philips N1700 VCR-LP from 1977? 

Always great to watch all your VCR maintenance/repair videos - especially any for N1500/N1502, N1700/02 and V2000 machines as these are ones I work with most..

Great picture. I collect a lot of stuff too. I have over 20 Reel to Reel machines, (all different types from valve to portable), over 15 8 bit computers, (mostley Spectrums), 5 Amigas and an Atari ST. LOL

Wonderful machines to look at. Love the Philips styling. Those and the piano key JVCs are among my favourites. And Phil, if you are watching I lent you a freshly restored piano key VCR in 1999, can I have it back you great twit.

Nice video's you made. About 11:40 you talked about when rising the servo board you can't put it in play mode. Well notice both little square holes at the switches end of the board. Then notice left side of the board that cut out square. There suppose to be 2x a peace of angle board (or L-shape) that you could break-out and that fits into that little square hole at position play switch. In that manner you can switch on that play switch when servo board is rased up. In your case here ,some body been there before you :)) and took out that little hook. So take a notice on your other recorders to find that hook to break out. 2 of those L-shape for also the record switch. I love these machines , have whole range of them. N1500,N1501,N1502,N1700,N1702.

Given the age of these, I'm amazed they still do anything at all..let alone actually work! Indeed, a shame it's getting difficult to source the perishable components (belts, pinch rollers, etc). Keeping an on-going inventory is definitely the way to go, I guess. Nice work! :)

The serial number, which contains both a revision number and a date code, will tell for certain whether it's an early revision. Production of the N1700 started in 1977, in or slightly before week 28.

Brilliant !

Hi Colin great video I have 5 of the philips n1700 vcrs they're great video recorders they where relest in September 1977 I have one from late 77 a out November December time it was delivered to someone on January the 6 1978 hope that helps

"Sounds like the drum isn't getting up to speed. I had that problem the other day...." You paused and I thought you were going to leave it at that!! Haha

Great video as always! Has the pinch roller for the DigiBeta deck arrived?

Top! Ainda não encontrei um exemplar aqui em Portugal,mas tenho 3 cassetes virgem da BASF deste formato.

Well done, much better than it was :-D The head drive belt sounds like it needs changing, hopefully it's not the motor that's a bit sad and needs a retrim of the servo drive. Not a bad picture for an old machine though :-D The other thing that comes to mind is the tape tensioner, it can make a massive difference if too far off. Although i don't have the tension test tool, if the tension band had to be replaced then i would play a good tape and look at the bottom of the screen for the head switching stability, i would adjust for a clean stable look. And make sure the tracking was forgiving. Monitoring the video heads with a scope and the switching pulse as synk could show how well the tracking was. Small adjustments were made to get the best f.m output from the heads, and adjustments to tension/audio head and tape path. Swap tapes to make sure any tape was watchable. I have a bag of belts too :-D, even worn belts can work on other equipment. Yes pinch rollers can be a right pain, old vhs amstrad machines would chew the tape for no apparent reason. And other brands of machine did not give a dam what you put on for a pinch roller, very odd.

I replaced all of the belts in and cleaned the inside and fixed the pinch roller but my machine always plays forward even when stopped... It looks like it is to weak to rewind with a tape inside. Do you know what can cause this?

You mention running the signal through a digital time base corrector. The picture from my N1700 is skewed off to the side at the very top. Would a tbc possibly help me? Which model would you recommend?

When did Philips stop making the N1700? They all do seem to be neat machines, I wish they had any success here in the States.

Does this model only playback LP tapes or is it LP support as well as SP?

Hi Colin, just wondering if the machine beginning to lace and unlace when it is switched on is meant to happen or was it a fault.

any old BSB stuff?

Good video your wife is correct you are like old Steptoe get rid of some old junk

I have bought two of these recently, these videos are a great help. I got a belt set from MFBFreaks.com if that's helps anyone.