My tape is completely stuck inside and my VCR is turning itself off before I can press the eject button. I was just playing a different VHS on it and it didn't have any problems. I NEED this one to be undamaged because it's labelled as my parents wedding.
Unplug your vcr. Take off the top lid. Use some tape to hold open the door that the vhs tape goes in so it doesn’t close. Untangle the tape and slowly pull it out. Also make sure the lid of the vhs tape doesn’t close when you pull it out. Use tape to keep it open. Manually wind your tape back into the housing. I hope that helps. Thanks for watching and please support the channel by subscribing!
I managed to tinker around with it and figured out the problem. The belt that connected the motor to the ejection gears had slipped off. I got it back on and it's playing perfectly now! Thanks for the help and I'll be sure to keep it in mind if it happens again.
I've got a question regarding this issue. I've been helping older family members clean their houses and I offered to digitize all their content on the VHS tapes and put it on their iCloud where they can actually see it, and since I offered I have had so many stuck tapes, and I'm wondering if it would be ok to leave the lid of the player off while I digitize the tapes in case this happens which it likely will. Will this mess up the tapes? I know some players don't play the tapes if the lid is off but I'm willing to try it out. Also will cleaning the tape heads and the vcr (watched your other video on cleaning) prevent this from happening? I haven't used a vcr in like fifteen years and at this point it's happening like every tape I put in (it used to be 1 out of 3 tapes) I am ejecting it wrong or should I be stopping then rewinding before ejecting? Any advice would be greatly appreciated thanks!
Since you are most likely using a VCR that is very old and hasn't been run in years you definitely need to clean it including the pinch roller (black rubber part). Your tapes are most likely getting caught up because all of the parts are gummed up. Playing the VCR with the lid off won't hurt anything. You can eject the tape at what ever part you want. I do recommend that if you are playing, rewinding or fast forwarding, you hit stop first before ejecting.
Thank you so much for all of your videos man, you have saved my life three times tonight with three different problems I ran into after discovering a box of my parents old VHS tapes, tones of priceless stuff and I likely would have destroyed it without your help ❤ much appreciated
I’m using a Philips VHS player VR171 and I bought it to play a cassette tape for my parents wedding. Now even though I pressed on eject two times and tried to pull it gently because I thought it was ejected, it’s not coming out and I noticed that the tape wasn’t spooled back properly at all because it’s still outside of the cassette. This cassette is really important for me and I’m scared it might be damaged/destroyed now. What can I do incase the tape is damaged when I manage to get it out of the VHS player after unscrewing the top? Any advice on how to notice if it is damaged or not?
Check out the video how to repair a vhs tape. You may not have to spice it but it shows how to get it back in. You will also need to clean your VCR. Check out that video as well
This video was very helpful thank you. After removing the tape what is my best bet to prevent this in the future? Is the VCR unusable now or is there a simple fix? I buy VCR/DVD combos to sell and I like to test them before selling. But I’m not very knowledgeable about the machines themselves.
@@TheMediaNerdMT Just watched your cleaning tutorial and now it’s working perfect. Tested it with two different VHS which now eject and play fine. Thanks so much
Well, it looks like my tapes are permanently damaged. I pulled them out before learning about this technique. I went to a tech store and they told me they cleaned the inside of the tape and the video tapes they tried were playing normally but I still hear a cracking noise from the tape and that’s when I forced myself to pull out the stuck tape. The item I got was very recent. Do you think the fact that I stacked the tapes were the main cause for the videos not being able to play as well as the tape being stuck on the player?
If you hear crackling, then there is something wrong with your audio heads. I don't think that it is the tapes, I think it is the player. The only way you can test is by using a different VCR that is in good condition.
How do you fix it from doing that in the first place? Mine sets the tape and plays fine but when it ejects, it doesn't spool the tape up before ejecting. Is there a part that I need to replace, repair, or clean?
Are you able to fix VHS tapes themselves? I recently got my crinkled a bit because I didn't realize that pressing pause and then eject doesn't actually eject your tape safely due to the clamps still being down. I used to press stop and then eject, but I wasn't thinking clearly this time
I can't fix crinkled tapes but I can cut out the bad part and splice it back together. You can check this video out for how to do it. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4BIO4hi0qFk.htmlsi=mS-2fqcZhlZI5UPj Please make sure to hit that subscribe button!
That is a hysterical movie. I am happy you were able to save it. Please support the channel by subscribing if you have not already, I’d greatly appreciate it.
Thanks. My stuck tape wasn't anything important but I wanted a clean way to get it out so I could use the VCR to rip a more interesting tape. Now to figure out why tapes are getting stuck in the first place...
Okay so I got my tape out of a vcr I was using and I managed to reel it back in, but I think I accidentally touched the tape. I put it in a working VCR to see what would happen and it kinda worked. Then I rewound it and now I think my VCR needs the heads cleaning. If I cleaned it then put the VHS that got stuck back in that working vcr would it break the tape head again and would the tape head need cleaning again?
Once you clean your VCR, maybe try a different tape first. If you don't have a tape that can be sacrificed, go to the thrift store and get a few. They are really cheap. Good luck.
@@TheMediaNerdMT The one that eats my tapes needs a lot more than cleaning. I took it further apart to see what was wrong, because initially it wasn't loading tapes at all (I should've stopped there) so I took the bottom off to find a belt completely melted and destroyed. I took it out, spun some of the working parts to try and free it up then put it back together. I thought that the perished belt was something to do with rewinding or something unimportant, so I thought it would work. Surprisingly it did. It loaded the tape, played it for a second, then the reels spun and it got stuck. I'm going to try and clean the working VCR as I have no intent of fixing the one that ate my tape because it's extremely old and was on its last legs when it last worked properly (Around 5 and a half years ago).
Sorry, I need more information from you. I don't understand what you are saying. "I try to open the case but I can't open the tape" doesn't make sense to me.
My vhs came out the player with the tape sticking out of the case a little bit. I got it back in by opening the lid of the case and using the edge of my finger to slip the tape back in, but I’m paranoid if me touching it like that has damaged it
On the side of the VHS housing is a little button close to the lid on the side. You press that in to release the lid. On the bottom of the tape there is a hole in the back middle. Use a pen to press the little flap down which releases the gears to the spools. You can then manually wind your tape back safely. To answer your question about damage, I doubt it. Tapes are tough, you may get a little static from the part that got creased or some kind of blur from maybe getting finger oil on it but you should be ok.
That is why those combo units came and went pretty quickly. If one part broke, the entire thing was basically shot and they were very expensive to repair. I think that you would need to take it to a VCR repair shop to get it fixed if you still have one around.
Ok but how do I get it out if it’s stuck in there 😭 cause I don’t want to just yank the tape out, but it won’t budge… I cut the tape that had spilled out into the VCR because it wasn’t valuable to me thankfully
I never liked those combos. If one breaks its all trashed. Plus they were really expensive to repair. If I remember correctly, they didn’t last very long on the market.
@@TheMediaNerdMT my vhs tv tape is stuck In the tv I can’t inscrew it and get it as only the back comes off when I try rewind it it says “emergency “ and won’t play or rewind
I’m happy to hear that it worked out for you. Please make sure to subscribe to my channel to help support me. If you have not already, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for watching the video and commenting. I keep my screws out because I have to clean my VCRs at least once a month. You need to look into getting a refurbished VCR if you are going to keep watching your tapes. I do offer a mail in service if you would like for me to transfer your home movies for you. Please support the channel by subscribing if you have not done so already. I would greatly appreciate it.
That is not an easy fix. You may need to find a shop that can help you. I am working on a video for this type of fix but there are a lot of different VCRs.
I really should have trusted my gut instinct and tried to find the DVD 📀 I made of the tape. Oops… Kind of symbolic it’s my parent’s wedding video that’s borked (ended in divorce).
@@TheMediaNerdMT We decided I would send it off to a friend who works at a TV station as she does videotape transfers and has much experience with tapes that are problematic. That way I am not the one to try and splice the part out.
My tapes stuck inside. Will not eject. Is not powering off. I've taken. The machine apart. It's a double decker. I just cannot fi d a leveror anything to release it. Help!!
