Huge 1987 JVC BR6600 "pro" VHS deck may not be repairable. 

My solution to head wires is push them into x2 drinking straws and put the head drum over the straws through the holes. Very easy. You got there with the heat shrink tubing while I was writing this :-)

That head drum problem is really too bad... Still interesting to see how to take apart a VHS head drum, despite the problems with the cables, this seems easier that expected, I would have expected taking out the screws would mess up the alignment somehow... I have a JVC BR-6600 in my collection, as well as a BR-8600 (which features various insert editing functions, but no HiFi audio) and an RM-86U editing controller. Complete with all sorts of special, rather unobtainable cables. My BR-6600 has a broken gear in the loading mechanism, I hope to get that fixed some time soon. The special video connector actually isn't a Umatic Dub connector, the pin count is different. Instead, this is JVC's own proprietary version of S-Video, using more solid connectors and I think a different carrier frequency for the chrominance signal. So despite not being S-VHS, this machine does have a separate luminance and chrominance output. JVC as far as I know was the only manufacturer to use this connector, and they only used it on their professional grade equipment in the late 80s. These connectors are called Y/C 358 and were made by Hirose Electric. They are very hard to find. These professional VHS machines were actually used by the BBC, they are shown in photos on the vtoldboys website. As for your idea about making a second channel: My advice is not to do that. Splitting videos up between multiple channels does not work very well. The main channel will remain the most popular one, while nobody bothers even just to subscribe to the secondary channel, no matter how much you advertise it. At least that's my experience. Just keep all videos on this one channel, a secondary channel would only make sense for a totally different topic that would attract a totally different audience. I have gotten used to different videos having a different popularity. On my channel, most things related to retro audio are doing very well, while videos about camcorders, another one of my hobbies, barely get any views.

In fairness to VHS, it did have something of a pro variant - Panasonic's M and MII, the latter of which was used by Anglia and Thames for commercial and continuity playout in the 80s and early 90s (at a time when my local station Tyne Tees were still plodding along with a clapped-out Bosch B-type cart installation that was getting noisier and noisier audio-wise with each passing year!)

I'm stunned at a "pro" machine, VHS or not, having no real-time counter. Maybe no VHS machine had adopted part- or full-load at that point to accomplish it. I'll bet that multi-pin connector on the Panasonic is for an editing controller. In high school media class in the early-mid 90's, we had a set of Panasonic pro VCP, VCR, editing controller, and mixer board. Those also had XLR connections for audio, no phono/RCA connections like that one.

Percussive maintenance! Love it!

I usually solder the tips of the head wires together to a length of wire to pull them through the head, but the heat shrink tube is a good solution! I have had machines with the same binding problem, usually after the machine has been stored for years. After removing the entire drum assembly, I soak the lower drum in a container of WD40 for a couple of days, then power up the motor on a bench PSU for a few hours. It usually does the trick, but sometimes you can hear that the bearing is shot. Perhaps you could revisit the machine at a later date, would be interesting see what the problem is, even if it is not repairable!

I've messed about with x3 Betacam and x3 Panasonic Pro SVHS machines in last 6 months and all machines would not lace up in varying degrees. The fix in every case was lubrication although not always obvious where the lubrication needed to be. Don't give up!

Good machines! I like it!

VHS, or at least JVC and possibly Panasonic, switched to fully laced mechanisms in the mid/late-1990s, around the same time they introduced the high speed winding. It actually made them more reliable and far less prone to losing the tape off the guide rollers. Otherwise it was still VHS and unless you had a 4 head machine the picture quality was not great, and so they were pretty much all 4 and 6 head towards the end. Interestingly, though, out of all the VHS machines we had, the Sony and Philips machines were always the worst and incapable of using tapes that had been used in other brand machines, because JVC and Panasonic apparently wound the tape tighter than Sony and Philips.

Can you help me colin to an idea where i can get an idler assembly and a belt kit for a toshiba v33-v31 betamax vcr..Thanks..Aaron

Did you ever get to the bottom of the binding lower drum? I had a very similar problem with a BR-7000 many years ago. Ended up completely disassembling the lower drum. The glue beneath the lower half of the rotary transformer had expanded, and caused the brittle ceramic-type material of the transformer (the part in which the windings are laid into) to crack. The upper/lower set of windings were then rubbing against each other. Sadly was beyond repair, of course.

I suggest sticking to 1 channel. Curious what's causing the motor to seize up like that but I guess a compete teardown is too much work. I read those Panasonic SVHS pro decks requires the SMD capacitors be replaced. Have you ever replaced 50-100 capacitors on a machine?

Another suggestion: When uploading 4K videos, keep them unlisted for a few hours after the upload, so RU-vid can finish processing them. That's how I do it, that way the first viewers to watch the video don't have to watch it in 360p ;)

Crap! Can't you get this JVC BR-6600E "professional" VHS VTR working!?

i would have taken the motor apart from the second the drum didn't spin, releasing the clamp and removing the shims, then push the shaft + top side of the transformer though the top. I've only seen one machine that was horrible, that was a philips one with a really horrible head and no locating screws, just an evil clamp on top, impossible to replace the heads without a special jig. :-( I'm sure you know the one im taliking about. I don't mind what you like to repair, i'm used to repairing all sorts, but i'm not your whole audience. Yes turning the head 180 degrees does yeald no colour, and the heads azimuth mix up would cause problems, yes i've made that mistake lol. Never mind, you had a go :-D

I am desperate for an idler assembly for a toshiba/general v31-v33 betamax vcr...Does anyone no where i could get one or a few..i am in greater manchester england...Thanks!

I own a BR 7000 - the tape will not lace... Head spins and tape goes in and out very smoothly.

Your Ferrograph has nice VU meters too...... Be a great videojust saying :)

hi will say they go for very good money working on ebay i have a sony with a bad power unit just the 240v to 400dc part is bad i pulled a power ic out to stop the 400dc getting to step down transfromer the 240v ac tp 400v dc was playing up i saved the video deck the power unit that comes out 1/2 of it is bad ir cost over 1000uk new it was a auto power part that was bad

Il videoregistratore non e' riparato perche' il tamburo delle testine e' difettoso,e' da cambiare.

For 240 lines and horrible colour, this machine is highly overengineered.