How to clean vcr heads.

This is often a frustrating problem but if you feel you can handle it go ahead with the following, otherwise get professional electronics help. If you have tried to eject the tape and tried other obvious ways to extract the tape and nothing has worked then you can remove the top cover and manually remove the tape. It is not that hard to do most of the time. First unplug the power cord from the wall outlet. You do not want to get a short or get shocked or zapped. Just unscrew the screws holding the cover in place and set the cover aside. Look at the tape to see where it is hung up. If you need to push the tape around so you get it off the posts or otherwise free up the tape, then gently do so until you free the tape from the tape transport. Sometimes this is all you need to do to extract the tape. You may be able to push out the tape from the VCR at this point. If you can get all the magnetic video tape back into the cassette but the tape simply will not come out then place the cover back onto the VCR, plug the VCR into the wall outlet, power on and try to eject the tape now. Sometimes this works. If all else fails, take the VCR into a electronics repair shop and have them remove the tape for you. They may tell you the VCR needs repairs also so this does not happen again.

This is a sample of what you can try to do to diagnose a non-starting computer, If these don’t work, realize that most likely a system board (motherboard) has failed or the actual power trim strip above the keyboard has failed.

1. Unplug the computer, then take the battery out, push the power button and hold it for about 30 seconds. Plug the system back in (leave battery out) and push the power button. If it starts, Great! If not unplug go to the next step.
2. You should still have the battery out and the power unplugged. Now turn the laptop over. Take off all the covers and pull out the hard drive and ram and wireless card. Find the screw that has a symbol kind of like this � its the CD rom drive screw. Now pull the drive out. Pick one stick of ram and put it back in the computer. Flip it over open it plug it in and hit the power button. If it does not fire up then unplug it and switch the ram. Plug it back in and hit the power button again. If it doesn't start up, unplug the computer and go to the last step.
3. Pull the memory out and find the screws that hold the keyboard on. There are symbols in the plastic there should be 2 screws holding it in. Now in the battery compartment, there are several screw at the back edge of the computer take them out and also the ones in the battery in the center strip. Some are silver and some are black. Once you have the screws out of the battery area flip the computer over and open the lid. The strip just below the LCD with the power button and controls will now be able to be lifted up. You will probably have to lightly get an edge started before it will come up. There should be several little cables hooked to it. Flip the control panel over and look for some screws holding the keyboard in. I think there's 2. Lift up the keyboard. Making sure there's nothing touching anything important and then plug the computer in. Carefully hit the power button and see if the computer tries to start. If it does try it will probably beep at you. Unplug it and put a stick of ram in it. Plug it in and try to start it again. If not, unplug the computer and Go to the next step.
4. Carefully put the keyboard and control strip in place. Flip the computer over and loosen all the screws that hold the computer together. Flip the computer over again and pull the keyboard and control strip up again. Flex the inner aluminum plate that was under the keyboard lightly. Plug in the computer and then hit the power button. If it tries to start, Great! put it together again in the reverse process.

If it does not, there are 2 possible things I would suspect the Control strip or the mainboard. If you don't get the computer to start back up please put it back together so you remember where all the screws go. Even if you plan to get another mainboard put it back together.

Removal instructions:

1) unplug everything and move the unit to where you can work on it.

2) Remove the paper, and remove the hinged lid (tilt the lid to the up position and lift directly up and off).

3) Remove the push button cover which lifts directly off - straight up.

4) At the top of the button control module is a recessed release clip. Use a flat blade screwdriver and push down on the clip. While pushing down, slide the control button assembly down. lift the outside edge up (there are straight clips on the inside edge). Lift up slowly as the connection cable needs to be unplugged. the cable itself unplugs. Just pull down evenly grasping the top blue laminated section. The blue goes to the outside (contacts go to contacts on the inside). Set the button control unit aside.

5) Using a #10 Torx screwdriver, loosen the two screws in the back corners of the glass cover assembly. Lift the glass assembly up (like changing an ink cartridge), and pull the front lip left and right forward - there are two clips at these locations. Pull forward and lift up. Remove the glass cover assembly off and set aside. Note, tip over and remove the scews (best to remove and put back in after the cover is back fully in place). In reassembly, be sure to feed the control button cable back through the hole, and that it goes back into place the way it came out (including folding back into the slot under the button control assmebly).

6) The black plastic cover has two metal clips visible. These are not the release clips (they hold a glass piece in place under the black plastic cover). The release clips are outboard of these metal clips and are two slots. Insert a small flat blade screw driver, and push the handle toward the center. While prying, lift the cover at that end up, pry the other end and lift the black plastic cover off.

7)While you're in there, you might as well clean the mirrors (THERE ARE FIVE OF THEM)and glass. At the front of the lamp on the botton, the lamp wires lead to a white two piece plastic connector. Unplug the lamp wires. Where the lamp is, toward the front is a black philips screw in the clear plastic piece that holds the front end of the lamp. Remove this screw, and lift the clear plastic piece with the front end of the lamp up slightly, and then pull the full lamp assembly forward and out. This will open the space to the mirrors and glass. Use a Q-Tip and small pieces of paper towell and glass cleaner to clean the mirrors and glass strips. I tried to remove these to clean them, but the metal clips were too tight.. better to clean it all in place. BE SURE TO CLEAN THE EYE!!!!!

8) Clean the bottom of the glass top assembly.

9) Reverse the above to reassemble. Be sure to plug the lamp back in, and the button control assembly. Leave the black plastic cover off.

10) Place the glass top assembly back in place, and snap it down before dropping the screws in the back holes.

Don't know why, but you should be good to go.

After doing the above if in a few weeks you get the same msg again go back in there and take the black top off the housing that the mirrors are in and leave it off!!!! sound crazy but it has been working on a lot of the machines that come in here.

AOC LM929 or Envision EN-7100 removal instructions:

DANGER!!! UNPLUG and allow the monitor to discharge before servicing.

with a small flat head screwdriver, insert into the edge and pop open the small plastic

pieces that surround where the stand connects to the monitor. put plastic pieces aside.

lay monitor on soft flat surface front side DOWN. with a phillips head screwdriver,

remove 4 screws in the center that hold on the stand. put stand and screws aside.

lay monitor on soft flat surface front side UP. insert flat head screwdriver into the

side edge of the grey plastic and turn screw driver so the plastic surrounding the

screen edge pops up exposing an area surrounding the screen. put plastic rectangle

piece aside.

slide out plastic buttons piece from the side and put aside.

with a phillips head screwdriver, remove 8 screws (4 on top and 4 on bottom) that hold

the screen assembly to the back housing. now lift screen assembly out of the plastic

housing. put back plastic housing and screws aside AND lay the monitor screen with the

FRONT side down on a flat soft surface.

with a phillips head screwdriver, remove 2 screws that hold on the metal electronics

cover. slide the cover down and remove. put the cover and screws aside.

USE CAUTION!!! Some components may still contain a charge.

check fuse... whatever...

The teardown information from rbrown67 was very accurate and easy to follow. It helped tremendously in tearing down my machine to replace the AC plug.