NOT TAKING TAPE

Did you purchase the camera used? This is often a sign of dirty read heads. Run a head cleaning tape, and that should take care of it. You might also check the tapes you are using. In the days of 8mm, there was 8mm tape, and Hi8 tape, and the two didn't mix well.

Have you tried recording new video to a new tape and trying to play it? Your old tapes could have become corrupt.

What brand/model of camera do you have? What type of connection are you using to the TV? Composite or S-Video?

Thanks.

It's a supply reel fault. I kid you not, the cure is to give it a REASONABLY FORCEFUL open-handed slap on the tape side. it may take a couple of tries but it works about 95% of the time.

The problem is a rubber tape tension roller. Simply eject the tape, look inside where the tape goes. You will see a black rubber cylinder that may have a white plastic tube protruding. If you have long tweezer or a hemostat remove the plastic tube which hold the rubber tensioner in place, then remove the rubber tension cylinder. Clean the shaft of the black rubber tensioner with alcohol on a q-tip. Replace rubber tension cylinder and plastic tube.

Also, the tapes can cause the problem. This process is possible by one person, but you may need another person or have three hands. The C:31:23 is tape tension error. The tape has become stuck. Simply eject the tape. Holding the tape upside down, pull back on the tape cover release slide on the left side of the tape, now take the hemostat and push the tape release tab, located opposite of the tape cover, push this tab down and back toward the back edge of the tape. Now while holding both those release levers, take a pencil and wind the tape past the bad spot or until the tape winds freely.
I did both of these and was able to use the camera again and view all my tapes!
Good luck and QUIT SPANKING YOUR CAMERAS!!!!

Sounds crazy, but It worked for me. I open up the tape door, ejected the tape. lightly squeezed the two long sides of the piece that hold the tape in place. I placed the tape back in. The tape fit slightly more snug in the cassette holder.
This worked for me.

this is because there is lot of condensation taken place inside.. so keep the eject tray open and most important in a clean dry place say atleast 3 to 4 days...

The gray strips usually mean the camera has dirt video heads - if it hasn't been dropped. Get a head-cleaning tape from Radio Shack or Best Buy, and run it a few times. If that doesn't do it, it'll have to be cleaned by a repair shop. Off brand tapes sometimes can cause this.

I own a Sharp VL-Z1 DV video camera. I had this same problem and thought it was from using the ME Maxell tapes. I took the battery out of the unit and let it reset. Worked fine after that.

take out the battery, put it back, turn it on and you take the tape out of the camera. hope this helped you. have a great day.

There is a fix for this which was posted for either the ZR 200 or 400. They call it the "Fonzie" fix. Just hit the camcorder with your fist on the side where the tape goes in (with the door closed). Hit it lightly once, try inserting the tape. Repeat this process with increasing force each time until this works.

Surprisingly, this worked for me. Obviously, there must be something loose for this type of solution to work. I actually had it working once, then it acted up again. I tried the same solution and it's working again. No problems for several days now.