When trying to play a recorded tape my Camera is bleeping repeatedly and the tape time is flashing on the screen; but no pictures. I have tried changing tapes but the same problem is still arising. Please help Clive DCR-TRV238E Serial no 1248341 E-mail address as below

This is most likely caused by a damaged or misaligned video drum and can usually be repaired fairly inexpensively. However, it's not a user serviceable problem and will need to be repaired by a qualified service technician.

My name is Rick and I'm a professional repair technician with over 20 years in the business and have repaired many of these. I'm semi retired and work from home with little overhead so I can keep repair costs low. If you decide to have the camera repaired, please click HERE for a directory listing that suits your needs.

If this response has been of any help to you, please be sure and give a positive vote for me on FixYa.com .

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.

If the iris is opening to let light in, that light is not being changed to a picture signal or that picture signal is not
going into the camera circuits, What you see in the viewfinder is what is being recorded, Make sure that no cables have been left plugged in to the camera and turn the power on and off several times, I have seen the iris stick when cameras were not used for a while. The iris is inside or behind the lens and closes completely when you turn the camera off, If it is stuck, SOMETIMES it will open with repeated tries of turning it off and on or even removing the battery and putting it back in. And maybe it is just the vibration of opening and closing the battery compartment door or the slight vibrations of pushing the power button repeatedly. If it sticks once, it will stick again. This is not a repair, just a way to get those one time pictures' before.

Time for a new camcorder, you can't get parts, they do not sell to the public.

I have a sony 14E and suddenly it stopped playing and recording. With vertical lines on the screen I knew to clean the heads. No effect on the recording/playing malfunction.

However I persevered and it seems to have worked in it is now recording and playing back. The steps I suggest, with PERSEVERANCE, are :
1. Clean the heads (I did it 3 times in all, with about 1 hour between each session);
2. Leave the camera open (tape section) for about 2 hours and put the camera (with or without tape) in a warm place. (I also had condensation messages).
3. Once it is warm put in a recorded tape and attempt to view it. At first I had "dirty" vertical lines for a few seconds but it cleared and played normally.
4. If Step 3 still does not work repeat 1 and 2. As I said PERSEVERE.
If Step 3 works then try to record. It should work hopefully. If not, repeat 1 and 2 (shortening the "Warm Up" time).
Good luck. I hope mine continues to work OK now. It is to do with dirty heads and coldness I think.

I had a similar problem with my Sony 14E in that it would not record at all - sound or pictures. Prior to that I had the lines indicating head cleaning necessary. I did this, and still nothing. I then did the following which you might try.
1. Clean the heads (I did it about 3 times in the space of a couple of hours).
2. Leave the camera tape section open (with or without the tape in) for a couple of hours and the camera in a WARM PLACE. I had condensation message prior to my problems too.
3. Put in a recorded tape and attempt to view it. Immediately I had the "dirty" lines for a few seconds then it played the recording.
AT THAT STAGE I TRIED TO RECORD - NOTHING.
Repeat Steps 1 - 3 because this seems to be about dirt and cold.
4. When step 3 is reached again! try to record. Eventually this worked for me.
I hope this helps and works for you.

tape path is out of alignement

What camera are we talking about here? Have you tried resetting the camera?

J. DeRuvo
Digital Camcorder HQ

the head may be dirty, try cleaning the head with a cleaner tape and try recording again.

hi, just insert a brand new dv tape and let it record for 10 min.. rewind back to 5 min and start playing and do a repeated ff and rw you can see the black lines slowly going off.. all the best my friend sreejith