I recently brought out my vcr and am trying to clean it with Maxell VP-201 VCR pro head cleaner... but it doesn't say how to use it. Do you know where to apply the cleaner on the tape before I put it in the VCR?

Sorry I know very little about the dvd side but my experience with several VCRs is they need cleaning sometimes just like audio tape recorders and players need cleaning. Early in my days of VCR ownership the engineer I used was sick of seeing me and taught me how to clean the heads, guides and rollers myself to restore performance and help prevent tapes being chewed. Head cleaning tapes simply did not reach the parts needing cleaning though the the wet type sometimes helped.

A VCR might work normally for several months and then suddenly it would happen again. Sometimes I needed to do a clean several times in a month. I did have a Sharp VCR once and that had something called an idler reel that would "suddenly" need replacing (several times) due to chewed tapes but other than that manual cleaning did the job every time.

Later VCRs were fitted with a self cleaner that worked well and meant there was no trouble for a long time but when the self cleaner became loaded with filth they actually made matters worse.
Matter of interest, I use clean newspaper and methylated spirit for cleaning.

Good day!!!

Most common problems

• VCR refuses to FF or REW and shuts off.
• VCR shuts off entering PLAY or REC or at random during PLAY or REC.
• VCR eats tapes.
• VCR doesn't accept tapes or ejects them without cause.
• Sound is wavery, fluctuating, or muddy.

The cause for all of these is very often a bad idler tire or other dirty, worn, or tired rubber parts

Always best to see if a good clean will do the trick. You can do this yourself better than a cleaning tape, but you can try one if you don't like the idea of messing with the VCR yourself. If you want to do the work, then get some Servisol Video 40 (you can find it on-line). Take the top cover off the VCR - disconect from the mains first. Then spray the servisol where the tape touches, especially the tape heads. If you don't know what to spray then after you take off the top of the VCR insert a tape and press play and watch where the tape touches. Remove tape turn off power and spray. You can use a cotton bud in the tricky areas too. Allow to dry and try a tape. You might have to do the clean again depending how dirty the VCR was. If the VCR lives in a smoke filled room that will make more work to clean it.
If it still doesn't stop rolling then you might have got a head fault.

You may have bad video heads casuing the unit to constantly trying to "auto track" to correct picture issues. You can try and run a head cleaner and see what that does, otherwise it sounds like time to replace the VCR. I hope this helps : )

i suggest you to buy a Maxell VP-100 VHS Dry Tape Video Head Cleaner, the head of the VCR is dirty that cause the tape get caught or stuck. hope this help you

Your chassis ground is intermittant. Remove the VCR cover and look just behind the head drum. You will see two copper tangs sticking out, these supply the ground to the grey chassis and are a pressure fit. Remove the 7 screws from the grey chassis, two are underneath the VCR, two on top near the VHS tape opening, and three larger screws are on top of the chassis (2 near back and 1 near front). This will allow you to lift the grey chassis about a 1/2" and you can then reach below the copper tangs and gently pry them up. Reinstall the 7 screws and the VCR cover and the snow will disappear.

Hi this is a very common with vcr's the problem you are having is with the head inside the vcr what you can try is to go out and buy a vcr head cleaning kit this comes in the form of a tape and this will then clean the head for you without having to take the vcr apart.

but have you tried playing a new video to make sure its not the tapes your watching that are at fault, the problem with tapes is that over continued use the quality drops due to the tapes passing around the inside of the video also re-recording damages tapes so bare this in mind, i would try a new tape first then go for the head cleaning kit, if the new tape play rubbish then try the head cleaner and this will improve the quality, if the tape plays ok then its the tapes your using at fault.

you should be able to get a vcr head cleaning kit off the well known auction site or from most electrical stores,

let me know if you need further assistance ok

plz rate this solution as i have a whole page of unrated posts, thanks

It is possible that the camcorder was off use and resulted in drop of values in the servo sections. First of all open the tape door section and do a good cleaning of the audio/control head . See if any dirt had accumulatted onthe heads, be verry careful to clean or use a good quality cleaning tape. Check and see if your old tapes are tight , rewind and forward before playing stored tapes. If this wont solve the choppy playing, thenit is possible that the servo section of the camcorder needs attention. Get help if not familiar as it needs experience to open and probe, but this can also be very expensive. Hope you try the cleaning first. Good day

Ur VCR signal recorded free air throught an DTV converter box?Yes,this cause is normal,because VCR player have no digital tuner on the VCR player by itself,on it circuitries design.If recorded throught pay cable signal.Yes,than ur VCR video head player is dirty needed to be clean.Tries websites like Amazon.com,Ebay.com to buy a VCR video head cleaner vdeo tape.Just play it as normal as a video tape,when the video head clean,VCR will display clean head eject tape now.

I’ve never had much luck with tape cleaners. I found that you can use acetone. You can buy it in any hardware or k-mart,walmart. Open the VCR up and find the big chrome cylinder that spins. It has the heads on it. There little windows on the cylinder. Clean them with the acetone. Use just enough acetone to wet the foam and rub the heads lightly. There is sometimes 2 to 4 heads on the cylinder. Let dry for about 5 to 10 min’s then play a tape. If still not a good picture, clean again. Sometimes if takes more than one cleaning. Hope this is helpful.