Eats tapes The VCR/DVD eats the tape after rewinding then hitting eject. The tape will pop out but part of the tape is still ont in the mechinism Which part is causing this?

When a VCR eats a tape, it can be cause by a couple things.

1. There is a rubber wheel called a "pincher wheel" that compresses the tape against the "capstan". The capstan is a shiny metal spindle connected to a motor. The pincher wheel can become worn and/or dirty (slick) from the oxide coating off of the tape. You can try cleaning the pincher wheel and capstan with alcohol or try using a re-grip solution on the pincher wheel. Last thing to do is replace the pincher wheel. Look to see that the pincher wheel is doing its job by pulling the tape through. The pincher wheel & capstan are not used during a fast forward or fast rewind, so if your tape is getting caught during the FF or RW and not Play, it's probably not related to capstan & pincher wheel.

2. There is a small tire wheel called an idler tire. This tire pivots between the sending and pickup reels of the player. Its also used during fast forward & rewind as well as play. If the tire is worn, the tape won't be wound up as fast on the take-up reel as the sending reel during play. This means more tape is coming out of the cassette than can be wound up on the takeup reel. You can try using a re-grip solution on the idler tire or replace it.
3. You didn't say if the unit played ok. There's also a brake pad that is designed to grab and stop the tape wheels from spinning when you hit stop. If those pads are worn, the wheels will not stop fast enough and the tape will continue to feed (spool) out of the cassette and not be taken up by the other wheel.

So when when you hit eject, the excess tape that should have been wound up tight in the cassette before the eject sequence, is getting caught inside the player.

Let me know if I can be of further assistance to you.

Good luck!
- Jim