Rca vcr will not take tape

Thanks for the info! . If you can not set the time using buttons, and it does not respond to the menus via the remote control, and the display flashes dashes, it sounds like your microprocessor (controller) chip has gone bad, and the power-on boot is failing, so nothing happens. . Your VCR is very dead. . It blew a single transistor in a very bad place. . Slipping or broken belts are fixable, broken processors are not. Some other broken parts are fixable, but not many. VCRs were made to be repaired in the old days, but not for long. There is a Johnson VCR repair down the street from me, he keeps old dead ones for parts, so he can fix most anything (people often give him their VCRs for free once they hear what it will cost to fix it). Repairs start at about $250, so I just buy a new one when one of mine fails (I have about 4 of them, 2 of which are dead, and I have fixed two of them). . Note - parts from one model can rarely be used in another model, so a repair shop can only replace parts using parts from other broken machines. The spinny video head is the exception to that rule, and some of the switches too. . VCR repair parts are usually available for 2-3 years, so if it is a recent purchase, you may be able to get it fixed, but VCR parts are a bit like car parts in that the individual parts would cost way more than the VCR cost, without including labor fees to put them together. . If you just bought it, return it. . If you have a warranty, use that (if you want to pay their fees for S&H and there may be an additional fee).