In case I insert a tape and start playing the mashine produces atape jam.

Pull the battery out to reset it. Get a DV tape cleaner to clean out the tape deck.

That should solve both.

It seems to me that the mechanism has got stuck in play mode, or at least was ready to go into play mode. It's either down to a cog mechanism that moves the parts into place and has become jammed, or that a belt that moves the mechanism forward has come off.

Tapes do brake, at the end of the day they are mechanical devices.

Just throw it away and buy another one.
But it can be reformatted or checked using IBM utilities from the atape drivers in case you still want it (ITDT or tapeutil)

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=ssg1S4000662.

Not sure about the Toshiba but generally when inserting a cassette it is lowered onto the tape drive. There is a device that will register the presence of a tape which used to commonly be a phototransistor or similar mounted on a short post that is covered by the cassette.

Once the machine knows a tape has been inserted, when play is pressed two vertical rods move towards the heads dragging the tape with them enough for it to make contact with the sound head and wrap part of the way around the video head to make playback possible.

When stop, forward or reverse winding or eject is pressed those two rods move back to the starting position and the surplus tape is wound back into the cassette.

If a cassette ejects leaving a loop of tape that can mostly be pulled out little damaged the reeling in mechanism isn't working. If the tape is jammed and comes free only after breaking the rods aren't returning to the start position.

Engineers use an empty cassette case suitably modified so once the vcr cover has been removed the operation can be observed. The problem might be a worn belt or rubber drive wheel or a problem with the hidden linkages - or it might be an electronic problem.

Simply remove the tape, broken pieces, clean vcr with alcohol. don't use the tape again

rss13506,
I'm not sure what you mean by jam but I bet you need to clean the head, roller and pin in each deck. Use rubbing alcohol and a q-tip to clean the:

1) Head (silver thing in the center bottom where the tape slides over; it produces the sound).

2) Roller (black wheel thing that keeps tension on the tape).

3) Pin (above the roller-works with the roller).

If any of these parts are dirty the deck will eat up the tapes. Clean them even if you do not see visible dirt on the q-tip as dust does not show as well as oils in the air typically from cooking will gum up the parts. Give them ample time to dry before trying a tape.

As any tape playing person knows from the 70's and 80's-try a tape you don't care about first, to make sure the deck will not eat up the ones you like!

-Chris

After inserting a hi8 tape into the ccdtry50e sony camcorder it stops playing and beeps to eject the tape. why

your cassette seems to be jammed, try removing the player open it which should reveal the trapped cassette then try to carefully remove the tape as it may have got stuck around the capstans(rubber bits) sometimes when tapes haveen't been played for a long time they tend to become loose, try to ensure that the tape is tight by using a pencil inserted into the spool and turn it until the tape tightens please take care not to over tighten. good luk

could be that you're looking at a blown cartridge for that vcr tape. You may need to cut the tape, to extract that from the unit.

The play head would usually retract when the cartridge is removed, BUT could be compromised by some tape getting into the play head mechanism, and jamming.

be particularly careful with anything pointy or sharp, as the tape head does NOT like those objects near the read surface.