Dirty Replay Images appear in horizontal lines or mosaic during replay. Why is that?

SOURCE: Lines in replay

Digital video camcorder are recording signals in very thin line (as thin as 1/8 of a hair.) Therefore, following symptoms may appear if video heads become dirty even a little. If such symptoms appear, clean the video heads with a commercially available dry cleaning cassette. If the symptoms reappear shortly after cleaning, the video cassette may be defective. Stop using the cassette. Video heads may become dirty under the following conditions: (1) When using the camcorder in humid or hot places. (2) When using cassette with damaged or dirty tape. (3) When using the camcorder in dusty places. (4) When using the video heads without cleaning them for a long time. Note: Before you make important recording, clean the video heads and make a test recording first. We also recommend cleaning the video heads after use before storing the camcorder.

Posted on Sep 04, 2005

SOURCE: Lines in replay

I have a Canon ZR80. It worked okay for the first three years, though I used it maybe 10 hours a year. In the third year, high temp and humidity (90+F, 99% relative humidity) caused the CCD to fail. This is a product-wide mass defect, Canon repaired it for free. Next problem, the so-called "mosaic" or "checkerboard" or "partial recording" problem. This maybe occurred from dropping it or knocking it over. Researching it on the InterNet I saw this is common and fresh tapes and tape-head cleaning is recommended. None of that worked. Canon told me, when I contacted them, that I should send in the camera for repairs and they'd contact me about the estimated cost. I have read that usually it costs so much you might as well buy a new camera. I decided to try fixing it myself. First I removed all screws on the exterior, this required a very small jeweler's screwdriver. Removed the battery, left the tape drive bay open while doing this. DO NOT fully disassemble, remove case components only! After removal of case components, the drive controller board is located in the center of the unit, beneath where the LCD/Control unit was. The controller board has many very small ribbon connectors. After pressing all of these on tightly, I loaded a tape and battery. Test recording worked perfectly for several repeats. I reassembled the case components. It still works! If you are good with your hands and have good tools, and were about to dispose of the unit, try this repair first. It took me about an hour, and required only steady hands, a tiny screwdriver, good lighting, and lots of patience. It's less expensive than paying Canon, and it's better than throwing it away without trying to fix it. Best of luck! --thardman at thomashardman dot com

Posted on Apr 10, 2007