[Cranners]

Hi folks

I wonder if you might be able to help. I've got the brilliant Sony Hi8 deck, the EVS 9000.

However, the "rewind" motor or mechanism has developed a rather alarming 'ticking' or 'clicking' noise. Obviously, describing it verbally can re rather tricky, but it reminded me of a knocking sound, as if some gears are slipping.

Function of the machine is not impaired at all, when the tapes are played back in reverse picture search mode the clicking noise is proportionally slower. The "forward" motor is just fine.

Does anyone have any ideas what this could be, and whether it's a viable thing to fix? It's a cherished machine and they're getting harder to find now?

Thanks everyone.

Cranners.

[jswondrak]

Hi,

I am experiencing the same noise. It sounds like if something in the mechanism snatches and when using fast rewind, the right spool does not move at full speed anymore, causing the tape to be crunched at the end of the rewind process.
I have now disassembled the VCR to the point, that I can observe the drive in its movement, but found no appearent cause yet.
The local repair shop didn´t even bother to disassemble it and tried to sell me a complete new drive vor €300+.
If you happened to fix the problem, let me know.
Meanwhile, I will continue my research.

[jswondrak]

Hi,

I was successful in location the culprit. It is the gearwheel of the right turntable, that cracked. This changes the spacing of the gear teeth and creates the noise. It also leads to an increased force once per revolution and so the drive slips a little creating the crushing of the tape.

I have searched the web but it seems, those parts used to be available as spare parts but are not any more.

My gearwheel had a total of three cracks, only one opened fully. This seems to be an issue with the manufacturing process.