Intro
We will be taking part a VCR Machine, which is broken. When a tape is put in, it does not eject. The tape will start playing but then will reverse almost immediately.
The Problem
Here is the inside of the VCR when deconstructed.
Our Process
We unscrewed everthing, removing all the plastics so we saw the bare form of the inside of the VCR. Through testing out different motors, we noticed the loading motor was very slow and would not move. We realized the motot died and needed to be replaced. We kept poking around and found that there was a broken piece of the VCR inside, affecting it's abiility to eject as it was stuck. After removing it, it was finally able to eject! Our next steps is to re-attach the broken piece.
The Solution
Here are images of the identified broken piece, and where it should be.
Conclusion
After gluing in the pieces, and reattaching the front panel, the VHS now plays, and ejects tapes! One issue we have found when the tape is ejected, the tape inside the container is not placed automatically. Regardless, it is still able to be fixed when out of the VHS manually so this is still a win. If we could redo this proccess, one adjustment we would make is keeping a better track of where each screw is supposed to be. We were able to project it to the screen, and we were able to play our tape! 🥳 (However, when fast-forwarding we did experience a setback)
Enjoying the Show
