I was given this advice by an unknown member of a remote forum that I need to do this to view dvd-like quality sharpness on my old vhs tapes that I need to transfer to DV for storage. What would you recommend me to do this on a hi8, s-vhs camcorder and s-vhs VCR. I also want to know if is better to use a wet or dry cleaning head kit
I have used wet type cleaning kits but I have heard that both wet and dry are not very good. New VHS tapes are apparently the best way to clean your VCR. Just run the tape from beginning to end and it will clean it. Apparently though the absolute best way is to open the VCR and do it manually but I am not brave enough to do that on an expensive VCR. I wouldn't worry about it though unless you are running many tapes daily from dubious/unclean sources.
I tried cleaning my camcorder heads and it didn't seem to do anygood? I use isyprocal alcohol 70% and some cotton and with my finger I rotated the cylinder.
Cotton swabs or Q-Tips are not a good idea as they can rip and leave cotton in the tape mechanisms. Use a head cleaning system or just run a new tape completely through.
What about the new tape? do I have to clean it so the dust doesn't come back? what options do I have?
No since new tapes are sealed when purchased and should be very clean. What the new tape does is pick up any debris while it is playing so don't use the tape again (well not in a VCR that you want to keep super clean).
Nice..my field from 20 years ago.. The best way to clean the video heads is with the inside of a brown envelope..it's the closest I found to the chamois tipped pads sony used to sell for the purpose. Failing that newspaper is pretty good.. use dry, hold the paper against the drum with a finger and rotate the drum manually..you will feel the head through the paper.. 3 or 4 times back and forth will do it. You will probably see a brown or black streak on the paper..if it doesn't improve the picture quality the heads are probably worn on abrasive tapes. An old scotch brand tape run for no more than 25 seconds will buff up worn heads, but it's not a good hack as they usually leave lots of debris in the head gap. Q-Tips are lethal..they can chip the heads, ruining them!! Video heads never need demagnatising because the recording bias does it automatically. Use a commercial demag wand for all metal guides etc in the tape path, and also on the audio head if you are getting swish on sound..follow the instructions and use a quality tool. Tearing at top and bottom of the picture on old tapes is usually as a result of a slightly different tape path on an old machine, and a visible sync bar (black block) in the bottom centre few lines is a result of the recording machine having the head switching point set incorrectly..they weren't as precisely set up as modern ones, top tearing is the video head drum exit guide, and bottom tearing the entry guide.. Field roll and bad tracking is usually the audio head tracking height..The sync track is very small and below the audio tracks right on the bottom edge of the tape..the setting is critical. I'm getting far too technical here..this lot is from memory. ;-) I still have a Ferguson/JVC 3v29 in perfect working order from 1983, with it's original heads.. The picture quality from new tapes is astounding, regular maintenance keeps these old top loaders in superb condition, shame the machine is only mono... A guy called Steve Beeching wrote some excellent video setup and service guides back in the mid 80's..have a google for them.
