The power on my VCR shuts off after about 20 seconds! Anyone help?

[candy]

This is no big deal but it may be some little thing that I can fix.

It is a Magnavox,only about 18 months old,and it's pissing me off.

My grandchildren occasionally play with the remote so maybe they did something weird to it.I can't seem to find out what's wrong.

It automatically shuts off power whether doing PLAY,RECORD, or REWIND.

I have another one(10 years old) and 2 DVD players so it isn't the end of the world,just more crappy merchandise from China.

Any help will be appreciated,including those that tell me to toss it and buy a new one.

[MisterP]

1. you'll probably hafta get a new one: I recall timed shutdown being an

"unfixable" problem. You might want to check through your manual, though, to see if it's a feature. I myself have a Sony, which works wonderfully, but the circuits have a lifetime measured in years.

[lastknowngood]

2. remove the batteries from the remote power off the VCR and check

by inserting your finger to see if a tape is present. It sounds as if it is locked in auto rewind and shutoff, which is what happens if you allow a tape to run out. The remote could have a stuck button causing the rewind. If a tape is inside it may be broken and thus faking out the VCR that the tape has run out or reached full rewind. If this doesn't help try powering it on and immediately pushing play to see if it moves tape.
good luck

[Technowitch]

3. Good advice, both of the above

And if those don't work, I recommend you hunt up the Magnavox customer support website and go that route -- call 'em if you have time. They may have some solution.

[mcscajun]

4. Check the information for your model number here...

http://www.fixer.com/dbase/mag/index.html

You won't want to fix it yourself, but at least you'll know what it is. Then you can toss it and buy a new one with a clear conscience. :)

[lpbk2713]

5. FWIW I bought a Magnavox VCR about a year ago

to replace the other Magnavox I had been using without any trouble for about six or eight years. Hadn't had any trouble, just thought it was time for a new one and since I was happy with Magnavox I thought I would stay with that brand. Turns out the new one was a POS. The counter wouldn't keep up with the tape, it would FF or rewind without the counter changing much at all. It would take forever for a tape to rewind. It didn't have the features that I liked of the model that was much older. I tried it for a while but said the hell with this and went back to the old one. The new one has been collecting dust ever since. I'll be more careful and check reviews the next time I'm in the market for one. But as far as I'm concerned, I wasted my money on this one.

[Deja Q]

6. I'd a Maggie also; bloody thing lasted 26 months.

:-(

[AntiCoup2K4]

7. Sounds like a mechanical problem

I'm guessing the "belt drive". Basically it's either a rubber band connecting two pulleys or it might actually have gears on the wheels, which might be stripped in this case. This should be easy enough to notice if you take the cover off the VCR. Any good electronics store would probably stock the parts for common VCR models, and they should be cheap. If you can do the replacement yourself, that is. If you sent it in for repairs, it would be cheaper just to get a new VCR at the current prices.

[HamstersFromHell]

8. If it has a tape in it...

I'd suspect the tape's twisted, broken or jammed.

When you power it on, if it senses a tape present it'll try to pull a length of tape from the magazine. Sort of a stand-by mode. If it doesn't detect that the tape properly loaded, or if there's too much current being drawn by the motor driving the mechanism, it'll cut itself off as a safety precaution.

Unplug it, pop the cover, remove the tape by rolling the drive (usually a belt on one side or the other of the loading slot) so that the tape is ejected.

Once tape is removed, power it up and see if it'll ramain powered. If so and tape's damaged, you *might* try another tape. I'd recommend a good cleaning...quite often kids handle tapes with "icky" fingers, and that rubs off the tape and into the VCR.

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

9. I think I had (have) the same problem.

I say have because I still haven't fixed it, and an extra VCR for taping shows still comes in handy. I don't watch movies on VHS anymore. Anyway, mine doesn't even last that long. I plug it in, and it dies after a second. Could it be your power supply?

[kodi]

10. clean the tape heads. most machines shut down automatically if dirty

just run the tape head cleaner several times to clean the tape heads. it should do the trick.

the tape head cleaner can be purchased at best buy, etc.

[jarab]

11. One of the "end" sensors on the main circuit board ...

If you can't fix it yourself (by purchasing five dollars worth of parts) best to discard. This has been a recurrent problem for the past 8 years with many brands. Generally the shutdown ocurs at about 17 seconds in play, and naturally faster in either ff or rew.
...O...

[durablend]

12. Timing might be off...

All the gears inside have to mesh in a certain position otherwise the machine gets confused and shuts itself off continually. I've got a JVC that has that problem (piece fell out of somewhere but I have no idea where it goes).

Scrap heap time if that happens unless it's worth enough $ (not likely)