Sony 8mm Camcorder tape removal procedure

When you find your old camcorder is totally dead and you need to get that tape out here is the way to do it without destroying the mechanism and damaging the tape.

[moonrich]

Thank you very much! I had no idea that this procedure required removing every tiny screw, yanking almost all the sections apart, and then connecting 3 volts DC to the motor terminals. My Sony CCD FX630 model had four motor terminals right where you showed them. I undid the plastic connector and used two AA batteries in series to feed the motor. Connecting the + from the battery to the right-most terminal and the - to the left-most did indeed eject the tape. Reversing wouldn't completely close the tape door, but it's going in the garbage anyway. (Note to others: removing the microphone after loosening everything revealed two more screws!)

[LeprechaunJackson]

Thank you for this video, I took the “heart” out of a similar handycam my parents had yesterday morning and realised that taking the tape out was more complicated than I thought so I left it alone and put the whole tape mechanism in a ziplock bag to protect the exposed tape (since I have zero experience, I just know how to unscrew things and put them back together). I watched your video thinking it’s gonna be a complicated process but I was surprised at how easy it is, I’m gonna see if my dad or one of my neighbours has a power supply and see if I can salvage the 8mm tape :)

[StabTheDabb]

I just recently Fixed one of my Moms Hi8 Tapes. The Film Snapped and was stuck in both Reels for years. I couldn't Open the Case so I had to Loosen the Reels and Get the 2 Broken pieces of Tape out with a Tweezer. It took me 20 Minutes to get the stretched and torn Pieces of Film out of both reels because the Tape kept moving in the Case. Then I cut the Torn Sections of Film out and Splice the newly Cut Pieces back together and Rolled the Fixed film back into the Reels. The Repair was Pretty Hard because I don't have a Screwdriver to Remove the Reels out of the Cases. That a one time Repair I WONT do again. I also find it Funny that You uploaded this Video Relating to the tapes after I fixed my Mom's tape.

[epicchris]

Thanks for the video. As a lover of retro camera gear it's nice to know how to remove a tape when one of my units gives up. Great video as always :)

[LeftLittleToe]

Thanks so much for this, even if my Sony was not the same model. I taped 2 1.5 volt cells together to give the 3 volts needed to activate the eject, added 2 bits of wire an hey presto! Some memories saved all thanks to you. I raise a glass.

[nickbenke]

I was given a Fergusson VHS camcorder! Huge!!Lol. I opened it to clean the lens from the inside, gave it up as a bad idea and re-assembled! And - it never worked again! I've had it stripped down again recently and one of the power rails is down. Without a schematic it is just too time consuming so I shall maybe look another day! Great vid as always! :-)

[UtubeRosco]

Better late than never 😂 used your 2 x AA battery hack yo drive the eject mechanism. Rescued my tape, Thanks for the vid.

[winicuda]

Thank you so much, your comment about the coin battery locking up the camcorder worked. I took out the battery and it started up. Now I can finally record these tapes to DVD

[mbaur]

That's excellent troubleshooting work. I love that you test your own power supply even though you know it was good last time you used it. A shortcut not taken sometimes saves you from very long troubleshooting sessions.

[jamesfrancisco]

I appreciate this video. We have a Sony CCD-FX410 that won't power on after sitting for about 15 years, and I wanted to remove the tape in it, just in case it had something worthwhile on it. Your video was very informative, and I think I can probably follow your example and remove the tape now.

[zhaohaigaogu]

In particular, there was an electrolytic capacitor in the power circuit that was covered by the shield inside the camera, so I replaced it.In particular, there was an electrolytic capacitor in the power circuit that was covered by the shield inside the camera, so I replaced it.It's above the battery connector.It was necessary to disassemble the shield and replace the capacitors manufactured by SANYO.

[jmlemmi]

Thank you so very much! Worked on a TRV-270E. You saved our old Casette

[chip]

you saved me maybe days of trying to figure out my camera, i love this video

[mjl]

Love a good camcorder video, thanks for this evenings entertainment!

[videocouk]

Only just realised that about a year ago I also did a video about the very same procedure on a different model of Sony camcorder. Like you, I didn't then attempt to repair the camcorder, but reassembled it as-is.

[TheKLWeisss]

I followed your directions, however I'm still struggling to get the tape out. I got the whole camera apart, but, I couldn't do that little extra charging to make the tape pop out. Darn. But, if nothing else I know the camcorder is done. Yup! I appreciated your comments about these recorders. I have my mother's and I'm just going dump it. Enjoy reading the other comments. It sure makes the time go by and I will clean more junk out of my place and my kids will be happy. Yea! cheers!
P.S.I finally got the tape out, screwed the camera back together. Now to see if I can get the tape rolled back into the cassette. LOL

[ReneeRamsey-rx]

This was so helpful! I've been procrastinating attempting to remove my tape for 2 months. My Sony CCD TR93 would turn on, but when I tried to eject, play, fast forward or rewind the tape, I would hear a whirring sound for about 5 seconds and the Handicam would shut down. I merely removed the two screws holding on the door, pushed eject, and the tape was released! The tape wasn't stretched or damaged in any way. I'm guessing there's an issue with the motor that operates all of the taping functions.

[SonnyKavanagh]

I actually have a very similar camera to this model, I use it and thankfully it's running absolutely fine, but if the need arises that I need to remove a tape, thank you for this Video in how to correctly do this, Love your channel thank you

[bobmoriarty]

You're wrong, you made a Great Video; as I used to do this kinda work back in the day, you went as far as was sensible to go. Bob, in Ireland!

[Raptoraus]

My Sony Digital 8 Handycam would not power on recently and I had to use contact cleaner on the charge port on the camera and all good now works great.