How Anyone Can Easily Adjust A VCR With No Special Tools

WARNING: Be careful working on devices when they are plugged in.
This video describes how to adjust the picture on a VCR that has no, or inoperable, outside head/tape alignment controls. You can try pushing the channel up or down buttons on the front of the machine first, while a tape is playing, as that may be the tracking control and might fix the picture. This happens to be a Panasonic Omnivision but other brands may be similar. The whole process is very simple and I only needed one small phillips, and one small standard, screw driver. You will need a way to monitor the picture, by having the VCR plugged into a television, or in my case, a computer. This is also a good opportunity to clean the heads and other parts of the unit while the top is removed, but be sure to unplug it from the power source first.

[cerinorris]

Thank you Tom.. managed to save over 20 tapes of my son growing up with this adjustment, i tried no end of so called solutions to it and yours to 5 mins... you are a GENIUS!!

[HearszAM]

It's refreshing to watch a "how-to-fix" video on YT, and it actually works!
The best part is that it's short, and straight to the point.

Thank you uploading this, very much appreciated.

[vitorjunior]

Very Good. Just an explanation here. The roller in the left of the VCR drum is to adjust the upper portion of the screen, and the right one is to adjust the bottom.

[robindavis]

Thank you for still having this on YouTube!!! After a serious meltdown from my adult autistic child and trying to clean the head, this absolutely fixed the problem!!! Thank you so much more than you can ever imagine!!!

[andyleibrook]

I've repaired many machines and have never had to mess with that adjustment until today. Had a Toshiba tv/vcr combo [ FUN! ] that just wouldn't hold steady. Found your video and presto!..Thanks a million.

[jimros_cl_vids]

Wow, you just saved me having to purchase another VCR. I was copying a VHS tape to a digital file on my old Sharp VCR today when the tape just stopped and rewound to the beginning. When I played the tape again there was audio but no video (just a blue screen). I tried a couple other videotapes and got the same result. I followed your instructions and got the video to play again with even better results than before. Thanks so much!

[philsipad]

I found this trick soon after I first got my VCR in the 70s. One warning - always mark the original positions of the poles before adjusting so if you screw it up you can return the them to the original positions. Otherwise you might have a good picture with pre-recorded tape but the tapes you record will be difficult to play in other VCRs.

[zerorusher]

Thank you man! Thanks to this video I was able to "save" a VCR which wasn't working for many years and I thought was lost!

[keithp]

Well, to tell you the truth, I wasn't expecting much when I tried this out. We've got an old Emerson VCR, and, although it does have a tracking button on the front panel, it didn't seem to do anything. So, I opened up the case, and made the adjustments as shown in this video, and it worked like a charm! Color me very happy, and very grateful! Thanks for a great little video, Tom!

[charlie_nolan]

Thanks so much! I ordered a dual deck VCR from eBay and one of the decks had a broken video head drum. I replaced it with a head from a similar VCR and the tracking was all screwed up. I did what you show in this video and fixed the messy video output in less than 5 minutes!

[techtoth]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Managed to get my misaligned Samsung back to work, so I could transfer an old video of my grandparents and my dog. Wish I could offer you an enormous beer!!! Should you need an illustration for any project, count on me!!!

[nowt]

I would not recommend adjusting the alignment unless you are certain that is the problem. If you do tty adjusting it, note the original positions of the guide rollers first and only turn it a bit. Noise at the bottom indicates right hand roller, noise at the top indicates left hand roller. I would try cleaning the heads first by playing a new blank or good condition (not played much, been kept in box) tape all the way through. They don't usually go out of alignment on their own, it's more likely to be a worn pinch roller

[codykrehnke]

Omg! Thank you! You confirmed my VCR is the problem. My tapes were going bad! I was so sad. I thought my childhood tapes were gone! But all I have to do, get a new VCR

[RobbieSkyeHamilton]

I’ve been looking for over a year at thrift stores for a 4 head vcr with remote. Finally found one and was bummed to find it had tracking problems. Five minutes later after this video it was fixed and work great; thanks!!

[pmae]

I have messed with a lot of things but never a VCR, what a valuable piece of information, thank you.

[MK-dbfv]

I have to thank you personally for this tip. i have been going crazy buying tape cleaners etc.. I was checking in the casette everything is ok but still shjowing bad image. This explanation saved me. Thnak you Bunch

[kellicullen]

Thank You So much for sharing!!
I fixed my sister's vcr in under 2 minutes after watching this!!

[marsman]

Thanks! I was looking for generic advice, but was elated to open this video and see that the player I picked up at Goodwill as the exact same model. I had a precious video that was not tracking at all, and with these adjustments I got it 95% stable. I think I could tweak it more, but this will be great for a first run digital conversion.

[JohnKyleMusic]

Dude, thank you. I bought a used Philips DVP3150 to digitize some VHS tapes and there were tracking problems. No manual tracking buttons on the front or on the remote. I had no idea you could pop it open and adjust it like you show here🙏

[speedyboishan]

Hi do I need a CRT monitor or LCD display used an HD TV, I get these fuzzy lines on the top and bottom of the picture,