View Full Version : Cleaning a Beta Player
Okay, so my uncle just gave me almost an entire 80's movie rental store of betamax and a sanyo beta player... it works, but the sound is kinda off, it sounds washed out, i think it's the heads need cleaning... i have a bottle of rubbing alcohol and some cuetips... what's the next step?
guitarjockey111
10-24-2006, 01:51 PM
what in the world is a beta player? man thats wierd i dont know it lol
Betamax was a VHS-like Video Tape... It was higher quality and smaller, but it's major flaw was it costs something like 6 dollars to produce one where VHS cost like 1.25...
Well it sat in storage for almost 20 years unprotected.. so.. i'm gonna take the cover off of it, sand it down and repaint it..
What5647
10-24-2006, 09:54 PM
coolness, yet another beta machine. we had two, one croaked last year. the other one is still going strong though. as for cleaning, it's the same as a normal VCR. open it up, clean the head with rubbing alcohol. probably wise to clean and capstans and such with rubbing alcohol as well.
also, check the tracking. yaeh, it's kinda one of those "duh" things, but certainly worth checking, especially since it's just sound problems we're talking about.
i finished cleaning the inside today.. i went through nearly 100 cuetips with rubbing alcohol and cleaned EVERYTHING on the inside... the outside though still has many blemishes... it's a Sanyo Betamax... it plays Beta II and III... top loader... i'm gonna eventually give it a full restore... , gonna strip the paint and repaint it... replace most of the motors... it's built like a rackmount system so the parts are easily interchanged.... i think they originally meant it to be upgradeable...
What5647
10-24-2006, 10:10 PM
do you have a pic of it by any chance?
guitarjockey111
10-24-2006, 10:23 PM
yeah i want to see some pics to dude when you get around to it.
i don't have a camera... but it's the Sanyo VCT 5+ (not sure exactly which particular model it is, but it's the top loader)...
i want to take some before and after pics, but i doubt i'll be able to..
right now the sound i still pretty washed out....
http://www.colin99.co.uk/extras/reelidler/how_to_service_a_sanyo_beta.htm
umm... i have to bang it on the bottom to get it to play.. so i think there's some sort of loose connection.. so i'm sill cleaning it
What5647
10-24-2006, 11:51 PM
lol, when you said sanyo, i thought that sounded like the make ours is. the picture confirms it. i'll see what model ours is tomorrow.
mine has a speed switch though...
actually, i think i'm gonna take it to a repairman
What5647
10-25-2006, 01:21 AM
mine has a speed switch though...
as does ours.
i've no idea what could be causing the sound problems, so a tech might be a good idea.
a real question is, do you have any beta tapes? we've got several, and are working on converting them to dvd.
i have 200 something beta tapes... my uncle had a vid store in the 80s.. i got the whole store..
What5647
10-25-2006, 10:59 AM
nice.
yeah, i threw away all the naughty stuff and the duplicates, and most of the bad movies though... they're not in saleable condition so i through them away...
guitarjockey111
10-25-2006, 12:49 PM
;o; naughty stuff thats funnny. just the way you reffered to it.
... it was mod friendly...
guitarjockey111
10-25-2006, 01:06 PM
yeah i know i just thought it was funny
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