How do you remove a VHS tape thats stuck in a VCR?

[Singularity]

Remembering how a VCR works makes me already feel old, but how do you get a tape out of there that's stuck? I tried turning the whole thing off and on and pushed the eject putton several times and I even tried the wiggle-and-shake-it but none of this works.

 

[Orlandude]

Re: How do you remove a VHS tape thats stuck in a

There may be another way but way back this happened to me one time I just opened up the unit and went inside and manually released the tape. Obviously, something is wrong if it won't eject the tape on it's own. Might be time for a repair or time to trade it in. At the time, my machine was about 6 years old and had a lot of use so I just got rid of it. Today, new VCR machines are really cheap. Probably not worth the cost of repair.

 

[Singularity]

Re: How do you remove a VHS tape thats stuck in a

Unfortunately, I can't throw the VHS away because it's one of the old ones where you could put in a tape from a home video camera and the content is irreplacable.

 

[G-Lexington]

Re: How do you remove a VHS tape thats stuck in a

When you hit the eject button, does the tape "pop up" but not "pop out"? If so, you can slip a letter opener (or something similar) along the side, tilt it against the tape shell, and try to ease it out. However, if you hear tape unspooling while doing so, stop.

Then try this. Unconnect the VCR from all the components and take it someplace where you can work on it (like the dining room table). Unscrew the screws on either side. This should enable you to lift the cover and look inside. See if you can see if there's any tape coming out of the shell, and if it's jammed in the works. If not, the whole tape should be salvagable, one way or another. If there IS tape in the works, that section of the tape is probably lost. It won't be a very long portion - maybe a second or two - and the rest of the tape is probably salvagable. I'm not sure I can walk you through it via text, or even voice, but let me know what it looks like.

Lex

 

[trawler69]

Re: How do you remove a VHS tape thats stuck in a

All manner of things can go wrong to jam it up. Prob is once it senses it is jammed or something is up it will not try and do anything. Answer is to remove the case and locate the motor that controls the loading and lacing of the tape and then manually turn it in the relevant direction to unlace and eject the tape. It is easier than itt sounds with a bit of common sense. The motor simply runs one way to lace the tape up and the otherway to reverse the process.
Just found this might help. Sounds pretty similar to my suggestion that I know can work in the right circumstances.

 

[trawler69]

Re: How do you remove a VHS tape thats stuck in a

Never done a peanut butter and Jelly sandwich but have done a honey sandwich and it was messy but turned out ok in the end

 

[G-Lexington]

Re: How do you remove a VHS tape thats stuck in a

Believe it or not, I've actually used peanut butter to repair a VCR. I felt so...MacGyver.

Lex

 

[morgaes]

Re: How do you remove a VHS tape thats stuck in a

I know this won't help, but once a tape got jammed in my old VCR and during a struggle to get it out, I accidentally dropped it to the floor (I was holding it) and when I plugged it in to check if I had totalled it, the tape just popped out.

 

[Jeimuzu]

Re: How do you remove a VHS tape thats stuck in a

Better yet: How do you get a peanut butter and jelly sandwich out of a VCR?

PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME, PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME!

That was totally your fault.

 

[trinket]

Re: How do you remove a VHS tape thats stuck in a

I was going to chime in some tips, but I think they've been covered already here. And besides, trawler69's avatar constantly makes me trance-sleepy whenever I try to type something. Don't know what it is.