Ferguson 3V22

[Geoff 555]

Hello I am back again, having scrapped the JVC then I got a very clean 3V22.
Its clean inside and out. The clock display is bright. Everything is working apart from PLAY, I have replaced the belts and pinch roller.
What happens is that the tape loads and goes past the pinch roller but the right hand spool does not rotate, at all. The tape then loops out. The machine does stop after a couple of seconds. But I do hit the 'stop' before quickly.
On the right hand side of the right hand spool thing at 3 o/c there is a small shaft comming up from underneath, this I assume is what turns the spool. It does not move to contact the spool carrier, sorry apologies I don't know the correct name.
I assume that the counter not turning stops the machine.
Any ideas/help would be very gratefully received.
Thank you.
Geoff.

[Geoff 555]

Hello well there is good news and bad news. I had a belt kit and one of the belts was wrong, slightly too thick and a bit tight. Had a pack of 50 belts for 3 quid, from over there, and it was sorted.
What happened next was confusing me, which is easy now, It would play for about 1.5 seconds then stop, kicking the Play button out.
Not much of a chance to see anything on the screen, there was a high pitched screem on sound. Reminded me of the turbo spooling up on the car. Then it sort of clicked, the drum flywheel was loose with the belt hanging off, tightened the flywheel and fitted a new belt.
That was the only thing I found when I first looked at the machine.
So think that there is no control of the drum speed and someone had been in there.
So what do you think and what could the answer be please.
I think that it is a low hours machine because it is so clean, could be wrong.
Once again thank you.
Geoff.

[jayceebee]

Press the pause key down at the same time you press play. If it still shuts down then the mechacon is probably not seeing the drum pickup pulses or the drum speed is way off. There are two small magnets attached to the pulley on the drum shaft which pass over a pickup head, it’s possible that it’s simply the pulley has slid down the shaft slightly due to a loose grub screw and the signal from the pickup is weak or lost.

If the keys stay latched then you need to investigate the Hall effect sensor on the small pulley near the tape counter.

John.

[Geoff 555]

Hello John thank you so much for your reply, putting pause and play down together and the play key trips out almost imediately. The small magnets are there and the pulley is fully located.
I have a feeling that the drum speed is much to high, but a feeling it only is.
All the best.
Geoff.

[Geoff 555]

Hello John just had another play and I am not sure about the drum speed being wrong, clutching at straws.
There are a couple of things To add. On the clock display there are 6 buttons, clock, hours, minutes.
That leaves day which just lights a bar which goes off when the button is released.
and TIME on and off. pushing them just turns the clock display to 0000, going back to the time when released.
Dont have any instructions, will have to see if I can find some.
Cheers.
Geoff.

[Geoff 555]

Hello not much in the way of progress I am afraid. I tried the pause and play button down and it almost imediately kicked the buttons out. Changed the counter and it was the usual 1.5 seconds (approx) and kicked the buttons out.
Checked the drum sensor 804 ohms and capstan sensor 823 ohms so at least they are no OC.
Any ideas chaps as regards what may be wrong please?, I am wondering just why it is so clean it is almost like its new. Wondering if it was returned as faulty stored / forgotten ?
There is one on a certain site, very clean, faulty everything works but does not play a tape, what is the chance of that.
Thank you for any help that you can give.
Cheers.
Geoff.

[Chris R]

You probably have checked this already.
I seem to remember, in the dim and distant past, that a common fault was the small filament bulb which was part of the EOT sensor. If these went o/c, then the mechanism wouldn't operate.
Just a thought.

Chris R

[ben]

If the bulb is o/c then the keys wont even latch.

[Geoff 555]

Thank you Ben and Chris R I did check the bulb, it was OK. Rather than pay £11 with a minimum £30 order found 4 wire ended bulbs on e-bay + postage for £3.60.
Cheers.
Geoff.

[gallowfields]

when you refitted the drum flywheel did you fit it the correct distance up the shaft ??.so the drum sensor works correctly

[birksholt]

Just to add to the last comment, the drum flywheel should be as far onto the shaft as it will go.

[Geoff 555]

Hello thank you. The drum flywheel was fitted as far onto the shaft as it could go and the grub screw tightened onto the flat on the shaft.
Cheers.
Geoff.

[Geoff 555]

Hi back for a short one as you might say, I have just done something that was probably really inadvisable, ignorance is bliss etc. Kept the play key pressed down with a solenoid trying to release it about every second, there was sound which was not bad, I could tell it was a man speaking ( it was an old unknown tape.) lines on the screen but no vertical or horiszontal lock.
I dont know if that may flag up something.
Cheers.
Geoff.

[jayceebee]

I suspect to make any progress you're going to need a manual and scope. The drum pulse signal which is generated by the magnets and pick up head and processed to form a square wave, the drum flip flop which should be 25Hz at the correct speed. It is key to the servo operation and required for the mechacon. I'm afraid a full check and setup sounds like it's required and there are many adjustments for the phantom twiddler to have upset.

I'm afraid I don't have a manual for this model but there is one for the JVC HR-3660 which is equivalent to the Ferguson 3V16 on ElektroTanya to download. Unfortunately there are major differences as the 3660 has slow motion and still frame, for the servos the capstan circuit is a totally different design but there are similarities I seem to remember for the drum. Depending on your level of experience it just may be of some help.

John.

[Geoff 555]

Well thank you yet again, level of experiance I am afraid is zero, I don't understand why it looks so new inside, very very clean.
Cheers.
Geoff.

[jayceebee]

Your best bet would be to try and get someone local to help you if you can. Please don’t send it to anyone via a courier, they don’t travel well out of their original packaging. Any drop damage could twist the deck chassis which could mean it may never be possible to get correct guide alignment when fixed.

If you’re really keen on learning about VCRs the best machine for a beginner is the later 3V29 and 3V30. Good luck.

John.