Sony SL C7 fast forward look bad image.

[Daltonagf]

hi, after solving several problems, i now have a sony sl c7 , which plays perfectly, except for one function. fast rewind with picture. the tape retracts nicely, but the image is very poor. dark and somewhat distorted. probably a bad capacitor somewhere. does anyone know what area i should look for.

[Daltonagf]

see also the photo

[Electricdreams]

Dirty head Im thinking..

[Freya]

If it also does the same in frame and slo mo when paused, check C701 on the gate control chip IC704 on SJ1 board. Also had to quite a few on the AS-3 board which doesnt help you much.

[Daltonagf]

all playback functions work perfectly, pause and frame by frame too. fast forward is fine, only fast back gives a bad picture. the tape does run back nicely,

[Studio263]

I'd say that that is something wrong with the upper or lower drum. The tape wears it to a polished surface which is too smooth - so much so that the tape sticks to it. Problems appear in reverse picture search first because the tape path is sub-optimal in this mode - its all designed to run the other way really.

A way around it which has worked for me is to rub it over with metal polish - chrome cleaner works well. This produces a slightly less smooth surface than years of wear does and helps to keep the tape in the right place. The lower part of the drum is a pain to do because you have to take the head disc off and that messes up the eccentricity settings. The upper drum is easy though. Unscrew the fan, a couple of screws and allen bolts and its off. I'd do that one first and see if there is any improvement - that will show if you are on the right track. Mind the head tips though!

After you've given it a good buffing clean it very carefully in IPA - you don't want any of the abrasive material getting into the tape path. This method was worked well for me in all manner of Beta machines from SL-8000UB to SL-C20UB / C30UB.

[Daltonagf]

I'm going to try it this week