Ferguson 3v22 audio but no image

Edit, video won’t upload but all I get on screen are rather large white horizontal bars across the screen, can’t see any hint of an image through the bars but the audio plays fine and at the right speed.

Hi and welcome to the forum,

Due to their inherent size, videos cannot be uploaded directly into the forum, you can of course upload images, and they are always useful to demonstrate. However, if you feel a video is much better and it is often, then there is a rather neat solution for video at VRAT, use the members custom upload service.

This service will allow a member to place their video into a queue, from there it will be processed and end up on the forums YouTube channel. Once it is uploaded you will be notified and you can then embed the YouTube video URL into a forum post. The video will then play via the forum in a window, an example of which can be seen here.

For details on how to use the service see here.

@toggers Could you post a photo of the screen image?

Bear in mind the limits on image file size. If you have problems with oversized files, there are numerous apps for resizing - (I, personally, use 'Shrink Pic') which can be downloaded for free.

First image is the test signal which works perfectly, second is when i play a video.

That looks very much like there is no signal from one or both video heads, do your tapes have known good recordings and have you made an attempt to clean them? If the heads are not too badly clogged sometimes just running a tape in playback for an hour or so can clear them.

Replacement heads not so long ago used to be very easy and cheap to obtain but no longer although alternatives can be found. The original part number for this model was PU31332M, I've managed to find a source for PU31332G-10 which will work with a bit of tweaking, PU31332L will also work but the picture quality is a little more griany/noisy than the originals.

@jayceebee

Many Thanks for your response, yes the video plays in another video player fine, but ive got my heart set on using this one 🙂 i did try cleaning the heads to no avail, though i cant remember exactly what i used to clean them, please advise as to the correct procedure, is a vhs head cleaner casette still a viable option? or are they more snake oil? there is a fair bit of dust in the machine so i may give it a blow out with a can of air, though i don't expect that will resolve the issue.

It might be interesting to see if the 3v22 can record. Then see what appears playing back on a fully working machine.

Peter

Please don't use a head cleaning cassette, they were terrible things and contributed to short head life back in the video day. Everyone has their own preferred method mine being Isopropylalcohol (IPA) and a small square of genuine chamois leather, not one of the synthetic types eg shammy, it must be lint free. Spray a very small amount of IPA onto the chamois and hold it on the gap between the static and rotating part of the head drum with your finger, rotate the upper drum by had in an anticlockwise direction only. You will feel the head chips as they pass over your fingertip and repeat until no more dirt/oxide comes off, then clean the rest of the upper and lower drum sections and the rest of the tape path. Leave to dry for several minutes before inserting a tape.

Making a test recording then playing on another machine will help narrow it down but I have to say that the head amp circuitry in these machines was pretty bomb proof but with electronics of this age expect anything to breakdown.

Very important, you can get away with a lot with video heads and I have used what some may say are brutal methods to clean some really bad cases. Something that will destroy the heads in a instant it to use an up/down motion with the chamois, the head chips are brittle and will snap with this treatment. Good luck.

@jayceebee !00% agree with that! Cleaning tapes are very aggressive, and will literally shave hours off the life expectancy of a video head drum.

For my tanner's worth, I've have some success with a a fine (genuine squirrel hair) artist's paintbrush and a suitable cleaning fluid - Now for me, that's usually been methylated spirit. ?

Personally, I say that if you own an air rifle, then cleaning cassettes are more effective as practice targets!