Vcr player eats tapes and will not eject casset tape

take the top off the VCR, you will see where the tape is hung up. Reach down and release the tape and pick it up, now close the top.

Every VCR has a transport mechanism that moves the tape-when eject is hit it reverses and winds the tape back into the cassette and closes the door on the tape BEFORE the tape exits the unit.

It is not doing that so the tape gets mangled--bad belts, bad rubber drive wheel etc---all happen with age even if unit is not used much.

Parts for these are getting hard to find--if any questions post a comment here.

SD TECH

retime the gears

Try a video head cleaner first of all, OR eject the tape before turning off power.

try this unplug and then keep finger on eject and plug back in keeping hold of eject if not work then
UNPLUG and take top off video and you will see were the tape is stuck THERE WILL BE A RUBBER BELT ON ONE SIDE OF MECHANISM TURN COGS THAT BELT ARE ON ( USELY ANT-CLOCK ) takes time you will see parts move towards front of video ( IF NOT CHANGE THE DIRECTION TURNING ) the tape will come out when finished
THEN PLUG IN SO VIDEO CAN RESET MECHANISM

Check all belts. clean the all moving parts

clean the heads and retime the gears.

Yes with care. Simply remove the cover and with care unwrap the tape. If you must break the tape - but make sure all residual tape is cleanly removed. Re assemble and put a tape head cleaner through- following the instructions.

When a VCR eats a tape, it can be cause by a couple things.

1. There is a rubber wheel called a "pincher wheel" that compresses the tape against the "capstan". The capstan is a shiny metal spindle connected to a motor. The pincher wheel can become worn and/or dirty (slick) from the oxide coating off of the tape. You can try cleaning the pincher wheel and capstan with alcohol or try using a re-grip solution on the pincher wheel. Last thing to do is replace the pincher wheel. Look to see that the pincher wheel is doing its job by pulling the tape through. The pincher wheel & capstan are not used during a fast forward or fast rewind, so if your tape is getting caught during the FF or RW and not Play, it's probably not related to capstan & pincher wheel.

2. There is a small tire wheel called an idler tire. This tire pivots between the sending and pickup reels of the player. Its also used during fast forward & rewind as well as play. If the tire is worn, the tape won't be wound up as fast on the take-up reel as the sending reel during play. This means more tape is coming out of the cassette than can be wound up on the takeup reel. You can try using a re-grip solution on the idler tire or replace it.
3. You didn't say if the unit played ok. There's also a brake pad that is designed to grab and stop the tape wheels from spinning when you hit stop. If those pads are worn, the wheels will not stop fast enough and the tape will continue to feed (spool) out of the cassette and not be taken up by the other wheel.

So when when you hit eject, the excess tape that should have been wound up tight in the cassette before the eject sequence, is getting caught inside the player.

Let me know if I can be of further assistance to you.

Good luck!
- Jim

try opening the case. then, using your fingers, roll the gear that drives the tape eject mechanism until a full tape eject limit is reached. power up and try