Canon XL1. Unable to playback tape in camcorder

Tapes recorded on one camcorder very rarely play back satisfactorily on another machine - you will have to use your old camcorder to view them, or else get them transferred to DVD

Sounds like dirty heads.
A clean and adjust of the tape path will most likely sort it out.

well ,,,,you got a dirty tape head,,,try running a head cleaning tape through the camcorder to clean it out,,
have you been using old tapes???
that would get the record head dirty prity quick,,,
also if the camcorder was a little damp it takes its time to warm up first,,,
i hope i have given you some idears to work on

Trained technician can clean the video heads individually and manually but I do not recomend it for general public. Best you can do is to purchase a good head cleaning tape. First, dust off the tape loading area with can air, then run the head cleaning tape for 10 seconds (our general recomendation is 5 seconds) but NO MORE. hope this works. -James. For further assistance by email, go to www.camerarepairjapan.com

Just fixed this problem. It is one of the three main fuses that have blown out. This is not supposed to be consumer accessible or fixable, but I did it.
Open up the camera case using the 5 allen head screws disconnect the top ribbon cable going to the playback buttons on the handle. on the main board (behind the tape deck) are 3 tiny square black fuses The top fuse FU3201 is the VTR The middle fuse FU3200 is the Motor The bottom fuse FU3202 is the Camera/Lense
The bottom fuse was my culprit. I found a tiny piece of copper and bent it into a U shape and slipped it over the fuse so that it touched the metal terminals on both sides and bypassed the fuse. This fixed the problem.
Haven't used the camera extensively since, but shoot about 10 hrs a week with 2 xl1's and will post if anything happens.
Here is a diagram from the Canon XL1 Service Manual: http://www.coycypert.net/files/xl1.png
Here is the service manual download link: http://www.coycypert.net/files/CANON%20DM-XL1.pdf

Have the same problem.  This is what I have found in trying to solve the problem.  It appears that it is a tracking problem and it appears that either your new "used" camera has the problem or your original camera had the problem.  
A simple test would be to take another camcorder and see if the tapes play. If they do, and a recently recorded tape DOES NOT, you may just need to get another camera. Or, see if the camera can be re-tracked at a repair shop. However, be sure you have copies of your most recent tapes recorded with the bad tracking

I DON'T THINK YOU HAVE A PROBLEM EXCEPT TRYING TO USE A GENERIC TAPE TO RECORD IN HD AND THEN EXPECTING IT TO PLAYBACK IN HD. IT WASN'T MADE FOR THAT AND WON'T WORK FOR HD. IF YOU ARE GOING TO USE A HD CAMERA, YOU NEED TO USE THE CORRECT HD TAPES TO EXPECT THEM TO WORK AND PLAYBACK CORRECTLY. WHY WOULD YOU BUY ONE OF THE MOST EXPENSIVE CAMERAS ON THE MARKET AND THEN USE A $2.00 TAPE AND TRY TO PLAY IT ON A $2000.00 CAMERA AND WONDER WHY IT DOESN'T WORK? BUY GOOD QUALITY TAPES.

You might still be in the record mode. Try switching to playback mode.

you must use the third party software convert your video files format to final cut express support formats.such as dv,mp4,mov
if your video files is .tod format,you can use tod to final cut express converter.
http://www.fceconverter.com/tod-to-final-cut-express/
if it's .mod files format, you can use mod to final cut express converter
http://www.fceconverter.com/mod-to-final-cut-express/

I just fixed mine accidentally... Try this: with Camera on open tape deck, then manually press in the tape cartrige till it clicks in and you hear the tape gears turning then close the tape door last. email me if it works for any of you. [email protected]