SL-HF950 PALsite home Betamax PALsite Model index
1985

Technical

Fault and repair guide

Rear connectors Fitting a plastic shim to the chassis	No reel rotation The most common fault with older 950s is lack of reel torque. This can result in the machine shutting down in playback/recored or the tape not being would back into the cassette housing after eject. The best cure for this is to replace the reel chassis. However, because of changes during production you may find that some other bits, such as springs, may need replacing as well. Sony also made available a 'motor mod kit' which consists of a 0.02mm thick piece of plastic which can be fitted in the worn bearing. Alternatively a small ball bearing can be fitted but this may require the rotor to be filed down to ensure the correct gap between rotor and stator coils. An alternative solution is if you have a source of hard plastic and a belt hole punch they can be used to create a "plastic" packing piece for the hole the motor shaft rests in. You mainly have to work with the machine upside down. The plastic used here is 0.5mm thick. Remove the base cover, then the tape carriage cover, then remove the screws securing the reel board and carefully disassemble the unit to access the reel motor board. The real issue is whether the motor board wire coil reels have been too badly damaged by the magnet hitting the coils. Inspect the coils and clean off any copper which may have rubbed across to adjacent wires thus creating shorted turns in that electro magnet coil circuit. I expect the driver circuit eventually blows if presented with an unrealistic load for a long enough period. Clean between the wires of the coils that are damaged and reseal the wires using nail polish. Once you have reassemble the reel drive motor check that the magnet no longer rubs the coils and reassemble the machine. Our thanks to Noel Higgins for this solution
	Audio level controls not operating Check that the audio monitor is set to Auto. The VU meters only show the Hi-Fi sound level in this mode.
LED VU meters	Failure of the VU meters The audio level meters (2 lines of green and red LEDs on the front of the unit) can fail on some segments. Failure can be either a defective LED or a faulty drive IC. It is recommended to test the LEDs first before suspecting the drive unit. Because of the way this unit is constructed though, it is easier to replace the whole unit (if you can). With a little effort though, it is possible to repair the LEDs: Open the white plastic bar casing by cutting the melted-legs at the back of the PCB and carefully pull out of the PCB. Gently scrape all of the burned LED and take extra caution not to break the PCB tracks. Get a new set of Surface Mount Device LED, usually obtainable from Cellural Phone parts supplier. Solder each one of them in place. Check if there's no short circuit of the new soldered component. Assemble all parts then your VU meter is ready to give a show! A number of units have been repaired using this method. VU meter circuit board Our thanks go to Baggio Rusli for supplying this fix
Anti-static plastic sheet	Picture dropout due to static buildup Static can build up between the cassette and the upper drum which will result in what looks like excessive drop out on the tape. Sony fitted a small piece of plastic which connects between the cassette housing and the drum. Remove the lid and have a look if your machine has one fitted. The diagram to the left shows the location of the plastic sheet to discharge the static build-up.
	Conversion for additional-AV/S-VIDEO-IN through scart socket The "SIMUL" switch on the front of the 950 can be converted to allow for an additional input. With the current version, the recorder must be receiving a television channel through the tuner. How to perform the upgrade.
	Transport freezes The deck uses a small DC motor to move the mechanism between different operating modes. A dead spot can develop on the motor which will cause it to stick which results in the machine freezing. While it is possible to clean the brushes / armature of the motor fitting a replacement is a better option if you can find one. The motor also performs the threading / unthreading action but due to the longer action of this mode it rarely ceases during threading.
Hall effect sensor attached with glue	No head drum rotation You may find that the head drum fails to rotate. This is due to a problem with the Hall effect device on the head drum motor which is secured by a blob of glue. Full details on how to fix this can be found on the head motor page.
	Intermittent audio on line input The phono connectors are prone to intermittent failure and this can produce a low level or distorted audio input. The connectors come as a moulded unit and so the best remedy for this fault is to replace the entire unit. Many Sony VHS machines, such as the SLV-353, use the same connector.
Audio bias/erase transformer	Linear audio not erasing Sometimes the linear audio on the 950 fails to erase. This is sometimes is accompanied by patterning moving down the screen for about the first 10 seconds of a new recording. This implies that the full erase head has failed. The head itself though rarely fails with the usual cause being the transformer (T901) powering it. The part number for this is 1-433-275-00. Bias oscillator circuit

Quick fault guide

Fault	Solution
Line tearing - visible on playback	Line tearing can be seen on playback. ie a handful of lines in the middle of the picture appear right shifted slightly. Sony has produced the following mod for this fault. You will need: 1 x 4.7uh 1 x 22pF 1 x 33uh 1. Connect the 4.7uh o R772 (not C803 side) (RP31 board) 2. Connect other side to 22pF. 3. Connect other side of 22pF to ground. 4. connect 33uh in parallel with R807 YC-40 board)
Tape fails to eject	The sled has become completely jammed. Check the right hand side of the sled (or skate as Sony called it). This can jam because of a spring loaded roller breaking the plastic runner rail. Pushing this down as the tape was ejecting will allow the the mechanism to stay in its rail. Unfortunately, the plastic rail is part of the "Inner Frame Assembly" (X-3697-606-1) and is no longer available. If you are able to find a replacement, it will probably be a big job to replace as the assembly is a structural part of the VCR, running right down the centre.
linear audio erase t901 failure	This part is no longer available but is used in the sl-f30. I have never heard of it failing in the f30, so if you can get the top tuner board out of an f30, the transformer is located in the uppermost can on the tuner board. simply desolder it and replace the faulty one in the 950 (again located on the tuner board) paying attention to the pinouts. I repaired one of my 3 950s in this way and was completely successful.
intermittent bw recording through av though rf fine	I found this was due to dust buildup on the internal side of the av connections to the pcb. simply use compressed air to blow out of the vcr.
cassette holder judders	One of my 950s had a juddery cassette holder, it would shake when coming out empty but ok when ejecting a tape. I put a little 3 in 1 oil on the metal pivots each side on the rotation points on the holder machanism, and after a few load ejects to work it in, no more judders.
Linear audio head erase transformer t901	This part IS still available new from Visionaids.(29/06/10)
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See also the full erase head page.