How much will it cost to replace my camcorder heads?

Question

I think I might have to get the heads on my camcorder replaced as they are in bad condition even after cleaning them.

Does anyone have any idea how much I will have to pay if I send it to a professional service place to be repaired?

Answer 1

You would probably save money by purchasing a new camcorder.

Replacing the heads normally requires replacing the entire cassette mechanism.  The price would depend on the availability and current price of your particular mechanism.  Also, you will need to find someone with the experience of working on your particular brand and model of camcorder.  This is something you don't want to leave to any electronics repair shop you are unfamiliar with.

Try Best Buy.  They will probably start by talking directly to the manufacturer of your camcorder to find out who your manufacturer lists as properly trained repair centers.

- You can also do this yourself by consulting your owners manual or the manufacturers support site for your camcorder.  Sony has a send in repair center http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/services.se...

*** By the way, cleaning cassettes are extremely abrasive.  You should only clean the camera heads when the systems tells you.  Even then, the cleaning cassettes should only be used for 3-5 seconds.  NO LONGER!



If you feel you must clean the heads when the camera does not show a cleaning error, the recommended procedure is to use a pair of locking forceps with an alcohol or clean gauze pad.  The best forceps to use are ones with the small rounded grip (similar to a wire capital letter D) instead of the thin straight or angled serrated grip.   Use the smallest and lightest forceps possible.  

- Use a small alcohol pad - the ones that come folded in the small white packets.  Don't unfold the pad.  Instead, take the pad out of the packet as it is and fold it in half, and you might want to fold it in half again (in quarters).  You may also cut it to size.  The pad should be small enough to fit into the cassette bay, and it should cover the tips of the forceps in a way to prevent the tips of the forceps from coming into direct contact with anything.

- This may not be a procedure for everyone to try.  If you feel you must, be careful, move slowly, and only use gentle pressure.   There should be no need to push or scrub.

- You might want to have a light and magnification system in many cases.  Be sure to wring out any excess alcohol from the pad before you enter the camera.

- You only need enough alcohol to dissolve the coating on the heads but not drip down into the camera.  Use a clean dry gauze or a dry unused alcohol pad to clean up any moisture or residue that remains.  If you find another tool that works better and is safer, use it.

The use of Qtips or other cotton tipped applicators is not recommended since the cotton strands can detach from the tip.  The strands then become become embedded or entangled in the cassette mechanism, the cassette tape, or elsewhere in the camcorder.  It then collects dust and other nastiness that can transfer it into places you don't want it to be.