Headphone jacks are a high wear item on some camcorders. While they do not effect what goes down on tape, they can make it difficult to judge audio quality. Camcorders and BVV-5s have a mono head phone output connector. Many problems trace back to using a stereo headset, which are designed for 2 channel connectors. Using the stereo headphones can not only result in having only one ear monitor, but also can result in intermittent connections as well.
Microphone pick up of deck mechanical noise is a normal wear and tear problem.
As decks wear, mechanical parts by there nature begin to rattle, vibrate and make all sorts of noise which will eventually be picked up in a quiet room with external mics, or by its own camera mounted shotgun mic. It's a simple process of replacing these parts in a preventive maintenance program prior to actually experiencing problems in front of a client. Each mechanical part in all decks has a life span that varies from part to part. Idler gears usually last several hundred hours, while the video head s lower drum bearings usually last about 2000 hours. On camcorders there are several other sources of typical problems which are wear and tear related.