Repair of an old Sony CCD-V8 camcorder - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / repair

author: zerowatts
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 06, 2023, 02:32:27 am
content: Hello everyone!So I have an old Sony CCD-V8 AF that I bought two years ago for 20€. I have been fascinated with vintage equipment and technology in general as far as I can remember, and a couple of years ago I picked up this Sony Camcorder. It was the first Video 8 (8mm) consumer video camera to be made by Sony, and I looked really cool, so after watching out for ads for this camcorder I finally picked one up. It had some faults, the autofocus and eletronic zoom did not work, but the rest of the camera was fine. I then fixed the autofocus and zoom (only mechanical problems) and after that the camera was working really good. I also rebuilt theoriginal battery, using Ni-Mh cells (replacing the original Ni-Cd ones), making it usable without the powercord attached at all times. I also picked up some tapes to try it out (including a head cleaning cassette), and it worked really well. Of course I do not use the camera for anything serious or anything like that, and yes I am aware that if I just wanted to shoot or play 8mm tapes there are much more recent and reliable models ou there for very cheap. But I really wanted to get this one working, just for the sake of it!So, my problem:After being stored for some months, perhaps a year (it was working when it was stored) I took the camera out last week just to test and see if it was working fine. To my surprise, it did not work! The camera portion is fine, but the issue is with the VCR. It flashes a orange light once I press the eject button. I took the camera apart, but visually did not find anything wrong with it, nor mechanically nor on the boards. No blown caps, nothing. I tried opening up the door manually, and inserted a tape. After closing the lid the head motor started spinning, but nothing else happened. I also tried applying power to the transport motor with an adjustable power supply, and it worked nicely, the mecahnism pulled the tape form the cassette as it would do normally. I then powered on the machine, but once again the head started moving but nothing else did.For the record, there are 3 motors in there: the one that spins the video head, the capstan/tape motor (handles the tape movement during play and Fast Forward/Rewind actions) and the mechanism/transport motor (the smallest) that has the function of retrieving the tape from the cassette. At least the head motor and the small one are working.But essencially, the VCR refuses to do anything at all, It just died! Does not open the lid, does not do anything to the tape (even with the little help mentioned above), nothing! The strange thing is that it was working fine at the time of storing the camera.So if anyone has ever worked on one of these machines, please give some ideias on this subject! I know this is a very old camera (circa 1985) and a rare model, but if anyone has some idea on what could be the issue, it would be helpfull!Also, Dave Jones has done a teardown of this exact model on his channel around ten years ago! :Kind regards!

author: fzabkar
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 06, 2023, 02:39:18 am
content: Service manual:https://elektrotanya.com/sony_ccd-v8af-e.pdf/download.html

author: Devil_rider
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 06, 2023, 04:47:23 am
content: Notorious for caps going bad. There used to be cap kits to replace all caps on them and there were all kind of different issues from no video to no mechanical operation.If you really want it working start checking those electrolythics and I bet you will find a lot of them bad

author: Runco990
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 07, 2023, 03:19:44 am
content: Welcome to capacitor HELL!!!These were all rotting and dying 25 years ago when I worked at a repair depot. ESPECIALLY those damn surface mounts.We'd heat up camcorders and give them the sniff test. You knew right away.I'd check the DC-DC converter first. And if you get it going, the head amp. Usually all bad.Ah... also, the mode switch!!!! Lots of trouble. I am so glad I don't have to work on those any longer... tiny fiddly things.

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 07, 2023, 05:17:47 am
content: Test power the supply and voltages or at least with your original one, should you have damaged something or it no longer functioning as intended, switches and also sensors.As well as the service manual check for books on servicing vcr and camcorders etc as they often have a good explanation of the mechanical and electronic functions that will assist with troubleshooting/isolating the problem.Report back with how you get on or if any of this is useful.

author: zerowatts
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 08, 2023, 12:45:17 am
content: Quote from: Runco990 on February 07, 2023, 03:19:44 amThe surface mounts seem to be a lot harder to replace, actually have never replaced one! Only eletrolyticsI just came across this:https://www.ebay.com/itm/165223560424Is that the mode switch you mentioned?I will also start looking in the DC-DC converter for those caps!Regarding the head amp, surprisingly when the camera was working, I tried recording a bit of television (using the composite video accessory) and there was almost no difference at all from the output of the set-top-box and the output from the camera (on the previously recorded tape), the image was surprisingly clear. Totally watchable! Vibrant colors, it did not look from a equipment with almost 40 years. I also clened the heads prior to the recording. So the head amp should be fine (at least at the time I tested)But one thing I have noted is that everything on the camera that is made of plastic is VERY britle. It breaks very easily, never seen anything like that!Quote from: Shock on February 07, 2023, 05:17:47 amI will look into that! I got some books on television in general, but no one in VCRs.When you say the original one, you refer to the power suply that came with the camera right?Thanks everyone!

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 08, 2023, 01:23:57 am
content: Just rule out the changes you made haven't damaged anything. Powering it the way it was originally working is in case you have overlooked something.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 08, 2023, 02:43:49 pm
content: Check if the camera has a small lithium battery soldered somewhere. The battery may have gone bad.

author: zerowatts
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 10, 2023, 12:45:03 am
content: UPDATE- The camera lives!At least mechanically, the camera is fixed! Now, the only thing left to do is a complete recap. The video colors are very bad, and does not look very good. Both the VCR and camera need the recap.How I fixed it:So with the machine disassembled I powered it with its original supply (no modifications done at the camera at this moment, complete original (just dissasembled). Nothing happened at first. After insisting a few times and rotating some parts of the machanism manually it started working, kind of. I basically just poked were and there and it came back to life. However, it was acting funny. The order of actions (loading the tape around the drum, ejecting the lid) was completely wrong, plus it thought there was a tape at all times (even when there wasn't anything on it), so it was consantly trying to load its imaginary tape. Spinning up and down, loading and unloading. Something obviously was wrong, and I tought in starting by cleaning the mode switch. Turns out this machine has two mode switches!So I started with the one closer to the lid, called loading switch by the service manual. I disassembled it and cleaned it, and that was where I made a terrible mistake, I completely lost all alignement on the mechanicals. Being the first VCR I work on, I did not know that, but apparently allignment is VERY important on these things (like a timing belt on a engine).After assembling, it was worse, a lot worse. Grinding gears, a lot of noise, did not do anything right. It took me a while to realize the problem. After identifying it, with the help of the Service manual (which have described every switch position (on both mode swithces) at every step in the cycle (loading, unloading, etc.) the mechanical part however was complete trial and error, and there appears to be a separate service manual only for the mechanism , which I found plenty for other Video 8 camcorders, but none for my mech (it is the K-Mechanism apparently, or type 1, as it was the first being invented).So... after long hours of trial and error, almost giving up on the camera, I got it to allign perfectly. It is now working like a charmTape path is perfect, loads and unloads very good, plays at the right speed! It is fixed! Put oil in some gears, and now it functions like when it was new.So the problem was in fact the mode switch. Did not clean the second one though (as it is working very fine at the moment, andif it works don't touch it)Now, the only thing left to do is as I said a complete recap. I probed the video head amp and there are a lot of bad caps there. So that is the next thing I am going to do. But mechanically it is very good at the moment!Quote from: Bud on February 08, 2023, 02:43:49 pmRegarding this, no problem, as the machine has no lithium batteries (it doesn't have a clock)Here are some picture of the camera:

author: zerowatts
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 10, 2023, 12:50:28 am
content: And of course thanks everyone for the help!

author: Runco990
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 10, 2023, 03:11:31 am
content: Looks like you got this.

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 10, 2023, 11:40:12 am
content: Nice well done, I'll send you mine when it breaks hehehe.