Necessary to use a VCR Head Cleaner?
 

I currently own a 7-year old VCR (Panasonic PV-8664) which has been used many times. I was wondering should I use a VCR Head Cleaner since it has been used so many times to perhaps clean the insides of the VCR so that I might get a slightly better video signal? If so, what is the best brand/type of VCR Head Cleaner you would recommend me? Btw, this isn't as so much related to DV/camcorders because I couldn't find a VCR/VHS forum anywhere else. Thanks.

Well it won't clean the complete inside or anything, it will just
(try to) clean the VCR's heads. Personally I would rather invest
in a good SVHS VCR if analog is important because that will
probably increase your quality (even for plain VHS instead of
S-Video/SVHS) more. But yes, it might be wise to clean your
system. I have no idea on what would be good cleaning tapes.
Instructions on usage and the interval you should use it should
be included with the cleaning tape.

Although the length of time you've had the cam and the "many" times it has been used suggest a cleaning is in order I would ask if you see anything "bad" on your video? If not and if your cam hasn't flashed a warning that it needs cleaning (if it has that feature) I would say leave it alone.

Cleaning heads is an abrasive operation that puts some additional wear and tear on the video heads. There's no reason to do that unless you see something amiss or the cam tells you to do it.

Good luck.

Dennis

Oh, this has nothing to do with the cams. I was just wondering if it was recommended to use it on just a VCR I have that is very, very old.

Sorry, I missed that. Same thing applies to VCRs.

Good luck.

Dennis