GL-2 tape door problem

[Stephen Sobel]

Has anyone had a problem with a GL-2 where the tape door becomes stuck open and the tape mechanism frozen such that when trying to insert a tape it won't go in all the way? If so, what is the solution?

[Graham Bernard]

I remembered this thread, not good:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...=gl2+tape+door

Grazie

[Stephen Sobel]

My problem is I sold this GL2 (on Ebay) - it is in perfect condition with under 40 hours of use. The person who bought it said he videotaped fhis grandaughter or about 7 minutes, then watched it on TV with the grandkids, and everything was fine. Then when he took the tape out the problem happened. I'm trying to figureout if he did something that resulted in this problem and is now trying to return damaged goods and get a refund - or if it in fact this is something that just happened to occur by coincidence after I sold it.

[Sunny Singh]

Do you know if he played the tape back using the GL2? I've heard, and know from experience, that it's generally a bad idea to rewind and/or play tapes back on the GL2.

[Stephen Sobel]

I don't know. I know have the camcorder back from him. The tape door is stuck open. When I turn on the power switch, the green (or red) light comes on, and there's a slight humming sound that is barely audible. Other than that, nothing happens. The tape mechanism doesn't budge or do anything.

Does anyone have any other ideas on the possible problem? Or any ideas on what it will cost to have it fixed?

[Don Palomaki]

Originally Posted by Sunny Singh

... I've heard, and know from experience, that it's generally a bad idea to rewind and/or play tapes back on the GL2.

Only in the contest of adding wear to the camcorder heads and tape drive. Many people use a low cost MiniDV camcorder, like the ZR series, for playback to put the wear on it rather than on the more expensive GL2. However, if you only plan to shoot 200 or so tapes over the life of the camcorder and edit to DVD, it really should make no difference.

The tape door is stuck open. ... The tape mechanism doesn't budge or do anything...Does anyone have any other ideas on the possible problem?

One possibility:If someone abuses the camcorder - like trying to close the tape transport mechanism improperly; e.g., pushing it down (the wrong direction) instead of in allowing the motors to complete closing action - all bets are off. Also, dropping the cassette in backwards will prevent closure, and something, like a wad of cassette label could have become jammed in the tape compartment.