Sorry Walter, my English is not very rich and I can't undersrtand your post.

Would you clarify it a bit?

Best tot all.

<<<-- Originally posted by Ignacio Artiñano : Sorry Walter, my English is not very rich and I can't undersrtand your post.

Would you clarify it a bit?

Best tot all. -->>>

what I am trying to say is that it looks like you get faster service if you mail your camera to Canon repair direclty. It seems that folks that let their local vendor send the camera in get much slower service.

Thanks Walter for your reply.

Anyway thinking back about the problem itself, provably the reasson of the malfunction chould be due to a bad operation while opening the cassette cover with a microphone and headphones atached to the camcorder, and not letting to completely finish the eject cycle during a while.

Any inputs on that?

Sorry again for my english, but is not my native language.

<<<-- Originally posted by Ignacio Artiñano : Thanks Walter for your reply.

sure, hope I made it more clear


Anyway thinking back about the problem itself, provably the reasson of the malfunction chould be due to a bad operation while opening the cassette cover with a microphone and headphones atached to the camcorder, and not letting to completely finish the eject cycle during a while.

Any inputs on that?

Not in my case. I'm always very carful about loading/unloading the tapes, and when the unit failed it did not have external mic or headphones connected.

I'm glad to hear that Diane and Ignacio have their cameras back and working. Do you know which repair center your camera was repaired at? And were either of your cameras under warranty? I'm still within my warranty period (except for tape heads) and the repair on Diane's doesn't sound like it was the tape head. How much did it end up costing either of you?

Thanks.

Hi Dirk.

About the Canon centre wich repaired it, is Canon Official place in Madrid/Spain, but I think it has been sent to Barcelona.

The second question yes, it was under one year warranty and they offered to me a two years more warranty for 210€. Still thinking about this point.

I believe my camera was sent to New Jersey and there was no charge. I used a local camera shop her in St. Louis (Schillers) which is a source for a lot of pros and pro equipment, etc. to send my camera in under warranty, even though I DID NOT PURCHASE THE CAMERA THERE. I am a regular customers of theirs, however.

I did not even have to pay shipping or handling. My camera was still under warranty.

<<<-- Originally posted by Walter Scott : So far here is my situation: I dropped off my Opturi at the local dealer on 11/17. I called them this mornng. Canon has my cam and the repair will cost $300. Oddly, this is EXACTLY the maximum amount I authorized them to spend w/o contacting me. I can expect it back 3 to 4 weeks from today. It looks like you get better results if you avoid the dealer and send it in yourself.

I have ordered a new GL2, and I paid $150 for a 4 year extended Cannon warrenty. Based on the above unpleasent experiece (the Opturi was bought in '01) Id say the $150 was worth it.

I'll let you know when I get the beast back. -->>>

OK, update time! Got the baby back on 12/18 and all is OK with it. Cost $200. they listed a LOT of parts that were replaced, looks like most of the transport system.

I just got my GL2 back after I got the FF/RW problems. The repair letter says "Replaced drive gear assy. Performed tape path adjustment. Cleaned and checked all GWO."

So, two questions:

What does "GWO" mean? If everything is clean, do you think it's safe to switch tape brands? If you have switched tape brands after cleaning, let me know how it work out.

Thanks!

Hi Miquel.

I d'ont know what this GWO mean. Anyway I guess that problem has to do more with a malcfuntion during loading or unloading the tape (gear out of place?), that with the brand change as i posted above.

Nevertheless I will use only Sony brand.

Gear out of place? Hmm... interesting. I realise you aren't saying this . . but it has got me thinking too . . .

Now on the load/unload malfunction I've had this. I've had the effect of turing "Off" the cammie and then going to remove the tape. Pop open the the side door . .nothing happens .. Close the door again and pop it open, the tape rises out of the innards. This is interesting . ..

Grazie

There is me thinking I am doing something wrong!

I too have had this problem where nothing happens when opening the tape door, I just put it down to learning or switch in the wrong position.

I am guessing that GWO stands for Good Working Order, meaning that the tech checked everything and it is all in good working order....as for tape brand switching, I am still skeptical on the ramifications, personally. But if there ever was a good time to switch a brand and stick with it, it must be when it comes back from the shop.

Ah! I hadn't though of that. Canon didn't know, either. By the way, if you plan on sending your camera soon, or if it's in the shop now, you should know that Canon's computers seem to be acting up. Heck, I just called, and they said my GL2 will be shipped next week!

<<<-- Originally posted by Walter Scott : ......

OK, update time! Got the baby back on 12/18 and all is OK with it. Cost $200. they listed a LOT of parts that were replaced, looks like most of the transport system. -->>>

Just discovered that the repaied tape transport is MUCH quieter than before the repair. Accidently shot some vid with the external mic unplugged only to find that the soundtrack was no longer filled with the whine and grind of the transport/motor. Good news for casual shooting.

I sent my GL2 to New Jersey this past week to get it fixed. The FF/RW problem was getting worse (it really became aggravating trying to batch capture) and the camera errored for the first time in FF eating the tape in the process. I documented the symptoms and listed the repairs that they did to Diane's camera if indeed that is the problem.

The lady I talked to at Canon was extremely nice. Hopefully I'll get it back before I need it in mid-January.

<<<-- Originally posted by Dirk Mitchell : .....

The lady I talked to at Canon was extremely nice. Hopefully I'll get it back before I need it in mid-January. -->>>

Well, you might. My repair took exactly one month, but I took my cam to the local dealer and they sent it to Canon. You can prob save a few days by sending it yourself, and maybe you can get Canon to overnight it back to you if you agree to pay the shipping. Good luck and do keep us posted.

My repair took a month too. This is London UK. I elected to go via my supplier, a major Canon dealer in London. Okay, I've got a 3 month cover on the repair so I'm kinda covered.

Grazie

Got my GL2 back yesterday and it appears in "GWO." The list of repairs is similar to Diane's:

Replaced idler gear assy
Drive gear assy
Slide chassis
Performed tape path adjustment
Cleaned and checked all GWO

It took about 2 weeks and was covered under warranty although shipping to them was not covered and set me back about $70 (packaging, postage, and insurance) at the UPS Store. (Tip: find a good used box elsewhere.)

I'm very happy so far.

I've had my camera back from service now for about 2 months and I just found another problem related to the eject message.

If I close the cassette compartment without a tape, say to store the camera indefinitely, the compartment will whine and whirl as it does with a tape, but then stop momentarily and then pop back up with the eject message. I would probably have never noticed this because I almost always put a tape in, which then it works fine.

I'm curious if those who got their cameras fixed with the idler gear problem now have this problem. I guess I'll be sending it back since it's still under warranty and who knows if it will get worse.

Thanks.

Hi

Here again with this old Canon Topic.
Regarding my case, it has comeback from Canon technical service and after making two complete empty cycles, the only flashing message is the red empty icon on the screen.

I hope will continue for a long time in such manner.

Happy filming
Ignacio

My GL2 is starting to have the same problem of not RR or FF. But I found out if I use the photo search button l<< on the remote, I could at least get to the beginning of the tape to watch it.

Time to send it in.

Would Canon overhaul the whole camera when they fix this problem??

Thanks

Richard

I now have a Panasonic VCR/VTR Deck. Hope to keep such FF and RR in cammie to absolute minimum OR nothing . . . . so far it is a brilliant pice of kit, don't know why I took so long in getting a Deck? Oh yes . .I know, money . . hah ;-)

Grazie

Richard,
Canon does a full check out and cleaning (I think) when you send it in for service. If they find other problems other than the one you tell them about, I'd expect they would contact you about it.

Good luck.

Just got my camcorder back from the service center after getting having the not rewinding issue. The service details says:

Replaced drive gear and idler gear. Cleaned and adjusted tapepath. Checked REW/FF and normal now. Cleaned and checked all functions to factory specs.

It was under warranty (postmarked two days before it ran out!) and no charges. Not sure what the case would have been if they found something else wrong with it but I'm assuming they would have fixed everything under warranty and if it wasn't they would have contacted me.

Total time from the time I sent it out (USPS insured priority) to return was 12days, I'm very pleased, as long as it keeps working...

Cheers,
Brian

That's great to hear! 12 day's? I was expecting a month or so.

Does anybody know if this problem only shows up in a certain batch of GL2's that were made between a certain time period?