gl2 dirty heads.. or worse? at DVinfo.net

Harry Doyle · May 13th, 2003, 10:33 PM

i just found this messageboard before supper, and here i am after a night of filming having a problem with my gl2! :(

i had sent my gl2 to the canadian repair shop a month ago because of a broken internal speaker and received it back 6 days ago, and this unit seems to have failed me again with a playback problem :(

i was playing back footage from some filming today, when i changed tapes. the second tape i inserted would not play back anything, even though i know it is full of clips. i was only able to see the blue background with the tape icon spinning in the middle and no timecode. i could see the tape reels spinning through the cassette window on the camera, as well as the amount of time left on the tape in the lcd, but no timecode or picture. it seems to have suddenly stopped working! i removed the main battery and 'bios?' battery to try and reset the camera to default settings, with no result. i did not receive any notification that the camera needed head cleaning. the camera is about 6 months old, but the tapes are about 16 months old and heavily used. i *seem* to be able to record video normally, but cannot replay my footage on the camera, or capture via firewire (which was working perfectly under windows xp for quite a while). i have tried to play back 4 or 5 tapes with no luck. a cleaning tape costs around $40CND, which i cannot afford at the moment. does this sound like a dirty playback head or a damaged camera? repair turnaround time at canon canada was around a month and i don't know if i can bear waiting it out again.

thanks for any info you might have!

harry

Chris Hurd · May 13th, 2003, 10:38 PM

Harry, if at all possible, locate another DV camcorder and see if you can play back the tapes properly on that one. If so, more than likely your GL2 does need a head cleaning. You might want to consider retiring those tapes. DV cassettes are the least expensive component of videography, so do yourself a favor and don't overuse them too much. Hope this helps,

Harry Doyle · June 17th, 2003, 06:58 AM

yes, the cleaning tape did fix this problem. i was a bit concerned because i could see the tape reel icon in the middle of the screen and the blank timecode while trying to play the tape, but the manual says you may see a dirty head warning, or a *blank* blue screen.

Erwin Luis Logina · July 6th, 2003, 08:20 PM

I have a similar problem, I been using my GL2 for the past six months all was working fine. Until I was out doing field work and decided to use the VTR function of the camera to check the footage I have shot during the day.

To my surprise there was no audio playback, despite seeing the VU meters peaking. I played back the tape to my Panasonic deck and just like what the VU meter showed, the footage had audio. I tried using the earphone jacks on the camera to get some audio playback but still no audio.

I strictly don't re-use any Mini-DV tapes after a shoot, coz' the ones being sold here in the Philippines easily develop drop-outs even after being used for the first time. I'd like to try-out first your suggestion before concluding that it has a broken internal speaker and that it needs to be brought to a Canon Service Center here.

Again thanks in advance

Harry Doyle · July 6th, 2003, 09:37 PM

when my speaker died, the vu meters were working fine and the headphone jack also worked, but nothing from the internal speaker. no system beeps, startup chime, or anything. you might want to try removing the bios type battery from behind the lcd to reset the system settings in case you messed up an audio setting or something like that without knowing. if that doesn't work, it sounds like some sort of circuitry might be suspect since your headphones don't work either.

the turnaround here in canada was just under a month. but it felt like a year!!

good luck,
harry

May 13th, 2003, 10:33 PM	#1
Harry Doyle Regular Crew Join Date: May 2003 Location: Sydney, NS, Canada Posts: 40	gl2 dirty heads.. or worse? i just found this messageboard before supper, and here i am after a night of filming having a problem with my gl2! :( i had sent my gl2 to the canadian repair shop a month ago because of a broken internal speaker and received it back 6 days ago, and this unit seems to have failed me again with a playback problem :( i was playing back footage from some filming today, when i changed tapes. the second tape i inserted would not play back anything, even though i know it is full of clips. i was only able to see the blue background with the tape icon spinning in the middle and no timecode. i could see the tape reels spinning through the cassette window on the camera, as well as the amount of time left on the tape in the lcd, but no timecode or picture. it seems to have suddenly stopped working! i removed the main battery and 'bios?' battery to try and reset the camera to default settings, with no result. i did not receive any notification that the camera needed head cleaning. the camera is about 6 months old, but the tapes are about 16 months old and heavily used. i seem to be able to record video normally, but cannot replay my footage on the camera, or capture via firewire (which was working perfectly under windows xp for quite a while). i have tried to play back 4 or 5 tapes with no luck. a cleaning tape costs around $40CND, which i cannot afford at the moment. does this sound like a dirty playback head or a damaged camera? repair turnaround time at canon canada was around a month and i don't know if i can bear waiting it out again. thanks for any info you might have! harry

May 13th, 2003, 10:38 PM	#2
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,366 Images: 513	Harry, if at all possible, locate another DV camcorder and see if you can play back the tapes properly on that one. If so, more than likely your GL2 does need a head cleaning. You might want to consider retiring those tapes. DV cassettes are the least expensive component of videography, so do yourself a favor and don't overuse them too much. Hope this helps, __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

June 17th, 2003, 06:58 AM	#3
Harry Doyle Regular Crew Join Date: May 2003 Location: Sydney, NS, Canada Posts: 40	yes, the cleaning tape did fix this problem. i was a bit concerned because i could see the tape reel icon in the middle of the screen and the blank timecode while trying to play the tape, but the manual says you may see a dirty head warning, or a blank blue screen.

July 6th, 2003, 08:20 PM	#4
Erwin Luis Logina Tourist Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: University of Santo Tomas, Espana, Manila Posts: 1	I have a similar problem, I been using my GL2 for the past six months all was working fine. Until I was out doing field work and decided to use the VTR function of the camera to check the footage I have shot during the day. To my surprise there was no audio playback, despite seeing the VU meters peaking. I played back the tape to my Panasonic deck and just like what the VU meter showed, the footage had audio. I tried using the earphone jacks on the camera to get some audio playback but still no audio. I strictly don't re-use any Mini-DV tapes after a shoot, coz' the ones being sold here in the Philippines easily develop drop-outs even after being used for the first time. I'd like to try-out first your suggestion before concluding that it has a broken internal speaker and that it needs to be brought to a Canon Service Center here. Again thanks in advance

July 6th, 2003, 09:37 PM	#5
Harry Doyle Regular Crew Join Date: May 2003 Location: Sydney, NS, Canada Posts: 40	when my speaker died, the vu meters were working fine and the headphone jack also worked, but nothing from the internal speaker. no system beeps, startup chime, or anything. you might want to try removing the bios type battery from behind the lcd to reset the system settings in case you messed up an audio setting or something like that without knowing. if that doesn't work, it sounds like some sort of circuitry might be suspect since your headphones don't work either. the turnaround here in canada was just under a month. but it felt like a year!! good luck, harry