I'm having a Panasonic VHS Camcorder problem. Help please?

Sorry, there's not a "General Technology" forum, so I'm posting this here. Google is being incredibly useless, so I'm turning to ATS.

I have a Panasonic camcorder (Its a bit ancient, kinda 90s technology) and it won't record.

For some reason, even when the battery has a charge, it won't turn on with only the battery.

It worked fine with the battery about a week ago.

It will only power on when hooked to the video adapter.

And, when turned on, containing a freshly rewound VHS tape, it won't record.

It worked fine about a week ago.

I'm trying to make a home movie of my friend playing World of Darkness... haha.

Please? I know its old, but I really wanna use it.

I'm extremely dumb with technology, sorry >.

reply to post by XxNightAngelusxX

Change the battery? Recording uses more power. If the adapter works and the battery doesn't it probably is the battery.

What kind of battery does it use? I'm guessing NiCd as your camera is of 90's vintage. Your battery is probably suffering from memory effect as it has been charged a million times. This is a known issue with NiCd cells.

Either that or it is probably not outputting the voltage it used to because of its age. Hence your camera working normally from mains power.

As the poster above said. A new battery may well do the trick.

As for the recording problem it could be anything. For something this old I would suspect either the record button (or the switch on the board under it) is shot or more likely, you have some bad capacitors in there that need replaced. An easy-ish job if you're any good with a soldering iron.

Simply put.. Your camera needs a service and some re-work to its circuitry.

Is this a previously recorded VHS tape?
If you are re-recording on the tape, there is a safety tab in the corners of the back side of the tape case. If the tabs have been removed you cannot record on it. You need to put tape over the holes to replace the safety tabs.
I hope this helps.

By the way, when you record is it trying to record? Or does nothing happen?

Sorry for the late reply... some stuff happened last night, and been busy all day. I'll look into everything posted here, and thanks SO MUCH for going out of your way to help me out, guys.

At first, it tried to record, then it stopped.

Now, it doesn't try at all.

Not sure why.

Is it possible to over-charge the battery and fry it by accident?

I know its possible to overcharge ipods and smart phones, leading to a weak or damaged battery that can't hold a charge. If its possible to over charge the camera's battery, that's probably what happened... I forgot it was charging for about a day and a half.

XxNightAngelusxX
Sorry for the late reply... some stuff happened last night, and been busy all day. I'll look into everything posted here, and thanks SO MUCH for going out of your way to help me out, guys.

At first, it tried to record, then it stopped.

Now, it doesn't try at all.

Not sure why.

Is it possible to over-charge the battery and fry it by accident?

I know its possible to overcharge ipods and smart phones, leading to a weak or damaged battery that can't hold a charge. If its possible to over charge the camera's battery, that's probably what happened... I forgot it was charging for about a day and a half.

Best guess: Something is wrong with the mainboard. From experience its most likely bad capacitors. You will need someone to take it apart and give it a thorough testing. Without having a look myself it's difficult to diagnose.

You should charge older NiCd batteries from empty to 100%, they shouldn't over-charge but may develop a 'memory' limiting the batteries capacity.

Modern lithium polymer (LiPo) batteries used in Ipods/phones etc have a control circuit which prevents over charging as the chemicals within them are volatile. Too much voltage and they flash, easily melting through say, a kitchen worktop. They can however fatigue over time and if the control circuit dies the battery won't function as it has to (usually) handshake with the device to charge.