HVX200 Clogged heads

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Deaniweenie

Active member
A while ago I had a problem with my HVX200 where I had been shooting onto DV tape and some of the footage was lost due to what looked like clogged heads. I used the Panasonic recommended head cleaning tape (Ay-DVMCLC) but it made no difference.

In the end I sent the camera back to Panasonic who rectified it under warranty. The note that came back read - "mech replaced and alignment". I have no idea what they really did to the camera.

Since that time I have always shot to the cards but I have just been transferring some footage to DV tape and it's happened again. The head cleaner makes no difference.

I never had this issue with the PD150/170 and wondered if anyone else has had the problem with the HVX. Does the camera not have automatic head cleaning built in?

It looks as if the camera will have to go back to Panasonic again.

Thanks.

Weenie.
 
I have just discovered that the camera (on this occasion) is recording fine but won't play back the tapes. During playback the screen is black, there is a star after the letters TC and the timecode doesn't move.

The recording plays back normal in my other camera.

Any ideas anyone?

Weenie
 
What kind of tapes were you recording with?
I have recorded with the Master Quality Panny tapes without any problem

Mule Ferguson
 
I can't give you a solution, but one tip I can give you is NEVER mix brands and types of tapes in your HVX. Once we started shooting on DV tape we only used the Panasonic Master tapes.
Literally one playback of a different brand of tape can, (not always), cause problems.
Save your HVX for recording as much as possible.
We bought a DV deck because we often get other peoples DV tapes and I refuse to put anything else in our HVX. Not even onece.
I wish you the best.
 
Thank you for responding.

I have used Sony Premium (orange pack) for years and never had an issue with them until now. I have used literally thousands of them without a problem. I have used most other brands and had a few bad tapes but never with the Sony's.

This really worries me because now, even if I switched to the Panasonic tapes I will never trust this camera again for recording onto tape.

I wonder if Panasonic have just shoved a cheap sub-standard mech into this camera because they think no-one will ever really use it. I see no evidence of auto head cleaning which, for a pro camera is a disappointment.

I have no option but to return the camera to panasonic for repair, again. This will be the third time it has cost Panasonic to ship the camera from the UK to Germany for a repair under warranty.

Ted, I take your point about having a deck but I don't do enough transfer/copying to warrant the expense. Maybe I will look into getting one so that I can be secure in my transfers.

This mechanism should be bullet proof, like the Sony's.

I love my HVX but I just wish Panasonic (and I suppose all the rest of the manufacturers) would stop cutting corners with these cameras. Charge us extra for robust, well tested equipment. I'm sure we will all pay it. The down time alone I am having with this issue is costing me time and money and adding to the stress of my workload. Time and again we see technical issues crop up with these cameras that should have been spotted by Panasonic long before the thing went into production. Lens wobble, HVX beep, battery tabs to name but a few. None of these issues should have made it to the end user.

Weenie.
 
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It's hard to find any DV mechanism that will withstand brand mixing. The Sony tapes have "wet-lube" and Panasonic and almost all other tapes are "dry-lube". Just like any other kind of lubricant, if you mix two different kinds they react and "ball up". This causes the heads clogs. If you predominantly used Sony tape since your mechanism replacement, I would keep using them and then FF and REW a tape from beginning to end a couple of times and that should clear up the clog. If not, you may need to get it fixed again. When we finish a camera and go through the alignments, the only alignment "reference" tape that can be used is a Panasonic brand, so that sets the camera up to be used with the "dry-lube" configuration. The moment the first Sony tape is inserted the reaction starts and eventually, you will get a head clog. The only way to start using Panasonic tapes again is to have it serviced again.

I would try the ol' FF REW trick first. :)

Andrew Hoffman
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Hi Andrew,

I tried the FF, REW trick but it hasn't worked. I gave it a couple of goes without success.

Can you explain to me how the camera can still record perfectly but not play back. I have copied footage using the camera but on playback all I get is a black screen and the 'star' symbol showing after the letters 'TC' on the timecode display. However, the tape plays back normally in my little Sony TRV19 palmcorder. How come?

Thanks

Weenie.
 
The PB and REC heads are seperate. It sounds like your PB heads are clogged but your REC heads are fine. Generally you can unclog the heads with the FF/REW method but it sounds liek this is a pretty bad clog. Have you tried a cleaning tape after the PB/REW? If so, which brand is the cleaning tape (yes it matters too):)

Andrew Hoffman
 
Thanks Andrew,

I have used the Panasonic AY-DVMCLC cleaning tape, which I think is the one recommended in the HVX manual.

How many heads are there in total on the HVX, is it 4?

Dean
 
Hello Deaneweenie,

Yes, 2-PB, 2-REC.

It's possible the head cleaner tape actually clogged your heads since you have been using Sony tapes.

Let me know how this pans out for you.

Andrew Hoffman
 
Deaniweenie said:
Hi Andrew,

I tried the FF, REW trick but it hasn't worked. I gave it a couple of goes without success.

Can you explain to me how the camera can still record perfectly but not play back. I have copied footage using the camera but on playback all I get is a black screen and the 'star' symbol showing after the letters 'TC' on the timecode display. However, the tape plays back normally in my little Sony TRV19 palmcorder. How come?

Thanks

Weenie.
Click to expand...

Weenie,
I'm having the same problem with the TC 'star'. The tape I'm trying to play was shot on a camera other than my HVX, which could have created a weird TC problem i'm guessing? The tape definitely plays on my other camera, AND other tapes play fine on my HVX, just not that one (therefore I don't think it's a clogged head).... very strange, i'm seeking answers as well. Is the tape you're having problems with shot on your HVX or another cam? If you gather any new insight please keep me informed, thnks!

Face
 
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We have been using only Sony tapes in our cameras, but just started getting head cloggs this week, we ran a Sony head cleaner a couple of times and so far the problem has cleared up. We had a JVC (DV600) that went through 3 sets of heads , all covered under warranty. Not one set got over 150 hours. JVC finally replaced the deck, then we sold it. They claimed it was because we used Sony tapes. The funny thing was they told me the last set of heads they put in were made my Sony.
tdtinker
www.actvp.com
 
I would really like to see a study on this some time.

I have been really good about using only Panasonic tapes. But unfortunately someone else bought me tapes recently and didn't understand how important this issue was.

From here on out I'm mostly filming onto the FireStore, but out of curiosity I would like to see a report of someone trying to gum up the HVX's tape heads with different brands of tape. I would expect Sony tapes to do the most damage, but who knows.
 
We had to send in our camera today because the head clogs would keep returning, what a pain, someone had to bring out our other camera to finish the job. Never had that problem with our two Sony cameras and we had over a 1000 hours on each one. We have about 200 on the HVX 200. Very disappointed. We will at some point be recording to P-2 cards but not for some jobs, tape just works better. I hope this doesn't turn out like my JVC deck.:violin:
tdtinker
www.actvp.com
 
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