Another dumpster find: a Sanyo Betamax VCR player/recorder. Came with a remote and original box but no manual.



The thing has a label on top saying something about the 1984 LA Olympics. So it's about 30 yrs old.

Decided to give it a try. Bought a betamax tape from eBay. Used of course. Put it in, hit play. There was some noise that sort of resembled that of a tape being loaded, but louder. Hit rewind. More noise. Hit eject. Got a jam! Took of the cover. The tape is chewed up and ripped.

Question(s): Is it likely that the whole mechanism is screwed up and I might as well scrap the unit, or sell it as "for parts"? Or is there a reasonable chance that there was something wrong with the tape? Is there also a chance that the mechanism can be fixed by, say, lubricating it?