i have a speare tape that i use to test different things like recording shows in all 3 speeds sp/lp/ep and comparing them one .of the tests i did was to pause a show that i had just recorded i only did this for a few seconds and it put an ugly tracking line on the screen that ran from top to bottom i tried this again in another spot and the same happened i would advise anyone who does this to avoid it whenever possible it also affects the tension of the tape
another thing is video searching when the tape is playing and you ffwd or rwd and you can still see the show on the screen i did a test on this on one part of the tape i went back and forth in one spot and then played it back there were heaps of tracking lines and it had pretty much ruined that part of the tape
i think each of these options use a head that touches the tape in stead of like the "stop" button which just stops the motors which is why i don't do either of these because i want my masters to last i still like vhs but a lot more care has to be taken than with dvds especially since tdk have brought out those fantastic scratch proof dvds

happy trading !!

btw: i think i have stopped this virus that was affecting my computer SSSSSSSSSTTTTUUUUUUpid VVVVVIIIIIIRRRus!!!!!!!!!

:wave:

Your VCR shouldn't cause damage to those tapes in any mode. Also, I hate to let you know but most VCR's have the tape touching the heads even if there is no picture during fast forward and rewind since they have to read the control track for the elapsed time.

It sounds like the Idler is bad on your machine. The worse your Idler gets the more it will tear up your tapes.

I can`t tell you how many I replaced before the price of vcrs came down, til it didn`t pay to replace them. It`s just cheaper to buy a new machine.

my vcr is a brand new panasonic and it is in fine working order it is an excellent machine in fact every vcr i have ever used which comes to about 8 or 9 does both of these things even my friends does it it justs puts to much stress on the tape ,audio tapes work the same way

Did you try the tape in another vcr? I'm in the process of taking 3 seasons of Degrassi TNG and yanking the commercials out for a possible trade (keeping fingers crossed.....)

Anyway, after I started season 2, I noticed a thin white flashy line on the screen. It taped onto the tape in the record deck - I could see it. But no matter what tape I put in the feed vcr, the line was always there. If I took any tape except the one that I had started and put them in the record vcr (newer), it wasn't there.

I took it to a local repair shop - very reputable. It's 6 years old, hardly used, but turns out it needed a cleaning, and some minor adjustment. Cost me less than $20! Maybe that's all that is wrong with yours. I didn' t want to replace it - it's hi fi stereo vcr with frame by frame, which makes editing commercials out a snap. Couldn't replace it with a similar model for under $100.

Don't use head cleaner tapes. We ruined a vcr with one. We used it too much and it sanded the heads down too far.