Canon E80 Camcorder

[Ben Johnson]

Hello

I have here a Canon E80 camcorder I scored off ebay for the measly sum of
$10. I knew it had a fault, the seller said "tape jams" in the description.
My original idea was to use it as a glorified webcam to replace my aging
kensington webcam that doesnt work very well with windows XP.

When I got the camera home to my surprise most of the unit is operational. I
decided to dive in and carefully pull the unit apart to see what was causing
it to go into error mode when it attempted to load a 8mm videotape.

Inserting a Fuji 8mm cassette into the basket and loading it causes the
machine to make a whirring noise (takup reel rotates), then it goes into an
error condition, allowing only the eject and ccd controls to operate (CCD
controls = zoom etc). The viewfinder flashes "Eject" in the bottom right
corner.

With the top of the cassette basket removed, and the door closed, blocking
the supply side ir sensor causes the takeup reel to rotate a few turns, the
guide posts to move around half an inch towards the V stops, the upper
cylindar drum to rotate a tiny fraction, followed by the same scenario in
reverse. This time nothing functions except the CCD controls, unless the
unit is soft power cycled. The word "Eject" flashes again but the eject
button has no effect until after the soft power cycle.

Covering the takup side IR sensor has no effect except displaying "E.Tape"
in the b&w viewfinder.

Any ideas as to what might cause this? it would be nice to get the unit
fully operational.

I've tried giving the upper cylinder drum a helping hand to spin but it
doesnt seem to be the problem unless upon cassette load the upper cylinder
drum is meant to spin up immediatly. I was under the impression that this
particular camcorder, like most, would only spin up the drum in play/record
modes to conserve the battery.

Cheers,
Ben

 

[RTJT]

This E80 has bad caps.....everywhere. Is it "worth fixing", I don't know. To
properly repair you need the following and do NOT cut corners::

1. GOOD ESR meter (not a cheapie).
2. Soldering pencil and "fine solder".
3. The service manual (complete).
4. The CANON manual concerning capacitor replacements in camcorders.
5. After capacitor replacements need lite box.
6. Vector scope or Sencore "Video Analyzer".
7. Lubricants.
9. DVM (good one).
10. About 56 capacitors.
11. At least 3 years camcorder repair experience.
12. If this is your "first camcorder cap replacement", you will need about 5
days of free time.

I hope this helps.

R



"Ben Johnson" <dash8brj@internode.on.net> wrote in message
news:3f983e5f@duster.adelaide.on.net...

Hello

I have here a Canon E80 camcorder I scored off ebay for the measly sum of
$10. I knew it had a fault, the seller said "tape jams" in the
description.
My original idea was to use it as a glorified webcam to replace my aging
kensington webcam that doesnt work very well with windows XP.

When I got the camera home to my surprise most of the unit is operational.
I
decided to dive in and carefully pull the unit apart to see what was
causing
it to go into error mode when it attempted to load a 8mm videotape.

Inserting a Fuji 8mm cassette into the basket and loading it causes the
machine to make a whirring noise (takup reel rotates), then it goes into
an
error condition, allowing only the eject and ccd controls to operate (CCD
controls = zoom etc). The viewfinder flashes "Eject" in the bottom right
corner.

With the top of the cassette basket removed, and the door closed, blocking
the supply side ir sensor causes the takeup reel to rotate a few turns,
the
guide posts to move around half an inch towards the V stops, the upper
cylindar drum to rotate a tiny fraction, followed by the same scenario in
reverse. This time nothing functions except the CCD controls, unless the
unit is soft power cycled. The word "Eject" flashes again but the eject
button has no effect until after the soft power cycle.

Covering the takup side IR sensor has no effect except displaying "E.Tape"
in the b&w viewfinder.

Any ideas as to what might cause this? it would be nice to get the unit
fully operational.

I've tried giving the upper cylinder drum a helping hand to spin but it
doesnt seem to be the problem unless upon cassette load the upper cylinder
drum is meant to spin up immediatly. I was under the impression that this
particular camcorder, like most, would only spin up the drum in
play/record
modes to conserve the battery.

Cheers,
Ben

 

[Ben Johnson]

RJ: Sorry meant to post it to the newgroup and instead sent my reply to you.

Regarding the camcorder, I think I'll just use it as a webcam as I intended.
For $10 i got it for its not worth replacing the caps.

Cheers
Ben

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

Regarding the camcorder, I think I'll just use it as a webcam as I intended.
For $10 i got it for its not worth replacing the caps.

If it will last long enough. That's the problem with caps that are beginning
to leak and caps that have already leaked.

The bigger concern with leaky caps is not just that they lose value, but the
electrolyte that spews out is corrosive enough to dissolve the copper traces on
the affected boards. Eventually, the corrosion will literally sever a lot of
traces which will cause malfunctions. It's very difficult to repair such
damage with a schematic, but it's virtually impossible to even think about a
repair without one. In most cases, the damage may be so severe that the most
economical means to repair the camcorder is to replace every single affected
mainboard. Finding replacement boards may not be feasible because they will
most likely not be available anymore given the age of the camcorder.

As it stands, either solution for repair is totally uneconomical and will cost
you about the same amount of money to fix as it would to buy a new camcorder of
a higher quality format with much more features.

In its current state, I would give it a few more months, tops, before expecting
the camera to fail to the point where it would be useless even for the purpose
you've described.

When you buy a new Handycam-style camcorder, be sure to use it on a regular
basis. Leaving a camcorder to sit without being used for who knows how long
and/or prolonged exposure to excessive heat are some of the primary reasons why
these things fail the way they do. - Reinhart