I have tape speed set on this VCR to SP, but when I play anything, it wants to go to LP and then has difficulty playing tapes without distortion and poor sound, probably because it’s incorrectly going into LP speed. Then it stops and goes into error code 3L 22 AA.
When I record, it records for a number of seconds, then stops with the 3L 22 AA code.
I also frequently go into error code 3L 22 AA when trying to rewind.
Can anybody suggest a fix to stop my VCR automatically trying to play SP tapes at LP, and what the error code is all about? Are these two matters connected?
If you open the top of the VCR, on the right hand side, your going to see a silver rectangle, with several wires attached to it. thats called the ACE head. It stands for Audio-Control-Erase head. You might need to clean this just like you would a cassette player head as oxidation does build up on to the head. Make sure you clean it on the whole surface of the head. If that does not do the trick, I would see if this model uses a small belt underneath the chassis, as some do. if thats not nthere or it seems good, Your capstain motor is most likly going bad, or the servo circuit that controls it. let us know how you made out, and GOOD LUCK
Thanks for your suggestions. I cleaned the ACE head very carefully and fully, but no luck. It still switches into LP mode. I can't see if there's a small belt underneath the chassis - I don't want to go too far taking everything apart. But where exactly is the capstan motor and its servo? I'd be confident enough to check these out if it's something fairly straightforward. Anyway, when I try to rewind, it still stops and goes into error code mode, so it looks like it could be some kind of drive problem.
Yep, sounds like if the rewinf starts its not seeing one of the pulses it needs. Oh does the tape counter advance when you rewind or fast forward? If it does not the the reel sensors is No Good. I have seen this problem alot in Sony VCRs
The tape counter does advance and reverse in FF and RW respectively, but the machine just seems to be "addicted" to LP. Are there any other suggestions or adjuctments you can think of?
I bought it only recently. Fortunately, the seller has said he will take it back and give me a refund. Reckon I should take him up on the offer?
Oh forsure man if you have that offer, because the next thing is a circuit diagram, looking for the FG pulse off of the capstan motor and the PG with the control pulse into the servo IC controler.
Hey Larry, thanks for the straightforward advice. Won't mess around any further - will contact the seller for the refund!
By the way, I also have a Sony SLV-X822 VCR which performs OK, apart from stopping when I try to rewind and fast forward, and going into error code L-18-11 when I press eject, L-22-11 when I press stop, record, play, or on/standby, and L-29-11 when I press rewind. The strange thing is that if I leave it for a while and come back to it, I can get normal functioning and the error codes don't appear. It's like it needs to cool off for a while, but all this means that something's not going right when I rewind or fast forward. Any suggestions for a fix for this problem?