All Fisher top-loading VHS VCRs came with the Hitachi mechanism that was purchased by Sanyo for final-assembly. This Hitachi mechanism was the previous design before the 6-belt mechanism came out in 1983.
I was a dealer for Fisher here in the US. I remember this one well. One of the most common faults we ran into was the lamp would burn out (incandescent) for the tape end sensors. Naturally rubber parts became an issue as the machines aged. We also sold several other major brands and these really sold well by comparison. Your tuner problem may be the one I ran into once. It was some small electrolytics inside the tuner but it was not this particular model.
What a neat unit. It's no wonder they had reliability issues though - that mechanism is pretty weird. Your troubleshooting skills are impressive, with correctly identifying that bad transistor. I would have had no idea where to even start lol
I think the early JVC top loading VCRs adjusted the tracking by altering the drum speed rather than the capstan. I remember we had a JVC HR-7200 that worked that way.
I replaced two belts and gave everything in the tape path a good cleaning and the machine came alive! it's in amazing condition. It even still had some protective film on from when it was new that had to be painstakingly removed after 44 years of drying. The old couple who owned it hardly ever touched it because the kids got their own VCR a few years later
That Fisher VCR is absolutely fantastic, the top-loaders have a special place in my heart, it's lovely! More decorated than European models, fits better with carpeted lounges and a Cadillac. I don't think we had Fisher in Europe after the 1970s, just Sanyo.
@@crashbandicoot4everr Interesting! I've seen some 70s Fisher turntables, but of course Betamax VCRs are as rare as hens teeth, so I've never even seen one since 1988. You're lucky to own two!
@@crashbandicoot4everr Was about to say. I've fairly recently repaired my moms '79/80 Fisher RS-2000 stereo receiver she bought brand new back then here in Germany, along with her Fisher MT-6310 turntable. Sanyo sold lots of audio stuff here branded as Fisher all throughout the 80s and into the early 90s, for a while in parallel with Sanyo branded units that had slightly different features and styling (usually higher-end stuff compared to Fisher, like my Sanyo TPX3 direct drive turntable from around 1984). That said I haven't seen much of any video equipment branded as either Sanyo or Fisher here, just rebadges fairly late into the game (my ITT-Nokia VR3799 SVHS VCR is a Sanyo OEM unit using a P90 mechanism, but I haven't figured out the original model that it is based on. All I know is that it's an absolute pain to work on)
By the way, I forgot to mention that my JVC HR-3330 top loader with piano keys also temporarily changes its head drum speed when you adjust the tracking. It was a common thing in very early VHS machines. That JVC also has a freaking belt driving the head drum. No direct drive! :)
Hey We had a similar looking “Fisher by Sanyo “ here in Australia It was a 2 head Sp only machine with remote like yours , the quick button was for 2x speed forward on ours during playback bet yours is too The slow and pause were also perfect on playback It lasted years and was only replaced when the folks got a stereo tv in 1987 Interesting video man Thanks
I wish I could get mine to run. I have a FVH-p530 (PAL) in a pretty rundown condition, (water damage, got thrown by someone, damaged video heads and video head transformer) I got it working mechanically, and suprising enough the sound output was working, but after a few weeks when I got a video head drum that will fit, there was no sound, only noise. (sometimes the sound was bleeding through the noise when it was recorded louder on tape) The clock and counter won't light up, (it used to for a brief moment when switching on and off the VCR, well, at least the heater still works) as well as the incandescent lamp and the channel lights.
RCA never made their own VCRs. In fact, no American company made their own VCRs. Up until the mid 1980s, all VCRs were made by Japanese companies (Panasonic, Hitachi, Mistubishi, Sony, Toshiba, Sanyo, Sharp, etc). In the case of RCA, their VCRs were made by Panasonic until around 1984, and then Hitachi until about 1989, except for their portables which were all made by Hitachi. If I recall, someone commented this one shared a lot of design with an early Hitachi mechanism.
I actually have this VCR, but I haven't gotten around to restoring it yet (power supply issues). Glad you were able to get this one going. To my knowledge, during the timeframe when Sanyo made both Beta and VHS (up until 1986), Sanyo used their own brand for Beta, and used Fisher for VHS machines (by then, Fisher was owned by Sanyo anyways). And yes, that is the same transport used in that GE top loader I did the video on last year (I had similar issues trying to get it going). The rest of the machine is purely Sanyo.
A huge difference on those transistors one NPN, other is PNP type. NPN stands for Negative-Positive-Negative and PNP stands for Positive-Negative-Positive transistors. Glad you did decide to get the correct one when shipping was to high on the first one.
I think the listing was just wrong. Funny enough, NPN is the correct one that I needed according to the datasheet, and the xx253 variant is the PNP version. However, the ad I ordered from was the one listing them incorrectly as PNP! My tester also confirmed the cheaper ones I ordered were NPN.
I purchased a Fisher FVH-P520 which seller claimed was in working condition. Has now turned into a project piece! My theory on why it's not running is that it's the idler assembly... but before replacing the part (which I miraculously found new old stock of online), I was eager to get a second opinion on if there anything else I should be checking? When I play it with no tape I can see the playback idler desperately trying to turn but its jolty and intermittent and then the unit auto stops. All the belts and rubber seem fine. Any other suggestions?
Now that I re-watched Spats Bears's video, the top of the mechanism does look similar. Interestingly whenever I see these Fisher VCRs mentioned in old forums they're always classed as their own. I wonder if Fisher/Sanyo copied/borrowed the Hitachi design, or used some of the Hitachi mechanism completely.
@@probnotstech All Fisher top-loading VHS VCRs came with the Hitachi mechanism that was purchased by Sanyo for final-assembly. This Hitachi mechanism was the previous design before the 6-belt mechanism came out in 1983.
I need some help with a Fisher FVH-940. The unit works but there is no picture nor sound from the unit. It has new belts, new idler, and new voltage regulator. Still no picture, nor sound. What should I examine?
You using RF or composite out? When you say no picture, what do you mean? I recommend using a CRT TV that doesn't "blank out" when there's no signal. That way you can see what (if anything) is coming from the VCR.
I have a frontloading Fisher FVH-P710K that has less features than yours. SP only (normal in PAL where SP is 4 hours), no extra display for the timer, but the counter always shows no matter if in standby or not. Orion VCRs of the time do that too.(and its insides kinda looks JVC made to me) (and then there's those Panasonics with multiple VFDs, they don't display anything when on standby, but they don't turn off, you can still see the filament glowing ever so slightly: Kinda wasteful if you ask me)
This is 100% Sanyo. They bought the American Fisher brand in 1975 and just used their name in a lot of their products. This one and other similar models were also also branded as Siemens here in Europe. I have a couple of Fisher Beta VCRs, both made by Sanyo, and one of them is a portable unit with a Vidicon tube camera.
@@probnotstech Yes, they didn't market Fisher-branded Beta machines in North America for some reason. If you look up the Fisher VBS-7500 you'll see that it's identical to the Sanyo VTC 5300 (PAL) and VCR 4200 (NTSC) models, just slightly different styling on the front buttons.
@@probnotstech Oh. Actually, I wasn't totally correct about this Fisher VHS machine you have there. I just took a look at the Hitachi VT-8000/8500E service manual and the mechanism is exactly the same. So I wonder if Sanyo only made the electronics and just used a Hitachi mech...
Right? It's so confusing. The mechanism is 90% the same from what I can see. Here's my theory - Sanyo decided to go with Beta. But also wanted presence in the VHS market (wanting to hedge their bets). So they licensed the VHS mechanism from Hitachi and tasked Fisher in the US to design everything around it (I saw some discussion on an old VK thread that talked about Fisher desiging these in the US). Then once Sanyo decided to go with VHS, they designed their own mechanism to use in Sanyo and Fisher VHS VCRs going forward.
All Fisher top-loading VHS VCRs came with the Hitachi mechanism that was purchased by Sanyo for final-assembly. This Hitachi mechanism was the previous design before the 6-belt mechanism came out in 1983.
I was a dealer for Fisher here in the US. I remember this one well. One of the most common faults we ran into was the lamp would burn out (incandescent) for the tape end sensors. Naturally rubber parts became an issue as the machines aged. We also sold several other major brands and these really sold well by comparison. Your tuner problem may be the one I ran into once. It was some small electrolytics inside the tuner but it was not this particular model.
I bought this model in 1982 & it ran without fault until 1999. Best picture quality by far. Stunning device.
Great VCR! Our family had the Sears branded version from 1983 , i still remember the day my parents bought it from electronics department
What a neat unit. It's no wonder they had reliability issues though - that mechanism is pretty weird.
Your troubleshooting skills are impressive, with correctly identifying that bad transistor. I would have had no idea where to even start lol
Fisher was rated the least-reliable and most-troublesome VHS VCR brand in the entire 1980s by Consumer Reports.
I think the early JVC top loading VCRs adjusted the tracking by altering the drum speed rather than the capstan. I remember we had a JVC HR-7200 that worked that way.
Ive just picked up a FVH-515 from an estate sale. Ive never owned a VCR before so its going to be quite the job getting this thing working.
I replaced two belts and gave everything in the tape path a good cleaning and the machine came alive! it's in amazing condition. It even still had some protective film on from when it was new that had to be painstakingly removed after 44 years of drying. The old couple who owned it hardly ever touched it because the kids got their own VCR a few years later
That Fisher VCR is absolutely fantastic, the top-loaders have a special place in my heart, it's lovely! More decorated than European models, fits better with carpeted lounges and a Cadillac. I don't think we had Fisher in Europe after the 1970s, just Sanyo.
Fisher was a thing in Europe in the 80s. I've seen a few of their stereo equipment here in Greece and I have two Fisher Betamax VCRs.
@@crashbandicoot4everr Interesting! I've seen some 70s Fisher turntables, but of course Betamax VCRs are as rare as hens teeth, so I've never even seen one since 1988. You're lucky to own two!
@@tambarskelfir I actually own 8 or 9. Just two of them happen to be Fishers. :)
@@crashbandicoot4everr Was about to say. I've fairly recently repaired my moms '79/80 Fisher RS-2000 stereo receiver she bought brand new back then here in Germany, along with her Fisher MT-6310 turntable. Sanyo sold lots of audio stuff here branded as Fisher all throughout the 80s and into the early 90s, for a while in parallel with Sanyo branded units that had slightly different features and styling (usually higher-end stuff compared to Fisher, like my Sanyo TPX3 direct drive turntable from around 1984). That said I haven't seen much of any video equipment branded as either Sanyo or Fisher here, just rebadges fairly late into the game (my ITT-Nokia VR3799 SVHS VCR is a Sanyo OEM unit using a P90 mechanism, but I haven't figured out the original model that it is based on. All I know is that it's an absolute pain to work on)
I forgot how loud those things were
I love your channel. I learn a lot by 1 video everytime by you
I'm from wpg we had a 2 piece rca vcr with the cam corder and caM corder case .We rented videos from video concepts across from k.p mall in wpg.
i love top loaders
By the way, I forgot to mention that my JVC HR-3330 top loader with piano keys also temporarily changes its head drum speed when you adjust the tracking. It was a common thing in very early VHS machines. That JVC also has a freaking belt driving the head drum. No direct drive! :)
That huge 10000uF capacitor is almost certainly a timekeeper capacitor.
Hey
We had a similar looking “Fisher by Sanyo “ here in Australia
It was a 2 head Sp only machine with remote like yours ,
the quick button was for 2x speed forward on ours during playback bet yours is too
The slow and pause were also perfect on playback
It lasted years and was only replaced when the folks got a stereo tv in 1987
Interesting video man
Thanks
Great VHS thanks good channel
I wish I could get mine to run. I have a FVH-p530 (PAL) in a pretty rundown condition, (water damage, got thrown by someone, damaged video heads and video head transformer) I got it working mechanically, and suprising enough the sound output was working, but after a few weeks when I got a video head drum that will fit, there was no sound, only noise. (sometimes the sound was bleeding through the noise when it was recorded louder on tape)
The clock and counter won't light up, (it used to for a brief moment when switching on and off the VCR, well, at least the heater still works) as well as the incandescent lamp and the channel lights.
The internals sure look a lot like the RCA brand -- curious if they were/are a subsidiary to RCA!
RCA never made their own VCRs. In fact, no American company made their own VCRs. Up until the mid 1980s, all VCRs were made by Japanese companies (Panasonic, Hitachi, Mistubishi, Sony, Toshiba, Sanyo, Sharp, etc). In the case of RCA, their VCRs were made by Panasonic until around 1984, and then Hitachi until about 1989, except for their portables which were all made by Hitachi.
If I recall, someone commented this one shared a lot of design with an early Hitachi mechanism.
@@probnotstech yeah -- mine's Hitachi, did a little digging after I had originally commented. Super neat!
I actually have this VCR, but I haven't gotten around to restoring it yet (power supply issues). Glad you were able to get this one going.
To my knowledge, during the timeframe when Sanyo made both Beta and VHS (up until 1986), Sanyo used their own brand for Beta, and used Fisher for VHS machines (by then, Fisher was owned by Sanyo anyways).
And yes, that is the same transport used in that GE top loader I did the video on last year (I had similar issues trying to get it going). The rest of the machine is purely Sanyo.
A huge difference on those transistors one NPN, other is PNP type. NPN stands for Negative-Positive-Negative and PNP stands for Positive-Negative-Positive transistors.
Glad you did decide to get the correct one when shipping was to high on the first one.
I think the listing was just wrong. Funny enough, NPN is the correct one that I needed according to the datasheet, and the xx253 variant is the PNP version. However, the ad I ordered from was the one listing them incorrectly as PNP! My tester also confirmed the cheaper ones I ordered were NPN.
@@probnotstech I was wondering that one? Not surprising as sellers may not know any better?
Yeah, I guess it just goes to show how careful you need to be ordering parts on ebay lol
I purchased a Fisher FVH-P520 which seller claimed was in working condition. Has now turned into a project piece!
My theory on why it's not running is that it's the idler assembly... but before replacing the part (which I miraculously found new old stock of online), I was eager to get a second opinion on if there anything else I should be checking? When I play it with no tape I can see the playback idler desperately trying to turn but its jolty and intermittent and then the unit auto stops.
All the belts and rubber seem fine. Any other suggestions?
I think your instinct is right about the idler. If you look up old discussions on these it sounds like the idler was a known issue.
I want this vcr
I have to assume this is a Hitachi made unit?
Now that I re-watched Spats Bears's video, the top of the mechanism does look similar. Interestingly whenever I see these Fisher VCRs mentioned in old forums they're always classed as their own. I wonder if Fisher/Sanyo copied/borrowed the Hitachi design, or used some of the Hitachi mechanism completely.
@@probnotstech All Fisher top-loading VHS VCRs came with the Hitachi mechanism that was purchased by Sanyo for final-assembly. This Hitachi mechanism was the previous design before the 6-belt mechanism came out in 1983.
I need some help with a Fisher FVH-940. The unit works but there is no picture nor sound from the unit. It has new belts, new idler, and new voltage regulator. Still no picture, nor sound. What should I examine?
You using RF or composite out? When you say no picture, what do you mean? I recommend using a CRT TV that doesn't "blank out" when there's no signal. That way you can see what (if anything) is coming from the VCR.
I have a frontloading Fisher FVH-P710K that has less features than yours. SP only (normal in PAL where SP is 4 hours), no extra display for the timer, but the counter always shows no matter if in standby or not. Orion VCRs of the time do that too.(and its insides kinda looks JVC made to me)
(and then there's those Panasonics with multiple VFDs, they don't display anything when on standby, but they don't turn off, you can still see the filament glowing ever so slightly: Kinda wasteful if you ask me)
This is 100% Sanyo. They bought the American Fisher brand in 1975 and just used their name in a lot of their products. This one and other similar models were also also branded as Siemens here in Europe. I have a couple of Fisher Beta VCRs, both made by Sanyo, and one of them is a portable unit with a Vidicon tube camera.
That's pretty neat. As far as I can tell, Sanyo never sold beta VCRs under the Fisher name here.
@@probnotstech Yes, they didn't market Fisher-branded Beta machines in North America for some reason. If you look up the Fisher VBS-7500 you'll see that it's identical to the Sanyo VTC 5300 (PAL) and VCR 4200 (NTSC) models, just slightly different styling on the front buttons.
@@probnotstech Oh. Actually, I wasn't totally correct about this Fisher VHS machine you have there. I just took a look at the Hitachi VT-8000/8500E service manual and the mechanism is exactly the same. So I wonder if Sanyo only made the electronics and just used a Hitachi mech...
Right? It's so confusing. The mechanism is 90% the same from what I can see.
Here's my theory - Sanyo decided to go with Beta. But also wanted presence in the VHS market (wanting to hedge their bets). So they licensed the VHS mechanism from Hitachi and tasked Fisher in the US to design everything around it (I saw some discussion on an old VK thread that talked about Fisher desiging these in the US).
Then once Sanyo decided to go with VHS, they designed their own mechanism to use in Sanyo and Fisher VHS VCRs going forward.
👍👍👍👍
$100 to fix is it worth it
4:55
Made by Hitachi
Made by Sanyo with mechanism purchased from Hitachi.
Slm posnwr misy viDY 1880 WEI