If you're seeing snow or banding when you play back your 8 mm video tapes, it's time to clean the heads on your camcorder.
If you're beginning to notice banding or snow in the playback from your Sony 8 mm camcorder, it's time to clean the tape heads. This isn't hard to do; it's a matter of popping in an 8 mm cleaning cassette and letting it do its job. Since Sony isn't making these models any more, chances are yours is getting on in years, so it's a good idea to clean your heads every month or so. That way you won't get any nasty shocks when viewing that precious video.
Instructions
1. Open the cassette door by sliding the "Eject" switch in the direction of the arrow while holding down the blue button.
2. Insert the cleaning cassette and close the cassette door.
3. Set the "Power" switch to the "VTR" setting while pressing the green button on the switch. This will cause the video-control buttons to light.
4. Press the "Rewind" button to make sure the cleaning cassette rewinds fully.
5. Press the Play button and allow the cleaning cassette to run for 10 seconds.
6. Press the "Stop" button and remove the cleaning cassette.
Tags: cleaning cassette, cassette door, time clean
