/vr/ - Retro Games

Hi guys. I was wondering if you could help with an issue I have with my CRT TV, in case you happen to have heard of this or seen it before.

It is a TV/VCR combo by LXI. I got it from a friend who took good care of it and it worked perfectly and even played VHS tapes just fine until...I put in this one vhs tape, a brand new retail one, and now it turns off a few seconds after I turn it on without fail, as shown in the webm clip.

I don't do this in the clip, but of course I tried to press eject before and during the few seconds it's on and the eject button does not register. The eject button works fine because I was able to eject tapes before this one, but essentially it doesn't have a chance to register the function before it turns off, or the limbo state the tape has given the TV doesn't allow the function to work otherwise.

I looked up the issue a lot, and basically because the parts for the TV and the VCR use the same power source, the VCR gets overwhelmed from the VHS tape for whatever reason, either because it's stuck or because it's at the end, and so it shuts off instantly, preventing me from even just using it as a TV (which is all I really want it for anyway) and just as importantly I of course do not have a chance to eject the tape to solve the issue. A subtle issue because technically the TV itself works fine, but there may not be a work around without opening the thing up which takes serious knowledge and safety protocol.

One poster said to leave it unplugged for a week so the fuse could recharge, which I tried and it may have kept it going for a bit more than 6 seconds, but still it shuts off and I can't eject the tape.

I thought to pry the tape out of course, but according to one forum post I read the TV would still be in its confused mode, so really the only way would be to properly eject the tape which of course I can't do.

PS: The tape is Nosferatu, the silent German Dracula horror film from 1922. Based cursed VHS tape ruining my CRT TV.