I think it's worth noting that heads have a life span and just go bad after time.  When this happens no amount of cleaning is going to fix this.  That's why the PD100/PDX10/PD150/PD170 have an hours meter.  It allowed the owner to visually see when it might be time to send the camcorder back in to Sony for servicing and or repair.  The TRV900/950/VX1000/2000/2100 did not have an hours meter in the menu.  The only way of checking the hours on those models was with a certain version of the RM-95 (the model that has the NOR<->ADJ sticker on the top left).

it literally works! man like u deserves a crown!

Chamoi tips swabs are much better than using a brush or paper to clean your head and drum.

Nice tutorial.

Thank you for your video. I bought pure isopropyl from the pharmacy as well as some solid looking qtips and the quality of the video is just amazing now. My advice for people is to get good quality qtips that dont spread hairs everywhere and the most pure isoprop alcohol to avoid any moisture. Good luck you all, from Switzerland.

Wow!!! Life saver :) this worked for my sonyhi8 camera (so far so good, don’t want to jinx it). I was able to use the Q tip and brushes without removing the door to the cassette door and had to do two deep cleanings (lots of black gunk came off the first round of Q tip cleaning on the rubber roller) but I noticed a huge difference after the first clean. I did a second clean as there was still some minor glitching. Thank you so much for sharing this!!

This was exactly what I was looking for! I thought my camcorder was broken because it kept having grey lines on the screen and then only showed a blue screen. This fixed the problem. You're awesome!

I seem to magically gain extra screws when I re assemble my camcorders !

I've watched professional repair techs use chamois marketed for helical scan heads. I imagine the flat surfaces of them to be more effective than paint brushes.

Very well explained I will now try this but first have to go to Dollar Tree for new paint brush 😂

I had my doubts but i tried it anyways and my camera works perfectly now.

Thank you for the good video showing closeup details.  One note:  Use Lint-Free Swabs: Avoid standard cotton Q-tips, as the fibers can catch on the delicate head chips and snap them off. Chamois-tipped swabs or high-quality foam swabs are best.

WHAT A VIDEO, NOW MY CAMCORDER PANASONIC MD9000 IS WORKING REALLY WELL, THIS IS MY FIRST TIME USING CAMCORDER , THE FIRST CASSETTE IS GOING BAD, REALLY PIXELATED, AND AFTER I KNEW IT, I TRY TO FIND THE SOLUTION AND I SEE YOUR VIDEO , ITS REALLY MUCH EFFORT FOR IT . BUT IT'S REALLY FUN. SO PROUD OF MYSELF HAHAHAHA

Note, if your old camcorder is playing back movies poorly, see if it is just overheating. I thought my heads were dirty, but I just needed to let the camcorder sit and cool for an hour after about 30 minutes of playback. Then it plays fine for another 30 minutes.

Insanely convenient time to upload this🙏

I watched, years ago, a guy clean VCR heads with an old flannel shirt and a sacrificial VHS tape. He removed the tape in the cassette and used it to fool the VCR into running. Then he dipped the flannel in isopropyl and cleaned the parts while they spun.  These days, getting a sacrificial tape is tougher.

Thank you My Sony TRV 240 didn’t show picture or sound many years ago.
Today after watching your video tho it why not I try. I did every thing you showed . Thanks it worked and I am able to watch my videos.

Excellent video explanation! Extremely easy to follow

Thank You!  I have a Canon XL1, bought 03/98 and a Sony TRV900, bought 02/99.  Both work as new, but definitely need this level of cleaning.  I will use a small vacuum cleaner to suck up the iron oxide powder that’s in there, instead of attempt to blow it out.  I can see a thin layer of iron oxide powder nearby the TRV900’s tape drum.  There are small battery powered vacuum cleaners available, which are typically used to clean out a PC enclosure or keyboard.

Thanks a lot for this video, while putting tapes into my computer with the camcorder, i mixed the various brand and now my camcorder can't read anything. it's most likely because of what you mentionned. i will try to clean the heads and hope for the best

great tutorial it worked for me ^.^ feeling proud of myself lol