old broken vcr

[laserlover]

i have a old broken vcr that has a movie stuck inside it, if i opened it up would there be anything worth taking such as motors, mirrors, other stuff?

 

[Cyparagon]

The tape that's stuck will be the most valuable constituent. VHS is strictly magnetic, no mirrors or optics of any sorts are involved. You may find anywhere from 2 to 4 small motors in it, however.

 

[keeperx]

i wonder what effect you would get by shining a laser at the silvery peice that reads the tape while it was spinning (its called the "head").. may give you a liquid sky type effect

 

[laserlover]

time to disassemble! ;D

 

[FireMyLaser]

I've taken apart maybe a dozen VCRs (cuz its fun to do ) and they do actually contain some optics. At the bottom of the drive shafts that connects with the tape you'll probably find a round plastic mirror thingy that has stripes of reflective stuff on it. And maybe you'll even find a beam splitter that can split the beam 180 degrees, I only seen that once tho.

 

[Cyparagon]

i wonder what effect you would get by shining a laser at the silvery peice that reads the tape while it was spinning (its called the "head").. may give you a liquid sky type effect

It is nothing more than a spinning cylinder. It would give you an oval reflection (whether it was running or not.)

 

[lamborgini8]

I have salvaged a few motors from them in the past, there is nothing else in there of value really though.

 

[Ace82]

lol, reminds me when I was a kid. I had several ripped apart vcr's under my bed useful to only wasting space. ;D the motors are pretty much useless, except for 1 or 2 used for injecting/ejecting tapes. There are a few gears, belts, pulleys, levers, switches, and many more completely useless cool stuff! The head is usually the coolest part, but is balanced so perfectly that shining a laser on it would make no difference if it was still or moving. FYI, tapes don't use optics. ;D