Some VHS tape damage is easily repaired.
Sometimes a VCR pulls the tape from a video cassette and damages a few inches of it, or the tape in some other way is mangled. When this happens, taking the cassette apart and repairing the damage with splicing is a project that most people can do themselves at home. For severely damaged tapes that hold sentimental footage, you may choose to contact a professional, but you can repair light to moderate damage yourself.
Instructions
1. Use a small phillips head screwdriver to remove the five screws on the backside of the video tape; this allows you to remove the front panel of the case. Gently rock the front panel back and forth and lift off the cassette inner components, taking care to disturb them as little as possible.
2. Unwind the tape from the reels so that you have about 6 inches of clean tape on either side of the mangled piece of tape. Cut away the damaged section of tape, leaving two cleanly cut ends.
3. Use splicing tape to connect the two cut ends of video tape. Line the pieces up so that their ends meet with splicing tape on their backsides, approximately a half inch. Use scissors or a craft knife to trim away all excess splicing tape without cutting the video tape.
4. Run the tape through the rollers at the top of the cassette and rewind the reels until the video tape is securely in place and pulled taut against the rollers.
5. Replace the bottom of the cassette and use the phillips head screwdriver to replace all five screws. Your tape is ready to view.
Tags: video tape, splicing tape, five screws, front panel, head screwdriver, phillips head, phillips head screwdriver