Eats tapes? - Sharp Viewcam VL-AH150U Camcorder

The idle tire for your VCR is either dirty or has worn out and has stopped the tape reel from being able to move and turn and also the rubber parts need to be replaced or cleaned as ell.

its sounds like the tape deck needs to be cleaned

Your problem is a plastic belt that drives take up and supply reel. Most likely, you will not be able to relace it by yourself.

There are different reasons that a VCR could start eating tapes. It could that it just needs a good cleaning or it could have a mechanical problem you will really need to have it checked out by a service center to determine why. If you have small children I would check it for signs of “peanut butter sandwiches. J

internal misalignment causes the tape to mount incorrectly, grabbing and eating the tape. must find a repair facility to realign. do not attempt yourself as the internal mechanisms are so delicate it is easy to cause another problem

Canon NTSC ZR25 MC Digital video camcorder is eating the tape. I've loaded a new tape and get an "eject tape" message each time. Does anyone know how to fix this issue?

Have you cleaned the tape deck using a DV tape cleaner?

Hunnn....Eats the tapes, with salt & paper?..just a joke!
The tape runs on a guide ( sort of a tiny ledge )when it is fully engaged. The tape cartgage is loaded ' sucked ' in with gears that drop the cartage on top of other switches to give direction, so that "fingers" pull the tape towards the reading\recording heads. When the tape IS aligned properly, BUT is locked in the proper position the tape will NOT touch the upper or lower "ledge" that keeps it accross the heads.When the tape is NOT aligned the upper or lower tape WILL touch causeing damage. OPEN THE CARTGAGE ,Look to see if the upper & lower of the tape is damaged. Now when you say "eats the vhs tape" Does the tape comes out WRINKLE, CRINKLED,CRAMPED UP??? Then that could be ANY wheel with a black rubber rim. going bad. replace if you can. but they are VERY HARD TO FIND if u don't know what u are doing.

Chances are that that "milky substance" has gummed up the works. Sounds like the pinch roller (the rubber wheel that draws the tape through the machine) may have gunk on it, so when you put a tape in and push play, the tape sticks to it, and simply wraps the tape rounmd and round.... eating the tape - as you say. The capstan SHAFT (see below) could also be dirty. Another possibility is that the take up spool (in the machine) is gunked up so it won't turn - so that the tape is spooled OUT of the cassette and is scrunched up inside the machine and the machine eats it.

There are OTHER scenarios, BUT ALL (including the above) require taking the machine apart and throughly cleaning it with alcohol (or - depending on what you're cleaning - even soap and water!).

Cleaning the capstan pinch roller and the capstan SHAFT concievable could solve your problem. The capstan shaft is the shiny metal shaft that pulls the tape through; the pinch roller "pinches" the tape AGAINST the capstan shaft which is how the tape plays.)

It's hard to "get in there" to do this cleaning (not to mention even SEE what's going on) short of taking the mache apart.

unit need to be cleaned or have parts replaced if they got bad enough.
only, only, only use the more expensive JVC tapes. They keep their tension far better than cheaper brands. Also, they won't rub off their oxide coatings on the heads as easily, avoiding the 'clogging' of the heads (which thereby requires constant cleaning-further damaging the heads).