Loose Cassette Compartment Cover

[stafmail]

Hi everyone. I'm new to this Forum and new to the HV20! I just purchased a brand new camcorder and discovered that the cassette compartment cover is slightly loose - meaning that it doesn't feel secured in its closed position. The cassette compartment cover shifts ever-so-slightly, but enough so that it feels like it's loose. It also makes a small, but noticeable noise as it is shifting back and forth. This noise would definitely be picked up by the mic when recording since the zoom controls and joystick are attached to the case. When I put in a MiniDV cassette, there is no difference. Is this normal? I returned the camcorder and exchanged it for another one (at a different store) and the same symptom occurred. Any thoughts to ease one's concerns? Thanks. Stafmail.

[Terfyn]

Apart from the noise generated!! a loose cover would not matter. It is designed to keep muck out of the tape mechanism. (so if there is a gap round the edge - change the camera) The tape mechanism is triggered by the opening of the cover only, this is the part that you need to worry about. There have been concerns about the tape mechanism jamming a Part Opened cover when it springs up.
I dare not suggest any solutions in case the repair invalidates the guarantee!! But may it be possible to cushion the cover with a piece of thin material?

[Flyingsheep]

I also have this problem. It's the way the design is sadly. Also, my Rode VM picks up the noise so easily it ruins everything. Still trying to figure out a way to avoid making it "click" back and forth without me noticing.

[ESTEBEVERDE]

If your cover isn't closing that is a defect.

Contact Canon for warranty repair.

If it's your battery, you can place a strip of fuzzy velcro on the camera side to silence it.

[Flyingsheep]

I just figured something out. If you remove the tape and put it back in, the cover will stay secured and won't move a bit until the heads stop spinning. To me it seems like it was done on purpose...

[stafmail]

thanks friends. you're all terrific and incredibly helpful!

[milespapineau]

its how the camera is built, im not so sure about the tape panel wobbling, mine doesnt do that, or not yet ( dont wanna jinx it) but when you turn the camcorder side to side you can hear a clank, this is only when the camera is off. its part of the image stabilization system, the piece does not move around when it is on, i wouldnt worry about it, unless the camera doesnt work in some sort. Check me out on youtube http://Youtube.com/sanitysource

[2292878]

hi, i am also new in this forum and also new to hv20. i think i had the same problem. i am so happy because i solved it. Brand new cam should not have this kind of problem at this price. i felt like i am holding a used cam, and it is funny that i solved my problem with nippers just before finding out what is pulldown

i have to warn you, it is risky. before doing it, examine the mechanism. if you bend it too much, it may not be closed or the little thing may fall apart. so be careful
i've added the pictures and rounded the problems. the little cover holders have to be bended a little bit to hold the cover tight.
i hope it works for you too
here the link


http://img444.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0063gl2.jpg

[paulb553]

I've had the same problem and I'd rather send it back then do the above which seems rather insane. I'm quite disappointed in it's build quality, it feels like a £200 camera rather than one that costs £550. It may have the best image quality in the world but if it feels like it was knocked together on the cheap for a few hidef family videos maybe its not the best idea for short films no matter what the propaganda on these pages.

[yggy]

I just bought an HV20 after seeing all the rave reviews, and was disappointed to have the same loose tape compartment cover problem mentioned here. It seemed too loose not to be a manufacturing defect, so I took it back to the store (Future Shop) and exchanged the camera for another one -- which had the same exact problem, grr!!

I was debating whether to take it back again when I found this thread. I (nervously) tried 2292878's cover-tightening technique (check his link to the picture), and it worked a treat. I removed the battery first, to avoid the tape popping up and down. I used a sheet of paper folded to four thicknesses to protect the camera body from getting scratched by the pliers. I gently applied pressure, frequently retesting the closing mechanism until it was just right.

Yay, now I can start filming!

[yggy]

I should add to that -- as you bend the little metal clips, make sure the open/eject slider still goes back all the way -- if you bend the top clip too far the slider will get stuck halfway. I'd say it's ok if you need to apply a little finger pressure to get the slider all the way back, as this should tighten up the cover a little more. Mine's now rock-solid when closed, woot!

[yggy]

Gah ... my second HV20 had playback problems (see http://www.hv20.com/showthread.php?t=4556), so I exchanged it, and am now on my third. This one has a loose door too, so it seems to be a common problem. I'll tighten it up the same as the last one. Fortunately the playback works fine, so hopefully this one's a keeper and I can get away from the "Trouble in Paradise" thread family!!

[skiltrip]

Just wanted to say that I finally got tired of my loosey goosey tape door last night and bent those little tabs in a hair and everything is nice and tight now. I'm glad I did it.

For anyone thinking of doing this, just make sure you use really little needlenose pliers. This keep you from applying too much pressure at once. And bend a little little bit at a time closing the door each time to see how it's going. Larger pliers give you too much leverage, and you could end up doing some harm in there! also, take that battery out! you don't need it in there, and it'll just make things crazy with the tape mechanism popping out and back in.

[ztrain727]

I returned mine for other reasons as well as this. I actually did try this method though, and it works like a charm. Just takes some fiddling before you get it right...

[elantric]

Can we make this thread a sticky?

I recently got two refurbished HV20's - one has a tight cassette cover, while the other one creaks badly.

Info in this valuable thread solved my problem.

thanks!

Steve

[DaggerVez]

Many thanks! :-)

[tecra123]

Hi,All,
I just got my HV30.But I found the cassette compartment cover is not tight. When my finger is on the cassette compartment cover to play the zoom stick, I just feel the cover is not tight. Does anyone has this problem? Thanks!

[markoh]

Hi everybody,

Unbelievable, my HV30 (i bought it yesterday) has the same problem. It is really strange that the problem, that is obviously disscussed a lot for HV20, was not fixed for the HV30 model. Is it maybe a feature that we are not aware of? Has anybody from this forum tried to contact canon about this issue to hear their comment.
I must admit I feel uneasy about this loose cover but I find comfort when I see there are others with this problem - To some extent this is indicating that I didn't receive a faulty HV30

[markoh]

Great news for me
I have fixed my cover (it is no longer loose) according to the instructions described in this thread and the image from http://img444.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0063gl2.jpg.
I used a slightly different variation though, but let me first make a short description. The closing door mechanism works in a way that 3 plastic parts on the door fasten with 3 metalic parts from inside. 2 of those metalic parts are marked (red square) in the image. But there is a 3rd metalic part to the left. It is a small cilindrical shape. This 3rd part is the most flexible and most easier to bend. Now for my variation.

I used a CD pen (the plastic top opposite to the side you wrigth with) to bend the metalic parts. The pen has a soft plastic top so I was sure I will not scratch anything and at the same time the soft plastic was somewhat controlling my pressure on the metalic parts. Even more the plastic top is round (bigger pressure surface - smaller pressure) so it is really easy to aim with it.

I bent the right most and the left most (cilindrical) metalic part and this was quite enough to keep the door fixed when closed. I didn't touch the middle part as it seems the most sturdy of them and most difficult to control. At first I over-bent the right part so I just bent it back a little until I got it right. The left most part was quite easy to bend with control.

As I see it - if you do it carefully there is no way you can break something.
There is also no possibility that you could void your warranty by bending this metalic parts. Who is gonna prove that you messed with those anyway.

As a final comment. This is just a poor design. I believe there are a lot of HV20/HV30's for which they made the closing mechanism right. It is really a shame that canon cannot make it consistently right. This is a small deviation. I bent my metalic parts only for about 0.5 mm, and I would expect that such a consumer electronics giant would have a production process that doesn't make such mistakes. All more so when the problem existed on HV20 and it is still here on my HV30 (we'll not any more he he).

Many thanks to all who have contributed to this thread will valuable information and helped me. I hope my slight variation will also help someone.

cheers

[vince]

I thought I had this problem repaired but it returned. After inserting the tape, )or without a tape), the tape compartment won't latch and retract while making loud clicking noises. I had send it in for repair and when it came back it worked ok. After taping for an hour and wanting to replace the tape, it happened again. No unusual humidity. When I let it sit for several days it gets better and eventually will latch, but this is getting to be frustrating. Anyone else had this problem and had it permanently fixed?

[chelemasty]

I have a 2 days old HV30 and what exactly do you mean by loose cassete cover ? You mean like a very annoying one or just a minor loose of cover ? Coz I have mine which for me is not that loose but is also not that tight coz if I shake it, it doesn't make any sound and when I push it just moves a very lil bit but it doesn't make any sounds or what not. How bout yours guys ? Even worser than mine ? Coz it doesn't really bother me at all.

[markoh]

I guess that for everybody it is quite similar. The cover is loose in way that when you close it - it can move for aprox. 1 mm in the opening direction. Everything else is a personal experience. I found that quite annoying. So far I've used about 10 different camcorders and none of them had any (however slightly) loose parts. You just don't feel confident in the equipment.
Since on this cover you have zoom and other controls this can be quite distracting. I.e. you operate the zoom and this part of camera is fixed in your hands but then the camera body moves to the left for 1 mm due to the loose cover. Someone can hear the slight click sounds, someone doesn't - as I sad it is a personal experience.
If the loosiness on your camera is OK for you then great - you have no problems- enjoy filming.

[vince]

Don't know what to make of this. Half way into the tape while recording continuously, the recording started to have frozen frames for about 4 seconds, and then skipping to the next frame for about 4 seconds. Would this be due to condensation?

[graydonblair]

Thanks for the tips!
A couple small screwdrivers, some REALLY light pressure, some bending back & forth just a tad to get everything aligned & my cover snaps shut tight.

Yep. I agree, it was kind of annoying having it "klunk" back & forth like it did, but with a little ingenuity and some VERY small movements and slight pressure on the right parts & you too can have a nice, tight closing lid cover.

Thanks,
Graydon
Owner of a NON-rattling HV30 now!

[graydonblair]

Also, just another tip.

If you do get yours to close TIGHT, you may notice that the plastic from the tape cover doesn't fit snugly with the main camcorder housing and makes this irritating "rubbing noise" whenever you put pressure on it back & forth (still sounded like something was loose--turned out it was the cover not resting on the body in a nice flush way).

Soooo.....(and if you do this, do it VERY carefully), I went out & put a MINUTE amount (and I mean teeny, tiny) amount of high quality bearing grease on the plastic edge of the cover where it meets up with the camcorder body. I also put a tiny amount of grease on the main camcorder body where the cover mounts flush to it.

I then opened & shut the cover several times so that the grease could work it's way in where it needed to go and then wiped away the excess.

I also put a tiny bit of grease on all the metal parts that the latch connects to (I think when I tightened it up the plastic latch was "squeaking" on the metal shaft because it now was so snug against it (the one closest to the back).

So, now I have the best of both worlds.
1. The cover doesn't move AT ALL when it's shut
2. The plastic doesn't make an irritating noise while resting against the camera body.

I put the grease on with a really fine needle point (it was a punch screwdriver with a super fine tip). I put a teeny little bit of grease on a post-it note and I dabbed the needle into the grease & lined the cover with it that way.

Annoying rattle AND rubbing gone! And it shuts tight!

-Graydon
I knew those old mechanic skills would come in handy one day!