Hey Tantalus,
I would like to welcome you to the site
I'm afraid I can't be of much help on this subject. Did have an old Sony vcr that had similar problems, and also switched itself of for no apparently reason. It spent 9 months going between different repair centers but it never really got fixed, in the end I just bought another one. In the end my fokes bought another one, luckily they aren't as expensive anymore as they used to be.
I would like to welcome you to the site
I'm afraid I can't be of much help on this subject. Did have an old Sony vcr that had similar problems, and also switched itself of for no apparently reason. It spent 9 months going between different repair centers but it never really got fixed, in the end I just bought another one. In the end my fokes bought another one, luckily they aren't as expensive anymore as they used to be.