It works!! It really works! I don't know why but it does. I must say I was at first a little reluctant buy I said, what do I h wave to loose... well it works!!! If you're reading this and think it might not be real, do it for yourself and see!

Brilliant -slapping it smartly twice on each side worked. THANK YOU!

this worked wonderfully. This is what you do 1. Slap tape side of camera (3 times is good) 2. take out tape and put back in 3. Take out battery and put back in 4. Turn on 5. if you still get it repeat steps

Really work for me , first I clean with air presure and then Smash several times on a rubber , I use a ball . Thanks

omg!!! this workssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Thanks so much! It worked for me too although it took more than a couple of hits and I did have to take the battery out. I had never transferred all my Hi8 tapes to another media and was so sorry I had not when I got this error message. Sony was no help. I was looking at having a service tranfer them or buying a used Hi8 on eBay. I so hated to spend the money on either but my sons baby movies were trapped on the tapes. I was about to bite the bullet when I came upon your post. Thanks once again you made my month!

ok it take it my handycam too

I can not believe this, I've had this C:31:22 error code on my Sony DCR-TRV330 for about 6 months. I was getting ready to buy me a new Digital 8 camera but I decided to look online about this error before spending any $$$ and found this link. Slapping it around worked for me. This is too funny! BELIEVE ME! Leo Torres

Here's the deal: while I've not torn my two TRV250s apart, both have worked continuously for 18 months. The 'trick' is that I DO NOT REMOVE THE TAPE! Yes, the power reset (removing the battery) sometimes works, and the 'clapping' technique sometimes works (hold in right hand, clap to left), undoubtably there is a small part in the TRV250 that somehow gets displaced... whether a small spring weakens or just the tightness of the design was meant to hold that part in place, at some point PROBABLY if you either ignore the injunction NOT to place force on the tape cage when inserting the tape OR when the tape cage is moving out of the TRV250 body, it is blocked... that part gets displaced. So, get the TRV250 working and leave the tape in it, downloading to your PC or VCR or DVD recorder to store the recording. HOWEVER, I just bought another TRV250 from eBay, that also chews up the tape, it works for a few seconds and then the message appears because the tape is caught in the tape transport mechanism. By the way, the cleaning of the head and capstan, et al, doesn't really help. I bought this last one so - if I couldn't make it work like the other two, I could tear it apart and find the cause of the problem... except now with the tape jamming I can't be certain that the C:31:22 message relates to the same fundamental problem. When I tear it apart - I have the Sony tech manuals, just not a great work area - I'll post again.

I've got the Sony Z1e.. had it bout 5 years now.. got this error code C31:22... thought OMG WTF. googled the error code, found this site.. after trying out remedy lol.. I came to a conclusion, there is a god after all lol... cheers mate, cant believed it worked.