Sony DCR-TRV17 tape stuck in camcorder, will not eject. Need emergency eject procedures. I know this is an old post, but this just happened to me THIS WEEK, and I could not get the answer on the Web anywhere. However, I have figured it out now and would like to leave the answer for any other poor souls who run into this. Though it was possible to do this without any disassembly of the unit, the Sony help line would not tell me how to do this. BTW, my tape carriage would "pop up" out of the bowels of the unit, but the tape holder would not "pop out" exposing the tape for removal. If your carriage is not attempting to pop up at all but is stuck in the camera and will not move, this post WON'T HELP YOU. If you're like me, however, and have a carriage that tries to eject but can't complete the cycle, this may help you. First familiarize yourself with the tape carriage. Disconnect the battery and the power cord. Turn the unit over so that the bottom faces up, and use the eject button to open the door. Examine the tape carriage on either end, and you'll notice a couple of springs which keep tension on the outside section of the carriage so that it will pop out when the catch is released. The spring closest to the front of the unit (the lense) is the one which also operates the catch for the pop-out mechanism. If you will put pressure just under the top of this spring when the carriage mechanism is at the apex of its eject cycle (and before it reloads itself because it cannot eject the tape), then the carriage catch will release and pop out, exposing the tape for removal. If the unit has "eaten" the tape (i.e., the transport mechanism has it pinched or wrapped or both, then when you release this catch on the carriage the tape will be pulled, crinkled, and could be cut or broken. If this tape is full of important memories, you might let the tech get it out himself. Also, more damage to the tape will occur if, after getting the carriage to pop out, you try to pull the tape out of the carriage after it has opened, if in fact the transport mechanism is still hanging onto it. Now close the tape door and turn the unit off. Plug the unit in or connect the battery, turn it back on, turn it over (bottom's up) and open the tape door. Once the tape carriage reaches the apex of its eject cycle, put pressure on the top of the spring (the spring end closest to the physical bottom of the unit, not the "spatial" bottom since the unit is upside down). You should feel the carriage catch slip out of its latching mechanism and the door should pop out. If either of these springs are missing or broken, the carriage will probably not eject even after releasing the catch. If the carriage is not sliding downward (or when the unit is upside down, upward) from the bottom of the unit in an attempt to eject, then the procedure for extracting the tape is much more involved and requires dissasembly of the unit in order to get it out.

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