JohnZ71
Z71 Tahoe Enjoyer
First I want to give a shoutout to CadillacBob for selling me this VHS system out of his Escalade. He went above and beyond any expectations I had. He removed, labeled, and packaged everything perfectly. Thank you CadillacBob!!!!!
So I am well aware that this post will interest very few and far between, If any at all. I am in my 20s and as a kid I had a bunch of VHS tapes I’d watch, I know now that they are not the best format but I’ve always had a love for them. Nostalgia aside, VHS actually has high quality aspects to it, a notable one being the hi-fi audio.
From what I can tell, and Bob can weigh in on the Cadillacs, these systems were a factory option on the Escalades and Denalis from 1999-2000. I have also read that it was a dealer option for suburbans, Yukons, and Tahoes. I have seen several denalis and Escalades with this system, I have seen a couple suburbans, and only one Tahoe. The system is made by Rosen and I haven’t been able to find too much information on it. I wish I could find a catalog or something with it.
The system consists of a LCD flip down monitor, a tuner interface module, a Video Cassette player, a FM modulator, and a power supply/filter.
I received the system in the mail the other day and I’ve been working on it ever since, Bob mentioned it used to work, but some time ago had quit and never really looked into it. I took the battery out of my Tahoe and brought it inside to wire everything up.
Once connected, nothing worked. No lights, no sounds. Completely dead. So I started diagnosing and the first thing I checked was the fuse on what Rosen calls the Power Filter. It’s a relay that gives power to the system when the ignition is turned on, it also has a circuit board with capacitors that help filter out any interference. The fuse was blown, it was a 5 amp fuse. I didn’t have any 5amp fuses to replace it with but I had a 20amp, I pushed the new fuse in and wired it up again…the fuse instantly popped.
By this time I knew there was a dead short somewhere and my diagnosing continued. I unplugged everything and left only the power filter, it would still pop the fuse so I determined it was the power filter itself causing the issue.
I disassembled the little box and checked for any shorted capacitors, brunt resistors, etc. all looked and tested fine. I then decided to pull the TVS diode on the board, which is a safety diode. If any shorts happen in the system, this diode will close, grounding the system and blowing the fuse every time. Sure enough, the diode was bad! It did it’s job and protected the system.
I bypassed the diode and the fuse just to see if it would then work, yes! I then wired everything back up and it all came to life. Bob had a goodfellas VHS in the player and it started playing flawlessly!
Satisfied with that, I decided to service the player, they are notorious for getting gummed up and the head becomes dirty giving a grainy, choppy picture. I’ve always used a piece of new printer paper soaked with alcohol to clean the video head. Never use cotton. Cleaned and greased everything and the picture became even better!
It looks great in person. Highly impressed with this system. I’ll keep updating this as I install it in my Tahoe.
So I am well aware that this post will interest very few and far between, If any at all. I am in my 20s and as a kid I had a bunch of VHS tapes I’d watch, I know now that they are not the best format but I’ve always had a love for them. Nostalgia aside, VHS actually has high quality aspects to it, a notable one being the hi-fi audio.
From what I can tell, and Bob can weigh in on the Cadillacs, these systems were a factory option on the Escalades and Denalis from 1999-2000. I have also read that it was a dealer option for suburbans, Yukons, and Tahoes. I have seen several denalis and Escalades with this system, I have seen a couple suburbans, and only one Tahoe. The system is made by Rosen and I haven’t been able to find too much information on it. I wish I could find a catalog or something with it.
The system consists of a LCD flip down monitor, a tuner interface module, a Video Cassette player, a FM modulator, and a power supply/filter.
I received the system in the mail the other day and I’ve been working on it ever since, Bob mentioned it used to work, but some time ago had quit and never really looked into it. I took the battery out of my Tahoe and brought it inside to wire everything up.
Once connected, nothing worked. No lights, no sounds. Completely dead. So I started diagnosing and the first thing I checked was the fuse on what Rosen calls the Power Filter. It’s a relay that gives power to the system when the ignition is turned on, it also has a circuit board with capacitors that help filter out any interference. The fuse was blown, it was a 5 amp fuse. I didn’t have any 5amp fuses to replace it with but I had a 20amp, I pushed the new fuse in and wired it up again…the fuse instantly popped.
By this time I knew there was a dead short somewhere and my diagnosing continued. I unplugged everything and left only the power filter, it would still pop the fuse so I determined it was the power filter itself causing the issue.
I disassembled the little box and checked for any shorted capacitors, brunt resistors, etc. all looked and tested fine. I then decided to pull the TVS diode on the board, which is a safety diode. If any shorts happen in the system, this diode will close, grounding the system and blowing the fuse every time. Sure enough, the diode was bad! It did it’s job and protected the system.
I bypassed the diode and the fuse just to see if it would then work, yes! I then wired everything back up and it all came to life. Bob had a goodfellas VHS in the player and it started playing flawlessly!
Satisfied with that, I decided to service the player, they are notorious for getting gummed up and the head becomes dirty giving a grainy, choppy picture. I’ve always used a piece of new printer paper soaked with alcohol to clean the video head. Never use cotton. Cleaned and greased everything and the picture became even better!
It looks great in person. Highly impressed with this system. I’ll keep updating this as I install it in my Tahoe.