Please excuse the reposting of this message.

I have owned a PD 150 since 2001 and have have happily used it for a wide range of applications over the past four years. I have it professionally cleaned at least once a year.

What do experienced users have to say about the number of operational hours before major service/head replacement becomes worth considering? I'm thinking about preventative service here...I don't want to get caught in the middle of a shoot with a breakdown that could've been avoided with timely service.

Thanks for the input...

*

Here is hours meter & serial number information for users review:

Operation - 48 X 10
Drum Run - 27 X 10
Tape Run - 15 X 10
Threading - 69 X 10

Serial Number: 1011072

Thanks...

I'm a great believer in the ''ain't broke? Then don't fix it'' brigade. But the one thing that should be done on a fairly regular basis is a tape path clean. Not just a head clean, but the tape path, that comprises many rollers, guides and of course the capstan and pinch roller.

tom.

Based on the numbers you've got time.
480 operation hours and only 270 drum run hours.

I have a couple of 150s with close to 900 hours on them and they're working fine. I agree with Tom, if it ain't broke...Now having said that, the typical amount of time for these heads is somewhere around 1000-1200 before they pretty much give up the ghost. Heres the kicker, I've got and old VX1000 which has probably 2 times that on the clock (no way for me to tell) and the old guy works great. I've never replaced the heads on it.
So there you go. An answer that isn't an answer--just like most doctors,lawyers and politicians and I'm not even charging you for it ;-)

Don

Gentlemen:

I really appreciate your comments.

Dean

i was told by a sony trained tech that i could expect 4000+ hours on my dsr80 studio deck. sold it at 5000, and still going happily.

i would hazzard a guess that heads on the prosumer cameras wouldn't quite be upto studio life, but half isn't too bad a guess.

my old vx1000 must have had about 2000 on it before it was retired....

leslie