I have the unit for a year and am generally happy with it.
For the last couple of days the VCR portion has been acting up.
First it would play a tape for a while, then it stops and powers off the unit by itself.
When I power it on again, the tape is ejected even though it hasn't reached the end.
I try with a couple of other home-made tapes and get the same result.
I run a VCR cleaning tape a couple of times, still no improvement.
The VCR would function anywhere from 10 min to 15 sec before powering off.
Now I can't play tape, or copy from TV to tape, or copy from tape to DVD.
Is anyone aware of such a problem and what the possible cause is?
Any suggestion would be appreciated.

Are you using a 8hr tapes? They are "heavier" and could cause problems in some VCRs. IS it possible that your "home made tapes" are sticking to themselves due to age or poor storage conditions? Have you tried any store bought tapes to see if they do the same thing?

Though I own the same unit I rarely use the VHS section. In my past experience with VCR problems I always suspected a "bad Belt", the little rubber bands that are used over pulleys and wheels to "drive" most VCRs. No way to tell for sure if you are getting belt slippage without opening the unit up.

The tapes are all 6-hr tapes.
The same tapes have always played well on the unit in the past.
You suggestion of "bad belt" makes sense.
I've transferred over 30 tapes, varying from 2 hrs to 6 hrs each, to DVDs,
I wonder if it is wear and tear issue.

FullOnShred, thanks for your input.

I am just curious if anyone else hits the same problem
and whether it is worthwhile to repair it.

Salsa, if it is a belt, it is fairly easy to do-it-yourself, if you are at all comfortable taking the cover off the unit and just watching what happens when you pop in a VHS and try to play it. belts are pretty cheap, and if you see one is slipping you can take it off, and go by a local TV/Electronics repair place and they can likely get you one. Good luck, and please let me know what you find out and do about it. Here is a link to an online VCR repair resource. I am sure there are many others.

http://www.fixer.com/

Some machines are easier to access than others. The belts are usually located under the chassis, and some machines are virtually impossible to get to the belts. I know I looked at a VCR(not your model) for a friend, and after and hour or so studying it, could find no way to access the belts, short of totally tearing the machine apart. I determined at least with that VCR, if the belts went, it was strictly a throw away machine. But it sure wouldn't hurt to take the cover off and have a look at yours. I agree, it's probably a belt, or idler wheel, both of which if you can gain access to them, are relatively easy to replace(or I used to use a product called RE-GRIP, which would make the belts, idlers grippe again). I could do this for a few years before the parts would eventually need to be replaced.