I have a couple capstan motors pulled from old VCRs. I'd like to get them running for my grandson to play and learn with.

They look very much like the ones in the pictures, including JVC brand and the 4-wire terminals.

I've tried to research how these are driven but have not found anything definitive. Could be 3-phase with the common also brought out. Could be simply DC with sensor outputs.

Does anyone recognize the type of motor and know how to make it spin?

 

Measure the resistance between all the terminals for both polarities of the ohmmeter and post them.
1-2
1-3
1-4
2-3
2-4
3-4

 

https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/how-to-drive-this-odd-motor.131763/

 

Measure the resistance between all the terminals for both polarities of the ohmmeter and post them.
1-2
1-3
1-4
2-3
2-4
3-4

With terminals numbered from L to R, with the orientation in the second photo, I see a resistance between only 1-2 and between 3-4. Neither is directional (black vs red). The 3-4 is a steady 19Ω. (My meter is complaining about low battery and reads 10Ω even sorting the leads.) The 1-2 is about 300Ω but varies widely with rotor position. Motion of the rotor makes the numbers go wild.

I must have played with this before - there are Sharpie dots applied to the ribbon cable on pins 1 & 2. Apparently a note to my future self that my present self doesn't remember. I suspect it will spin if I apply a DC voltage there.

[update] I got impatient and just went ahead and tried DC power on pins 1 & 2: It's a simple DC motor and reverses direction with a reversal of the polarity. It's slow at 5V but quite fast at 12V. I don't know the specs.