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Author Topic: cleaning dirty tapes  (Read 7139 times)

Offline mittg

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cleaning dirty tapes
« on: February 24, 2010, 07:48:33 PM »
I have an Otari MX-5050 BII.The heads appear to be in good condition. I have bought some tapes. They are live recordings of concerts in the 70's by an engineer . They sound good for about 2 songs then the sound quality starts to deteriorate. I noticed the heads and rollers are getting brown quickly. I clean the heads and what not and all is good for a couple more songs and then I have to repeat the process. I was reading about penlon to clean tapes. Is this what I need? Any recommendations, thoughts? Thank You
Gerry Mittica

Offline U47

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Re: cleaning dirty tapes
« Reply #1 on: February 24, 2010, 07:56:11 PM »
It sounds like your tapes might have the dreaded 'sticky shed syndrome'. Do the tapes in question have a black back coating? Ampex 406/456 from the mid 70s to late 90s were prone to this syndrome. 'Baking' at 130 degrees F. for 3 hours will make them playable.

Rich Brown
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Offline mittg

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Re: cleaning dirty tapes
« Reply #2 on: February 24, 2010, 09:32:34 PM »
These are Scotch 102 from the mid to late 70's. They do not have a black coating. Just the shiny brown and flat brown colors. So place them on a cookie sheet and bake 3 hrs 130 degrees. Will this make it so the brown coating does not come off on my heads?
Gerry Mittica

Offline ironbut

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Re: cleaning dirty tapes
« Reply #3 on: February 24, 2010, 11:16:41 PM »
The symptoms sound like sticky shed but according to the info I have, Scotch 102 isn't included in the tape formulas that commonly have this problem. In fact, 102 is a very old formulation (introduced in 1953) on Polyester backing. Is it possible that 102 is just what the reel says and that some other tape (maybe not even 3M) is on the reels you're trying to play? From the description you gave, 102 would indeed be brown on both sides.
The tapes may respond to baking and if so, they are by definition, afflicted by sticky shed syndrome. There is a more general classification, Soft Binder Syndrome and tapes that exhibit the same symptoms but do not respond to baking are classified this way. The causes of this problem are many but the results are, squealing, and the deposit of sticky residue on all fixed elements of the tape path.
Possible ways to get a decent play of these tapes include, wet playing and cold playing. Needless to say, these techniques require dedicated playback systems for just this use and about the only folks who might have access to these systems are professional restoration studios.

The bottom line here is that with a reasonable outlay of cash, you can buy a food dehydrator and you may and get a week or so of playback of these tapes before they turn sticky again.
If the tapes important, it would probably be better to enlist the aid of a professional.
There is some info regarding tape problems in the "Beginners Guide" located in a sticky above the General forum.
If you'd like to try baking, here's a link (which is also located in the ",..Guide").

http://www.tangible-technology.com/
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Offline mittg

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Re: cleaning dirty tapes
« Reply #4 on: February 26, 2010, 04:59:27 PM »
It worked. I baked them for 3 hours, 130 degrees. I will contact the person who taped these and find out if the scotch 102s are that. One of them is a Basf. Thank You for the advise. I had read the beginners course before posting but was reluctant to pop them in the oven. When you both recommended it I felt much more comfortable.
Gerry Mittica

Offline mittg

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Re: cleaning dirty tapes
« Reply #5 on: February 28, 2010, 08:47:35 PM »
The tapes that are labeled as Scotch are probably Ampex.
Gerry Mittica

Offline ironbut

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Re: cleaning dirty tapes
« Reply #6 on: February 28, 2010, 09:38:52 PM »
Very cool Gerry!

Be aware that the positive effects of baking don't last forever. Usually a week or weeks. So, if you're going to transfer them to digital, get on the stick before the tapes do.
steve koto
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