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How do you measure tape tension

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Dave Cawley:
How do you measure tape tension?  Is there something you can buy, or is it so simple I am missing something?

Thanks

Dave

ironbut:
Hi Dave,

I use a device called a Tentelometer. You can find them on eBay for pretty cheap but it's kinda hit and miss as far as accuracy goes.
There are many different models and I prefer the ones with the rolling probes (you'll see what I mean when you visit their site).
Also, you need to get one that's made for the right tape width and tension range. When you get it, you should calibrate it to the range you're going to be measuring. There's instructions for this on their site also. I use some cheap weights I got from Edmund Scientific for this.

http://www.tentel.com/Default.htm

I'm pretty sure that this is covered in the " Beginners Guide" located in a sticky above the General forum.

Dave Cawley:
Hi Steve

I won!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150412401519

Thanks so much.

Regards

Dave

ofajen:

--- Quote from: ironbut on February 12, 2010, 02:25:04 PM ---Hi Dave,

I use a device called a Tentelometer. You can find them on eBay for pretty cheap but it's kinda hit and miss as far as accuracy goes.
There are many different models and I prefer the ones with the rolling probes (you'll see what I mean when you visit their site).
Also, you need to get one that's made for the right tape width and tension range. When you get it, you should calibrate it to the range you're going to be measuring. There's instructions for this on their site also. I use some cheap weights I got from Edmund Scientific for this.

http://www.tentel.com/Default.htm

I'm pretty sure that this is covered in the " Beginners Guide" located in a sticky above the General forum.

--- End quote ---

Interesting! I've never used a tentelometer, nor measured tape tension per se.  My tape machines (3M and Otari)don't have specs for tape tension, nor do the manuals include a tape tension measurement as part of the transport alignment process nor do they spec a tentelometer as part of the maintenance kit.  I'm not really sure what I would do with the data.

I do use spring scales in the spec'ed ranges  for reel motor torque and for capstan/pnch roller pressure adjustment on the Otari.  On the 3M machines, the capstan/pinch roller pressures are set by a cailbrated procedure, not by pressure measurement and corresponding adjustment.   

Any idea how long the tentelometer has been around?  It may not have been an option back in the early '60s, when 3M designed the Isoloop transport for their audio recorders.

Cheers,

Otto

ironbut:
Hey Otto,

If I had to guess, I'd say that the brand Tentelometer was from the 70's. Of course, there have been meters for measuring this sort of tension since early industrial days when they were used to measure thread tension on looming machines (the kind that make fabric, not the ones that are so enormous that they intimidate).
I think the main advantage of these types of devices over measuring motor torque is that it takes tape and the tape path into account. I've seen as much as 5 grams difference from tape to tape and I've always attributed this difference to tape thickness, backing compliance, and the friction that the coating(s) create. Of course, the specified tensions are +/- 5 grams (on the Technics machines) so I don't feel like I have to get the tensions spot on but I am careful to keep the ratio of take up and supply tensions very close (which are 10 grams different).

It seems like the 3M designers were acutely aware of the factors that tape tension and the tape path contribute to. I would imagine that the calibration procedures for those machines are far more comprehensive and exact than just using any tension device would be.

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