Re: Cursor mag and archiving tapes

On Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 3:19 PM, Luke Crook <luke@balooga.com> wrote:
> Some of my tapes are old and sticking.  The three C2N's that I have
> are unable to turn the spindles at all.
>
> Has anyone else had this problem?  Is there a solution?

If the tapes are truly sticking, you probably have degraded binder and
may not be able to recover parts of those tapes.  In the world of
9-Track tape recovery, those are often baked to drive off adhesive
volatiles, then run *once* through a reconstructed digitizing tape
drive then the analog waveforms parsed because the oxide typically
falls off in hunks, never to be re-read.

If you aren't having binder issues, one thing to do is to re-tension
the tape - run it from end to end in one pass to repack the tape
loosely.  Be careful about the ending tension - some tape drives have
a stiff spring to click the tape off at the end.  One thing that
breaks down over time is the leader/tape splice.  You'll have a tape
that you now have to crack open to read.

This is all about how to minimise tension and friction in the tape,
using any tape drive, audio or C2N.  As for the C2N not being able to
move your tapes, that is very likely to be a slack drive belt (the
rubber band that comes off the motor) if it happens on FF and REW, or
if it only happens on PLAY, it could be a glazed/deformed capstan
roller.

Old, slack drive belts must be replaced.  I don't know what size to
recommend, but the pulleys expect a square belt, not a flat belt.
Glazed capstan rollers can be rejuvenated temporarily with rubber
reconditioner and perhaps some light abrasive rubbing (very light).
Deformed capstan rollers must be replaced.  I don't know what to
recommend for a spare.

-ethan

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