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#1
Posted to rec.audio.tech
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Need help with Open Reel Tape : SONY SLH 1100m
Hi there,
I just both a pair of vintage brand new SONY SLH 1100m back coated open reel tapes on the eBay. Both tapes get stuck on my Akai GX-625 deck. The behavior is really bad. I did not try to play back. Only try was a fast-forward and a rewind. A closer look after the first fast-forward try to a whipping behavior revealed that the tapes are depositing kind of a glue on the deck metal cylinder guides. Fortunatelly, no contacts with the heads were made. This happened to both tapes. I cleaned the deck metal parts with alcohol and then I try using a Maxell EE 3600 XLII. Maxell open reel tape works smooth and steadly like a piece of cake. Does anyone happen to know why these SONY tapes have this crappy glue stuff on the magnetic side ? Should I throw them in the trash ? I have never used a SONY tape before. Only BASF 7-inch ones. I appreciate if the experts could provide their opinions about it and also on the SONY UHL 1100. What are the best 10.5" tapes still available out there that will not make any damage to my beloved Akai ? TIA, Luiz Regis |
#2
Posted to rec.audio.tech
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Need help with Open Reel Tape : SONY SLH 1100m
Hi there,
I just both a pair of vintage brand new SONY SLH 1100m back coated open reel tapes on the eBay. Both tapes get stuck on my Akai GX-625 deck. The behavior is really bad. I did not try to play back. Only try was a fast-forward and a rewind. A closer look after the first fast-forward try to a whipping behavior revealed that the tapes are depositing kind of a glue on the deck metal cylinder guides. Fortunatelly, no contacts with the heads were made. This happened to both tapes. I cleaned the deck metal parts with alcohol and then I try using a Maxell EE 3600 XLII. Maxell open reel tape works smooth and steadly like a piece of cake. Does anyone happen to know why these SONY tapes have this crappy glue stuff on the magnetic side ? Should I throw them in the trash ? You have almost certainly encountered the problem known as "sticky shed". Due to some problems in the binder formulation used in making many types of tape back in the 1980s, the binder soaks up atmospheric moisture and becomes gummy, and the oxide layer can shed off. Sticky-shedding tapes which have significant recordings on them can be "baked" in order to stabilize the binder. You can then play the tapes back and transfer the recording to a more stable medium. The tapes will deteriorate again after a while, unfortunately. Frankly, I wouldn't plan on using "vintage" tapes exhibiting sticky-shed syndrome for any new recordings, even if the tapes are new-in-box. The risk of losing the new recording permanently would be too great. For further information, see http://recordist.com/ampex/docs/misc/sticky-shed.html http://audio-restoration.com/baking.php http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/3941/stickyshed.html What are the best 10.5" tapes still available out there that will not make any damage to my beloved Akai ? It's still possible to purchase newly-manufactured reel-to-reel tapes in that size. The Quantegy company (formerly a division of Ampex) is apparently the only company in the world still making reel-to-reel. They have a couple of different formulations (406/407 is said to be a general-purpose budget formulation, and 456 is their "Grand Master" high-end tape). See http://www.quantegy.com (heavily Flash-based, unfortunately). You can buy directly through their on-line store, and I imagine that various Internet merchants carry their products as well. -- Dave Platt AE6EO Hosting the Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads! |
#3
Posted to rec.audio.tech
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Need help with Open Reel Tape : SONY SLH 1100m
It is a known problem with tapes produced in the mid - late 1970's ,
especially Ampex. Trash it. |
#4
Posted to rec.audio.tech
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Need help with Open Reel Tape : SONY SLH 1100m
"Steve Stone" wrote in message ... It is a known problem with tapes produced in the mid - late 1970's , especially Ampex. Trash it. Or sell them on ebay again to the next unsuspecting sucker, just like the last guy did :-) MrT. |
#5
Posted to rec.audio.tech
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Need help with Open Reel Tape : SONY SLH 1100m
Hi there,
The information you guys provided were greatly appreciated. I am sticking with Quantegy now and, of course, am trashing the SONY SLH. I will save the metal reels though. Quantegy provides what they call _pancake tray_ , so that, I can replace the tape on the reels. Thanks and cheers, Luiz Regis Dave Platt escreveu: Hi there, I just both a pair of vintage brand new SONY SLH 1100m back coated open reel tapes on the eBay. Both tapes get stuck on my Akai GX-625 deck. The behavior is really bad. I did not try to play back. Only try was a fast-forward and a rewind. A closer look after the first fast-forward try to a whipping behavior revealed that the tapes are depositing kind of a glue on the deck metal cylinder guides. Fortunatelly, no contacts with the heads were made. This happened to both tapes. I cleaned the deck metal parts with alcohol and then I try using a Maxell EE 3600 XLII. Maxell open reel tape works smooth and steadly like a piece of cake. Does anyone happen to know why these SONY tapes have this crappy glue stuff on the magnetic side ? Should I throw them in the trash ? You have almost certainly encountered the problem known as "sticky shed". Due to some problems in the binder formulation used in making many types of tape back in the 1980s, the binder soaks up atmospheric moisture and becomes gummy, and the oxide layer can shed off. Sticky-shedding tapes which have significant recordings on them can be "baked" in order to stabilize the binder. You can then play the tapes back and transfer the recording to a more stable medium. The tapes will deteriorate again after a while, unfortunately. Frankly, I wouldn't plan on using "vintage" tapes exhibiting sticky-shed syndrome for any new recordings, even if the tapes are new-in-box. The risk of losing the new recording permanently would be too great. For further information, see http://recordist.com/ampex/docs/misc/sticky-shed.html http://audio-restoration.com/baking.php http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/3941/stickyshed.html What are the best 10.5" tapes still available out there that will not make any damage to my beloved Akai ? It's still possible to purchase newly-manufactured reel-to-reel tapes in that size. The Quantegy company (formerly a division of Ampex) is apparently the only company in the world still making reel-to-reel. They have a couple of different formulations (406/407 is said to be a general-purpose budget formulation, and 456 is their "Grand Master" high-end tape). See http://www.quantegy.com (heavily Flash-based, unfortunately). You can buy directly through their on-line store, and I imagine that various Internet merchants carry their products as well. -- Dave Platt AE6EO Hosting the Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads! |
#6
Posted to rec.audio.tech
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Need help with Open Reel Tape : SONY SLH 1100m
It's still possible to purchase newly-manufactured reel-to-reel tapes in that size. The Quantegy company (formerly a division of Ampex) is apparently the only company in the world still making reel-to-reel. They have a couple of different formulations (406/407 is said to be a general-purpose budget formulation, and 456 is their "Grand Master" high-end tape). Ironic isn't it that Ampex 406/407 was the biggest cause of the problem originally. At least the binder formulation has been changed :-) MrT. |
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