[Scott Dorsey]

spud miracle needed,.. wrote:
Otari MX5050 MkIII 8-track. (1/2" machine)
Sigh,.. ok, so how do you clean the tape shred goo off a pinch roller?
After 35 minutes at the archives I got confused. Half the people said,
"clean your tape shed contaminated pinch roller with Xylene, acetone,
409, denatured alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, 99%, 91%, distilled water,
dish soap,.." And of course the other half said, "NEVER USE!! ,..
Xylene, acetone, 409, denatured alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, 99%, 91%,
distilled water, dish soap, bag balm,.. etc".

This is because there are dozens of different kinds of pinch roller
materials out there. Some are okay with some things, some are okay
with others. Materials that are fine on urethane will ruin natural
rubber and vice-versa.

Freon TF was safe on everything, but you can't get it any more. Precision
Motor Works sells "Head, Red and Roll Cleaner" that is effectively a TF
replacement.

I thought I'd have another go at the mighty reels but I guess this
one-pass 3M 986 from that guy in Florida has been sitting around
longer than I considered and the machine hasn't been run for 12 months
or more, like maybe 3 years.
About 5 minutes into the process I noticed the Tension Arm was
beginning to flog. Now the pinch roller has this sticky goo all over
it. The tape isn't coming apart noticeably and the heads/tape path
appear to still be clean but the roller is real sticky.

Sounds like you have a urethane roller that has gone bad. They do that,
and they are wear items that need replacement every few years. This is
a different issue altogether than gumminess due to sticky shed. You
can't clean this stuff off.

I notice the scoundrels now want $100 for this tiny, obsolete $12 part
may they rot in hell. Does anyone rebuild these things?
Ok, the spell chek is complete, I had 13 mistakes.

Russell Industries, 800-645-2202
VIF (don't know their number offhand)
Metal Rubber Company in Monrovia, CA. (also don't know the number)
Star Packaging, 414-473-6466 (ask for Alan Petrie)

All of these guys are good, although Star Packaging is probably the
least expensive and they do good work.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."