I have run R2Rs several times the last 50 years, and right now, I have two machines. Today, I opened up a sealed 1965 Nancy Wilson tape which had some mold growing inside the box with spots on the sides of the reeled tape. It played with some channel to channel movement of sound. Can any of you offer a method of cleaning the tape itself? I know how to clean the box and reel, but I have no idea how to clean the tape itself. Thanks in advance for all constructive ideas! I really appreciate sharing of the knowledge.

Jim

 Re: Cleaning Old R2R Tape - Vinyliac 12:23:20 06/26/04 (0)
 Re: Cleaning Old R2R Tape - skywavebe 13:08:56 06/21/04 (0)
 Try this link - Bob Track 19:05:41 06/20/04 (0)

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 Re: Cleaning Old R2R Tape - Vinyliac 12:23:20 06/26/04 (0)
 Re: Cleaning Old R2R Tape - skywavebe 13:08:56 06/21/04 (0)
 Try this link - Bob Track 19:05:41 06/20/04 (0)
 here's how........ - Louie7 10:10:47 06/20/04 (4)
 cool! now where do i find it? - danny kaey 14:30:29 06/20/04 (3)
 trichloromethane or ethylene dichloride... - mrh (Mark Hardy) 05:51:47 06/21/04 (1)
 Thanks....those are the right ones ! - Louie7 09:05:42 06/21/04 (0)
 Scientific Supply . . . - Louie7 14:51:10 06/20/04 (0)
 count me in! - danny kaey 19:27:50 06/19/04 (0)

thanks!

Mount your reel tape on a movie film cranking rewinder.
Common brands are Craig, Kodak, Keystone... etc...
These are manually operated cranks that will wind film (or audio tape) back and forth between full and empty reels like this...

O~~~~O

Grab the tape between thumb and index finger with a clean lintless cloth that is damp with carbon tetrachloride. Then crank the tape slowly, thereby cleaning the tape.

Points to remember are:

Keep advancing the cloth to a clean spot as it becomes discolored.
Crank slowly to allow the Carbon Tet a chance to evaporate BEFORE it winds up on the opposite reel.
Probably best to do this in a highly ventilated location and wear gloves.

Please observe all other safety precautions that one normally learns in life.

L7

p.s. oh yea...don't forget to rewind the tape back to it's feel reel with tails OUT. *hehe*

Cheers!

Danny

If you do..consult the yellow pages under scientific supply.

I bought a quart of the stuff about 20 years ago, before it was a semi-controlled substance.

Whether you'll be able to obtain any without some fanaggling, winking, or arm-twisting is a toss up.

IF your local chemical house (Nurnburg, VanWater & Rogers..etc) refuses to recognize you as a responsible non-terrorist person with good intentions and won't sell it to you...just put on a smiley face and ask them politely to 'recommend' a safer substitute.

I know there are a couple chemicals that ARE safer, and thereby less controlled...but they may not be as effective.

I already have carbon Tet, so I haven't made any efforts to discover a substitute....but I suppose if PUSH came to SHOVE, and after exhausting all alternatives, you could experiment with alcohol or naptha.

As with all unknow applications, you'd be wise to start on a trial basis - experimenting with the smallest quantity possible on the smallest surface area that will allow you to evaluate whether it's doing the job.

Start with small amounts and if it's NOT working, gradually increase the amounts until you get results.....all the time keeping a weather-eye out for signs of trouble.

Naptha (lighter fluid) is the most refined product on the petroleum list. It evaporates rapidly, is not particularly caustic, and leaves little residue. I recommend it for many cleaning jobs, but I can't predict just how it might react with organic contaminants such as mildue, mold, lichens or mushrooms!

*heh*

Good luck.

L7

• http://www.usrecordingmedia.com/quclwi1x15.html

Carbon tetrachloride is very hard to get even in the industry, and even we're even discouraged from using the solvents I mentioned above nowadays. You should read the MSDS's for these materials if you use them and aren't familiar with them already.

In the good ol' days, carbon tet was used in fire extinguishers. My father used to fill a 50 cc (glass) syringe with carbon tet and kill wasps "on the wing" :-)

all the best,
mrh

Those are better chemicals.

Thanks for putting that forth.....

L7

I believe that the best coarse of action is to get the material transferred off that tape once mold is growing on it to another tape- see posts of same subject on the Yahoo Reel to Reel group. I have put some squeaking tapes inside large zip bags from Sorbent Systems for the drying out process with a desicant. This process may help with the mold but there has never been a way to fix it permanently from what I have read or heard of. You can run the tape in high speed through a felt gun cloth with a cleaning solution of weak alcohol to be able to play the tape to transfer but some of your problems may not be mold but the deformation of the tape as it may have not been packed properly or has just warped. you have to look at it from the side and see if it has wavey deformation to it.

Sam,

Jim