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I have a tape that got torn by a deck almost two years ago, and I spliced it together with Scotch tape (at that time). The content on the tape is not replaceable, so I would like to tranfer it to my computer if possible. My only concern is the possibility that the Scotch tape might ruin my deck in any way. The biggest fear I have is that the spliced part will actually break while playing since the scotch tape is now 2 years old and it may not be able to withstand the pressure of going through the DUAL capstans on my deck. I'm also afraid that the scotch tape will come off as it is playing, and get stuck on the head, on one of the pinch rollers, or on one of the capstans, making a big mess. Of course, I put the scotch tape on the bottom (not the side that contacts the head), but I am still not sure whether it is safe to play this part of the tape. What do you guys think...have any of you tried anything like this before?
D O N O T D O ITTTTT!!!!!!!!
YOU WILL INSTANTLY RUIN YOUR HEADS THE CRUD FROM THE SCOTCH TAPE WILL DISSOLVE THE INSULATING MATERIAL AROUND THE HEAD GAP. ALL SO THE GUNK WILL CAUSE IRREPAIRABLE DAMAGE TO ANY RUBBER COMPONENTS SUCH AS THE PINCH WHEEL AND GOD HELP YOU IF THE TAPE ACTUALLY COMES OFF IT WILL WREAK HAVOC.... AT ALL COSTS NEVER EVER SPLICE A TAPE WITH SCOTCH TAPE IT WILL CAUSE THE DEATH OF ANY TAPE DECK WHATSOEVER.
job of mine that had failed. Played it plenty of times, even on car decks. I'm sure I have not listened to it in years. I kept many of my tapes in the car for years, never had problems. Just find the splice and make sure it is holding together good and play it. You should be fine.
Regarding your thread title question: "Can a spliced cassette tape ruin a deck?", it's extremely unlikely. But if you used household adhesive tape, you might have a somewhat more laborious cleaning job than normal.
Moving on to related issues...
Bill Thomas' post is quite good, and filled with excellent advice. Great job, Bill!
I would add that typical household adhesive tape is excessively "gummy" for this application. That's why God invented splicing tape. Household adhesive tape, under stretching pressure, doesn't behave well. It allows the two adjoined items to migrate away from each other, and therefore exposes adhesive to other objects.
Also, such tapes undergo something of a life cycle, from good adherence and minimal gumminess for very new (and appropriate) applications, to no adherence and no gumminess for very old applications. The gumminess issue tends to arise somewhere in between, as the adhesive ages.
Splicing tape typically is designed to avoid the gumminess and migration issues, but, as with all types of products, some are better than others. I always used 3M splicing tape, and in over 35 years, have only had two, count 'em, two, splices fail.
wrt to other posts in this thread, some folks also have some good advice, although there's also a bit of not-so-good advice. To simplify a response to them, I've lumped them all here in a "Message" and "Comment" format, for your consideration.
Inmate51
Message: It's true that if you peel your tape splice off you may lose some material. There is a lot of music material on the slow moving cassette(per inch).
Comment: Although the splicing tape isn't on the oxide side of the recording tape, there is the possibility that pulling it off may cause the end of the recording tape to curl a bit, so the resulting new splice won't be entirely flat. Tha will cause a loss of level and HF output.
Message: If you used the Magic Brand Scotch tape a few yrs ago, I'd say go for it. Then if it works feel victorious, but flog yourself right after that.;-)
Comment: 100% agree.
Message: I've got a hunch that 2 year old Scotch tape will be OK.
Comment: Agreed. Apart from a little possible oozing, it's likely to hold just fine. Clean your transport after playing it.
Message: If it was spliced with ordinary household tape, then you should manually go through the tape and redo the splices with proper splicing tape and a proper splicing block.
Comment: I can't agree with this in this case. For a 2-year old splice, you are likely to cause more damage than leaving it alone.
Message: If the tape is truly valuable, I would have the deck checked out by an expert and adjusted.
Comment: Overkill. If your deck isn't exhibiting any transport or playback signal issues, save your money.
Message: I would try a number of other tapes and transfer these to computer and make sure that you have the process down correctly, including level settings that are appropriate for tapes of the type in question.
Comment: Excellent advice.
Message: Old tapes may have loose oxide and this sheds. Hence the first playing may be better than a subsequent one. You want to have this first playing properly recorded in the computer.
Comment: I partly agree. However, if it becomes obvious that oxide is shedding dramatically, stop the tape immediately. Oxide build-up on heads will significantly reduce the playback fidelity, and there is no point in playing the remainder of a valuable tape, which is shedding and losing stored signal information, when there isn't good tape-to-head contact.
Gently, pull the tape from the cassette shell at the area of the splice. Inspect the spliced area carefully to check for any "oozing" adhesive. The BEST method is to clean your fingertips with alcohol to remove any oils, then gently "feel" the spliced area. You will know if the Scotch Tape is "oozing" or "sticky." If everything "feels" ok, retract the tape back into the cassette shell and load it into your deck. Make SURE your sound recorder program is running on your computer. Play the tape in your cassette machine and record the result. You may only get one chance to make the copy of the material.
When you get to the area of the splice, observe how it goes through the tape path. The WORST thing that can often happen is that some residue will cause the tape to "stick" to the capstan or pinch roller. If this happens, the tape will quickly begin spooling onto the capstan or pinch roller until the diameter increases to the point where tape travel stops and your source tape is mangled beyond salvation. If you see ANY signs that this is happening, stop the transport IMMEDIATELY and kill the Power to stop the motors from turning.
I have never had much success using any sort of "solvent" to remove sticky residue without causing damage to the oxide layer itself. If you are EXTREMELY careful, you can use a Q-tip *slightly* dampened with iso-propyl alcohol to *try* to clean the non-oxide side of the tape, but this is not a foolproof (or even a desirable) idea. Instead of solving a problem, you can actually make the problem MUCH worse because the iso-propyl can cause the adhesive to "bleed" further at the edges of the tape.
In the past, I have had to deal with open-reel tapes that are more than 40 years old. Even properly made splices often fail when these old tapes are played. The key to success with your transfer is to observe (CAREFULLY) what happens when the splice passes through the tape path and be prepared to stop the transfer and kill the power INSTANTLY if a problem develops.
Of course, if you DO feel a sticky mess at the area of the splice, don't attempt to play the tape in your deck since it will almost CERTAINLY wrap around either the capstan or the pinch roller.
I would (generally) attempt to play the tape in its current condition, rather than try to "remake the splice" using proper splicing tape.
Hope this helps.
Bill
Hi there.
Back in the day, I spliced damaged cassettes a couple of times using Scotch tape with no problems. In the pre-internet era, when you're in a small town in the middle of Iowa, coming across proper splicing tape is next to impossible.
Usually, I'd splice 'em, play them once to tape them off onto a fresh tape & ditch the damaged original.
I think if you play it once or twice to dub it & then clean the heads afterward, you'll probably be ok. If you have a super-expensive deck and are really worried about it, you could just find a cheaper deck to play it back on for dubbing.
Cheers,
Bobbo :-)
There are a lot of people who admit to using Scotch Magic Brand tape over the yrs with no problems. Other than being victorious, cheap SOB's, I don't know why they never bought the correct tape splicing supplies in the first place?? Same people that use WD-40 from snake bites to melanomas, I suppose.
It's true that if you peel your tape splice off you may lose some material. There is a lot of music material on the slow moving cassette(per inch). If you used the Magic Brand Scotch tape a few yrs ago, I'd say go for it. Then if it works feel victorious, but flog yourself right after that.;-)
Kevin
I've got a hunch that 2 year old Scotch tape will be OK.
I transfer a lot of tapes for customers and sometimes encounter splices on open reel tape. Those that were done with Scotch tape 30 years ago usually fail. The Scotch tape is always completely dry and just falls off. I've never had a problem with sticky residue.
If the tape was spliced with proper splicing tape there will not be a problem. If it was spliced with ordinary household tape, then you should manually go through the tape and redo the splices with proper splicing tape and a proper splicing block. You should practice splicing technique using an old tape that you don't care about before working on your valuable tape. I don't know what solvent you should use to remove any sticky goo from the old scotch tape. Perhaps someone can comment on this.
Some decks will do horrible things if a tape breaks when playing, so your concern is justified. If this happens you may have a bunch of crinkled tape and it is hard to smooth this out to make the tape playable without dropouts. Other decks, such as my Nak CR-7a, simply shut off before any damage is done.
Good luck.
Tony Lauck
"Diversity is the law of nature; no two entities in this universe are uniform." - P.R. Sarkar
Ok thanks for the reply. Given that I have used Scotch tape, do you recommend taking apart the entire splice and redoing it with proper tape? I am just afraid that this will mess the tape up even more than it is now, since I'm sure that there will inevitably be residue from the Scotch tape which may be impossible to remove. Worst of all, I have a feeling that fragments of tape may actually get stuck on the Scotch tape when I try to take the splice apart, given that it has been adhered like this for 2 years now. Taking all of this into account, I'd rather not mess with the splice unless it would almost certainly cause a problem.
Actually, my deck is a Nakamichi DR-1, so it has that auto shutoff feature which should presumably prevent the tape from getting completely eaten up. However, because it is quite an old deck, I can't be sure that the sensor that is SUPPOSED to detect a problem will actually work. Also, I am afraid that even if the tape isn't actually eaten, the Scotch tape may come off and get stuck somewhere such as on the head, pinch rollers, or capstans. Is this a sensible fear? I would like to preserve this tape if possible, so if there is not too much of a risk, I am willing to take a chance. What do you think?
If the tape is truly valuable, I would have the deck checked out by an expert and adjusted. I would try a number of other tapes and transfer these to computer and make sure that you have the process down correctly, including level settings that are appropriate for tapes of the type in question.
Then, and only then, I would play the valuable tape. I think you can clean up a little residue on the desk if a bad splice causes problems. It is necessary to regularly clean all of the parts in contact with the deck in any event. This is just routine maintenance.
Old tapes may have loose oxide and this sheds. Hence the first playing may be better than a subsequent one. You want to have this first playing properly recorded in the computer. It may have fewer dropouts.
Tony Lauck
"Diversity is the law of nature; no two entities in this universe are uniform." - P.R. Sarkar
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