Tape Trail

Tape Deck Cleaner. What is tried and true?

67.171.107.198

i am damo suzuki

A

Just re-acquired a tape deck. Have enough precious cassettes to warrant it; stuff that never was realized in any other format, and air checks of my old radio show. The tape deck is my brother's. he doesn't use it. I tried trawling through past post regarding clearers, but links to products don't work any longer, and it got a little involved sounding with the remaining posts. Any help pointing to something safe, effective, relatively inexpensive...and easily obtainable, would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Follow Ups:

RE: Tape Deck Cleaner. What is tried and true? - vinnie2 03:54:05 09/28/15 (0)
What about denatured alchohol? Recommended on lots of sites as the best.
RE: Tape Deck Cleaner. What is tried and true? - X-2000R 08:36:35 09/13/15 (8)
90% or 99% isopropyl alcohol is tried and true, cheap, and available at any drug store.

Do NOT use rubbing alcohol or any other blend that contains dyes, oils, or other additives.
- RE: Tape Deck Cleaner. What is tried and true? - ironbut 09:39:50 09/17/15 (7)
  Don't use alcohol on rubber parts (pinch rollers) and be careful not to flood it onto any spinning guide since they will often be bearings and washing the lubricant out of the race will ruin them.
  I use 409 or just plain water on the rubber parts and clean the rolling guides at the end of my cleaning so the q-tip is almost dry.
  - Agreed ... - reelsmith. 14:24:19 09/23/15 (5)
    Keep that stuff away from the rubber parts ...it will just dry them out and make them deteriorate.
    
    Dean.
    
    reelsmith's axiom: Its going to be used equipment when I sell it, so it may as well be used equipment when I buy it.
    - +1 - Dave Pogue 05:01:16 09/24/15 (4)
      I've never understood the recommendation of alcohol for pinch rollers. Doesn't make sense.
      - Isopropyl Alcohol Swabs - Inmate51 09:32:47 09/25/15 (3)
        
        In Reply to: RE: +1 posted by Dave Pogue on September 24, 2015 at 05:01:16
        
        The age-old criticism about using isopropyl alcohol is that it destroys the pinch roller "rubber".
        
        In my fairly lengthy time of doing tape recording, I have not seen this to be the case. Rather, it seems to be a method for companies to sell branded cleaners.
        
        I suppose it "could" happen, but my observation and experience is that it's not an issue.
        
        What do you use, and what are its solvent/cleaner components?
        
        :)
        
        "Plain old dish soap and water." - Dave Pogue 11:53:28 09/25/15 (2)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Isopropyl Alcohol Swabs posted by Inmate51 on September 25, 2015 at 09:32:47
        
        That's not me, That's Terry Witt (aka, "Terry's Rubber Rollers"), who has probably re-rubbered more pinch rollers than anyone else on earth. Works for me, though I've also used 409 and very occasionally one of the "Rubber Renue" products that supposedly keep pinch rollers supple.
        I have several pinch rollers for my Otari and Teac (and multiple headstacks for the Otari), and when the ones on the machine look dirty, I switch with a clean one and dunk the dirty roller in Dawn for a day or so, scrub it with a toothbrush, rinse and dry it off, and it's ready for the next switch. I use my decks a LOT.
        When I briefly owned that godforsaken A77 Revox Mk. IV -- the one whose caps exploded, before it caught on fire -- the first thing I did was buy a new pinch roller because the one on the machine was hard as a brick. Not being out in the open like mine, the Revox rollers sure make it hard to do anything with them and it's difficult to see/feel just what the roller condition is. But I gather some folks like them :-)
        
        Edits: 09/25/15
        
        RE: "Plain old dish soap and water." - John Elison 08:48:13 09/26/15 (1)
        
        In Reply to: RE: "Plain old dish soap and water." posted by Dave Pogue on September 25, 2015 at 11:53:28
        
        I always used Intraclean 721 , if I remember correctly. It was the best cleaning solvent I ever found for heads, capstans, guides and pinch rollers. It was so much better than anything else that I used it religiously until I finally got rid of all my analog tape recorders.
        
        Looks like interesting stuff, John - Dave Pogue 09:56:42 09/26/15 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: "Plain old dish soap and water." posted by John Elison on September 26, 2015 at 08:48:13
        
        For everything except pinch rollers, my tape tech sold me on ... lacquer thinner. Gotta keep it away from plastic parts, but it's the best I've found for heads, guides, and capstans. I've kinda hesitated to suggest it here for what i felt were obvious reasons,
        
        I can understand getting rid of tape decks -- tape is clearly the ultimate hair-shirt medium -- but if you're addicted, as I am, there's nothing like it. And Ebay, for all its downsides, lists 8,000-10,000 reel-to-reel tapes for sale every day.
  - RE: Tape Deck Cleaner. What is tried and true? - Inmate51 09:18:04 09/18/15 (0)
    Roberts (Akai).
    Concord auto-reverse.
    Tandberg.
    Currently (and for the past 35 years) Revox A77.
    
    I've only used isopropyl alcohol to clean parts.
    
    Fret not.
    
    :)

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