Reel-to-Reel care?

From: Ken Campbell <ken_at_fraserhouse.com>
Date: Tue Dec 9 09:37:34 2003

Greetings,

  Does anyone have some "care and feeding" tips for vintage reel-to-reel
tape drives? I've recently purchased a couple nice 9 Track drives, and
want to make sure they (and the media) last as long as possible.

I've already given the heads, rollers and guides a good cleaning with 99.9%
anhydrous Isopropyl Alcohol using 'fuzzless' cotton cleaning sticks, and plan
to do so on a regular basis. Is there such a thing as too much cleaning? ;)

What other tips and tricks should I know? For example, should I always unload
and store the tapes in their carriers immediately after I'm done using the
drives,
or can I safely leave them loaded for an extended period (oxidization?
de/magnetization?
deterioration?). They definitively look cooler with tapes loaded :)

Thanks,

  Ken C.
  
Received on Tue Dec 09 2003 - 09:37:34 GMT