just put them in a storage shed in Arizona... that should fix them!
Thanks Ed Sharpe archivist for SMECC
Please check our web site at
http://www.smecc.org
to see other engineering fields, communications and computation stuff we
buy, and by all means when in Arizona drop in and see us.
address:
coury house / smecc
5802 w palmaire ave
glendale az 85301
----- Original Message -----
From: "Al Kossow" <aek_at_spies.com>
To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2004 3:47 PM
Subject: Re: Reading old tapes
>
>
>
> The comment was that old tapes absorb moisture into the oxide, which
> makes things sticky and causes the oxide to stick to the wrong spots
> and flake off the tape. The solution is to set the tape in a fruit
> dryer at modest heat (150 F or so) for a while.
>
> Presumably a desiccator, vacuum or otherwise, could serve too.
>
> --
>
> This has been discussed here in the past.
> Some tape formulations (for me, late 70's BASF, Memorex is the worst)
> absorb mosture and the polymers in the binder decompose into lighter
> molecules which migrate to the surface.
>
> A temporary solution is to bake the tapes. 150 F sounds somewhat high
> though.
>
> There are dangers to doing this, though, depending on the condition
> of the tape. You can dry out and glue adjacent layers of tape together
> if you aren't careful.
>
> There are also things you can do with custom tape transports to minimize
> sticking when attempting to recover poorly preserved tape.
>
>
>
Received on Fri Jun 25 2004 - 01:10:16 BST