HI, I am in the process of repairing a heap of Quadraphonic 8-tracks (getting rare now) so I can transfer them to a digital medium. Your tutorials have been a godsend for me, thank you sir!
Thanks for these techniques. I prefer doing it by hand since it gives me more control in case there is a twist or other anomaly with the tape. I can stop right away otherwise continuing to wind the tape could damage it under these circumstances.
That's why I created this channel. To save repairable tapes from the landfills and show how to fix them to as close to an original condition. Hope they help out and pass it on.
That looks like a Columbia or Epic style cartridge, I'm working on repairing a few of those currently. In my case a few of the cartridges were filthy so I had to take them apart and wash the plastic cases, the pinch roller, and a few other parts first. When I run into a cartridge that has unraveled that much I usually wind it up on a reel to reel spool and then rewind it onto the one one inside the cartridge, it prevents a lot of twisting and tangling I find.
Just encountered a jammed tape; could not move it with my fingers and saw the shinny skid marks indicating a jam.Opened it up and could tell the tape had been partially water/moisture damaged with a slight smell of mildew and with multiple folds in the tape that bound it up.Unravelled the tape to the fold areas and ironed them out and then ran the tape a full cycle by turning the spool.Not a common tape to find so I spent the time on it. Works now. Moisture can cause the tape to stick together.
Depends on the machine. Have to open up the unit and remove the screws or "C" clip commonly used to hold it in. Best way to get the tape off the capstan is to rotate the capstan/flywheel in reverse which will unwind the tape. Do your best to preserve the tape without having to cut it. Then clean off the grease from the capstan.
Hi Mark, Certainly. Hopefully you are able to get all the tape out of the machine and without it being damaged. If it is jammed around the capstan and won't budge loose you may have to remove the capstan. Do whatever you can to avoid breaking the tape. Once out, locate the beginning of the tape end. Make sure it's the correct end or the tape will play backwards & program 4 will be program 1 etc (You'll know!). Clean you hands. Now begins the long process of straightening the tape (cont)
Your welcome. It takes lots of patience ;) Wish I could take these to the Doctor's office where you have to wait a hour. I could fix 6 of these in that time period ; )
If the sensing foil breaks off inside the machine I try to get it out immediately. Sensing foil acts like a piece of wire inside your machine and can short out electrical components that it touches so it's important to remove it. Usually the foil will be in the head or capstan area of the slot and can be pulled out with tweezers or a piece of scotch tape. You can try vaccuming it out too. Sometimes you do have to open the player to get it out.
over the plastic shaft.Use a small jewelers blade screwdriver to turn the innermost shaft of the spool (find a hole opening in the hub to insert into to turn).While winding, gently hold down the tape against the spool side to keep it from coming off. Once all tape is wound up, remove masking tape that held beginning of tape to spool.Pull outer edge of tape end till it is lightly snug.Now unravel outer edge tape end about 3 revolutions for proper slippage.Use splicing tape to fasten both ends.
Hi, I'm not quite sure what you are refering to with the white circle things. Do you mean the hub/spool that holds the tape, or the thin washers that the hub sits on around the center post that act as a lubricant. The hub has to turn easily on the post or yes the tape will break. Not all hubs are interchangeable; they are made for specific shells.
Thank you for sharing. Appreciated. My little brain were about to explode when I have tried to figure out how to connect tape together having big pile of it...
Before I put a tape into the machine I visually check that the pads are there. The spring loaded ones especially that have the felt piece since you can scrape the back of the tape against the metal tab if the felt is missing. For foam pads, you can play them but make sure the rot/pieces are not falling out as they can get jammed in the head and capstan.Always watch out for those gummy pinch rollers used on older AMPEX and some GRT tapes.Press your thumb nail into the roller if in doubt to check.
Hi. I recently got a VHS eaten. It was slightly crumbled and there is a very tiny rip. Do you think it will be all right to play? I'm just wondering if it will just be a bit blurred and stuff or if it will get jammed and even more damaged. It's an old tape, so what do you think I should do?
You can try to smooth out the wrinkles by gently sliding the wrinkled section around a smooth object like a glass rod. Glass is always very smooth. Be sure your hands are clean! Of course the rip could spread if it gets tugged on too much. You may want to try some thin splicing tape but be sure that you apply the tape to the inner side surface of the tape. If you face the tape with the door flap that slides up, it will NOT be the side you see when you flip up the door on the outer edge.
(cont) tape the end of the tape lead to the inner hub reel (where it pulls out of the hub) with about 1 inch of tape sticking up from the hub. Be sure tape is facing correct direction as you will be winding it onto the hub by turning the hub clock-wise. Also the shiney silvery lubricant side ot the tape faces the inside of the hub; the brown recording side faces out/away from the hub spool. Now start winding the tape slowly onto the hub with the hub mounted in the bottom half of the case (cont)
Hey Waukee. What are some of the things that can cause a little bit of the tape to pull itself out of the cartridge & into the player while the tape itself is playing?
Mark Covington Aside from a broken splice, Player: Heads are dirty, capstan is dirty and/or magnetized. Clean and demagnetize both. Tape: (1) Tape is wound too loose on the spool so that when you pull the tape out it doesn't pull tightly enough to rotate the spool. Open the cart, get to the splice, undo the splice and pull the outer (take up section) end of the tape until it is tight (hear a squeek). Then unravel this about 3 or 4 turns and resplice. Turn the tape spool by hand/screwdriver or pull out the tape from the center to see how freely it turns. If you hear squeeking or it turns hard and/or the tape moves stiffly/tightly, you need to unravel a few more layers. Unfortunately, you may have to wind the tape all the way around again to get to the splice where it just comes out from the center. Need it to come out "just right" not too loose or too hard. Another thing may be the reel is dragging/warping against the case. If the reel is soft and flimsy you can carefully flex it up so it doesn't touch the case. Make sure the case itself isn't damaged or melted/warped in some way as the case itself is an integral part of how the tape fits and plays in the machine. Finally, the rubber pinch roller may have dirt or stuff on it and needs to be removed and cleaned with Goo Gone (make sure you wipe all this off completely) or with rubbing alcohol.
Mark Covington I think I deliberately unspliced it. Pretty sure though if I picked one of these, the splice would have broken (highly prone to splice breaks): Columbia TC8 with the 2 or 3 tabs on the top case, RCA riveted (also have the grasping ridges on the side ends where you pull out the cart, on both halves. Later ones (non-riveted) only have on bottom half and they don't tend to break)
Hi Waukee321 What can I use to splice an 8 track tape if I don´t have those splices they sell on Ebay? I tried making one out of insulating tape, but it doesn´t seem to stick on well, and after a few plays the tape comes apart again. Thank you, greetings
You really should just buy a spool of metal splicing tape. It needs to have the metal to conduct electricity so as to change the track when it touches the electrodes. Needs to be thin too to prevent jamming and smooth tape flow. You could cot strips of aluminum foil and use double sided tape or flexible type glue.
@@waukee321Sorry but I need the tape not for track changing, it's because I need to put the tape together and splice it on the back. Thank you for your kind advice :) greetings
In that case (for splicing the tape together not at the sensing foil ), indeed you need to apply the splice on the back of the tape. It helps to scrape off as much of the gray lubricant coating where the splicing tape will be adhering to. You can do this as I do by holding a straight edge razor at a 45 deg angle and very gently and carefully scraping off the lubricant coating until you see the brownish color of the tape beneath it. Don't press too hard or you will cut/fray the tape. Alternatively, I have also used Goo-Gone with a Q-tip to rub off the lubricant and then clean off the Goo Gone with Windex or similar cleaner if you don't want to use a razor. Removing the lubricant will allow the adhesive on the tape to adhere better. Buy a spool of regular (non metalic) audio splicing tape
Hello sir, is there a recording somewhere out there of what it sounds like when the splice breaks and the tape gets eaten? I don't actually own one of these but I found this video looking for that. I've always wanted to know what that sounds like, since I mostly grew up with cassettes and the machines seamed to almost never stop eating them. I figured such a recording would be easy enough to find since there are lots of videos on youtube of VCRs and other machines eating tapes. Does it just sound like a cassette being eaten, or does it have some other qualities to it? If your splices are good, do you have to worry about these getting eaten randomly the way cassette tapes do?
genuinescorruption Interesting request, but I don't think I've ever heard or found a recording of a tape in any format being eaten. I've seen and heard some strange recordings like training your bird to talk (wierd things to teach it) and the Farting Contest to name a few as well as a home recording of some teens getting high from "far out" way back when (they're probably members of Congress now ; ) ). Anyway, as for a description of the sound, the best way to look at it is the normal sound of the tape playing. Just hear the motor humming quietly and maybe the inner spool turning as it may rub the case in a uniform manner. Take a small piece of paper and slide it on a table top. Pretty much the sound of the tape. Now slide it from the table top over another sheet of smooth paper, that's pretty much the sound of the splice passing over the head and electrodes. Now wrinkle the paper as you move it. That's a bad sound that something isn't gliding along the heads correctly and likely the splice breaking and the tape being pulled in by the capstan but not being wound around the inner spool-a bad thing. Goodbye program intros if you don't pull it out in time.
waukee321 Meanwhile, what's coming out of your speakers? There are videos of machines eating tapes, but it's mostly VHS where the eject sequence fails to un-thread the tape so everythings just fine until you press eject and it makes a mess. As well, what do you hear if you mistakenly play a tape that has pinch roller "Soup"? This is something I kind of want to get in to, but with my handicap it'd probably be more difficult than it's worth.
genuinescorruption As for the speakers, if the tape segment being "eaten" has anything recorded on it, the sound will be garbled and then cut out once the tape no longer passes over the head (e.g. the tape broke). If no sound recorded on it then no real sound, perhaps varying degrees of "hiss". I used to work on VHS players and broken/loose/old belt will usually cause the un-threading failure. You don't want to insert one of those AMPEX mush rollers into your machine. Never did it because I knew what the result would be. As for what you hear. If the roller can miraculously turn and transport the tape you will hear the recording. My guess is the chance of that working is less than 1% and if so it won't last long. Owning and using these old tapes and players does require some know how. They just are not in the new condition they once were back in the day. As with most older items, TLC is needed. Good Luck.
Pulling from the center when the tape is just tight enough will turn the hub and naturally wind up the tape from the outer edge of the hub. Just have to keep the tape tight enough on the hub from time to time otherwise the hub will not turn.
Mark Covington Mark, It's been so long I don't remember. From the looks of the shell, it's a gray, 3-tab Columbia/TC 8 cart which are the most frequently ones prone to broken tape splices (foil). If you have these, ALWAYS pull them out when they come to the program change (i.e. splice) and inspect, tug and flex the splice. A few times I just looked at some of these as OK only to have them break on the 2nd or 3rd pass around! So really check them good.
Sure can. Make sure you have the correct end, hold it against the center of the hub and start winding it up. Make sure the tape stays against (down) the hub wall.
Sorry for the lighting. I am pulling the tape from where it comes out of the inner hub of the spool (inside). As I pull from there, the tape is winding onto the outer (outside) hub and winds down toward the inner hub. Pulling from the outer hub would not work. This is all to get the beginning end of the tape to "just" come out from the inner hub. Then you can just wind the rest of the tape around the outside and then re-tape the foil. Make sure the tape is not twisted as you pull it.
(cont) As in this video here, unravel the folded tape, shake out the twists, until you have it layed out neatly. Before you wind onto the spool, carefully clean any soiled, greasy areas (from being eaten) with soft paper towel and rubbing alcohol. If any areas were wrinkled use the low heat iron method video I have posted here to straighten the tape. When tape is clean and ready to wind onto reel, take lead end of tape and with a small piece of masking tape, (cont)
I check back once in a while. Busy with other things though. Since I don't greatly advertise my posts some people may discover it 10 years after it's been there. As the Ontario license plate states: "Yours to discover"
I'm hoping that all these years since my videos that people have had success in repairing their 8 track tapes rather than having them end up in a landfill; my original intent. I also saw some other methods of opening up 8 tracks that were pretty destructive and I said "Oh No!". I try to preserve the original components as much as possible and not resort to breaking tabs and using adhesive tape to hold the shell together.
@@waukee321 I've had some success in repairing some 8-tracks & some cassettes as well. I've even cleaned some vinyl records by removing pops, static, skips, loops, etc.. What do you think about that?😀
@@markcovington8159 Actually vinyl was my first love and I have a pretty decent collection. I started collecting records in the early 80s when people were dumping their CDs. I bought a used VPI record cleaner which has been fantastic. I use Simple Green cleaner with distilled water in the machine. There are various recording softwares that also remove pops clicks and hisses. One of them is Adobe Audition but unfortunately it is now subscriber based so $$$. As for 8 tracks, the only reason I really start getting into them was because they were so cheap in the early 1990s. Classic rock tapes were about 25 to 50 cents in thrift stores. Well, ebay of course changed all that and a lot of the thrift shop finds are no longer that great because most of their items are online now for considerably more $$; Goodwill is an example.
Not to say you are wrong but it seems that your method may be time consuming and confusing to the novice repairer. You are going to make your viewers waste a lot of tape and possibly get them frustrated and give up resulting in more tapes in the dumpster. You are only making twists in the tape path which will wind up as magnetic spaghetti when winding it back manually on the spool is there is a lot of tape. Usually the tape is broke at the outer spool and the center is the side where more tape is coming out of it. I found it better to pull the entire tape from the center hub in the same direction of the tape onto the floor in a strait line and uniform position with tape on tape neatly in a loose pile. Do not pull from the top strait up to remove. This will create twists in the tape path. Hold your thumb on the spool and pull out at least 2 - 3 feet at a time.Once that's done you then wind the beginning of the top half of the pile on the empty center spool holding it down with a small piece of tape at the center of the spool in the bottom cart half with a screwdriver or object to turn the center of the spool while guiding the tape. This will take some time. Be sure you start at the right side of the tape or it will play backwards hehe. That's all to there is to it. Now clean off your hands. They will be covered in black dust so don't pick your nose hehe.
To each his/her own. Just sharing the way I do it and never had a problem, never had to cut the tape and re-splice (I hate that), and never threw out a tape. In fact, any broken case, I remove the tape and wind/append onto another blank tape turning a 40 min tape into an 80 min one.
Man you sleep on that bed with all that back coating graphite dust on it from the tape? Prolonged contact with the sensitive skin may cause shin rashes for some. Don't inhale the stuff or get it on your mouth or nasal passages, It can be toxic and cause cancer. From the sound of your sniffing it sounds like you already got a nose full hehe
@@christianjohnson7228 That was the 60's and 70's man. lot of things where unknown if they where dangerous to someones health. You never knew what they was using if it was toxic to inhale and may never find out. Asbestos was still used in manufacturing, Lead was still in gasoline, Kids toys had sharp metal edges and where dangerous that where very hot, used dangerous exposed AC line electricity, or blew up. The original etch a sketch had toxic paste in it and could cause blindness if you got it in your eyes. They where the best fun times as a kid.
HI, I am in the process of repairing a heap of Quadraphonic 8-tracks (getting rare now) so I can transfer them to a digital medium. Your tutorials have been a godsend for me, thank you sir!
Thanks for these techniques. I prefer doing it by hand since it gives me more control in case there is a twist or other anomaly with the tape. I can stop right away otherwise continuing to wind the tape could damage it under these circumstances.
God, what an awesome channel!! Wish I knew about you when I started out. So many tapes wasted. Thanks brother!
That's why I created this channel. To save repairable tapes from the landfills and show how to fix them to as close to an original condition. Hope they help out and pass it on.
waukee321 I’ll definitely pass it. Valuable info.
PERFECT, just what I needed. THANK YOU
mom9399dad You're welcome.
That looks like a Columbia or Epic style cartridge, I'm working on repairing a few of those currently. In my case a few of the cartridges were filthy so I had to take them apart and wash the plastic cases, the pinch roller, and a few other parts first. When I run into a cartridge that has unraveled that much I usually wind it up on a reel to reel spool and then rewind it onto the one one inside the cartridge, it prevents a lot of twisting and tangling I find.
Yeah, dirt is a real pain on these and must be cleaned off.
Just encountered a jammed tape; could not move it with my fingers and saw the shinny skid marks indicating a jam.Opened it up and could tell the tape had been partially water/moisture damaged with a slight smell of mildew and with multiple folds in the tape that bound it up.Unravelled the tape to the fold areas and ironed them out and then ran the tape a full cycle by turning the spool.Not a common tape to find so I spent the time on it. Works now. Moisture can cause the tape to stick together.
Extremely helpful video, just one question:How do you remove the flywheel/capstan assy?
Depends on the machine. Have to open up the unit and remove the screws or "C" clip commonly used to hold it in. Best way to get the tape off the capstan is to rotate the capstan/flywheel in reverse which will unwind the tape. Do your best to preserve the tape without having to cut it. Then clean off the grease from the capstan.
Hi Mark, Certainly. Hopefully you are able to get all the tape out of the machine and without it being damaged. If it is jammed around the capstan and won't budge loose you may have to remove the capstan. Do whatever you can to avoid breaking the tape. Once out, locate the beginning of the tape end. Make sure it's the correct end or the tape will play backwards & program 4 will be program 1 etc (You'll know!). Clean you hands. Now begins the long process of straightening the tape (cont)
Haven't tried winding onto a reel to reel, but sounds like a good idea.
Thanks, ill give it a try this weekend and let you know how I d made out
Your welcome. It takes lots of patience ;)
Wish I could take these to the Doctor's office where you have to wait a hour. I could fix 6 of these in that time period ; )
Good luck with it.
If the sensing foil breaks off inside the machine I try to get it out immediately. Sensing foil acts like a piece of wire inside your machine and can short out electrical components that it touches so it's important to remove it. Usually the foil will be in the head or capstan area of the slot and can be pulled out with tweezers or a piece of scotch tape. You can try vaccuming it out too. Sometimes you do have to open the player to get it out.
over the plastic shaft.Use a small jewelers blade screwdriver to turn the innermost shaft of the spool (find a hole opening in the hub to insert into to turn).While winding, gently hold down the tape against the spool side to keep it from coming off. Once all tape is wound up, remove masking tape that held beginning of tape to spool.Pull outer edge of tape end till it is lightly snug.Now unravel outer edge tape end about 3 revolutions for proper slippage.Use splicing tape to fasten both ends.
Hi,
I'm not quite sure what you are refering to with the white circle things. Do you mean the hub/spool that holds the tape, or the thin washers that the hub sits on around the center post that act as a lubricant. The hub has to turn easily on the post or yes the tape will break. Not all hubs are interchangeable; they are made for specific shells.
Thank you for sharing. Appreciated. My little brain were about to explode when I have tried to figure out how to connect tape together having big pile of it...
Glad it helped! Took me a while to figure this out too!
Before I put a tape into the machine I visually check that the pads are there. The spring loaded ones especially that have the felt piece since you can scrape the back of the tape against the metal tab if the felt is missing. For foam pads, you can play them but make sure the rot/pieces are not falling out as they can get jammed in the head and capstan.Always watch out for those gummy pinch rollers used on older AMPEX and some GRT tapes.Press your thumb nail into the roller if in doubt to check.
@waukee321 Hi, quick question. If the white circle thingys on a tape are pushed in or moved around, will the tape break?
Hi. I recently got a VHS eaten. It was slightly crumbled and there is a very tiny rip.
Do you think it will be all right to play? I'm just wondering if it will just be a bit blurred and stuff or if it will get jammed and even more damaged.
It's an old tape, so what do you think I should do?
If you're concerned that the tear could spread, you may want to get some very thin spicing tape for it
You can try to smooth out the wrinkles by gently sliding the wrinkled section around a smooth object like a glass rod. Glass is always very smooth. Be sure your hands are clean! Of course the rip could spread if it gets tugged on too much. You may want to try some thin splicing tape but be sure that you apply the tape to the inner side surface of the tape. If you face the tape with the door flap that slides up, it will NOT be the side you see when you flip up the door on the outer edge.
(cont) tape the end of the tape lead to the inner hub reel (where it pulls out of the hub) with about 1 inch of tape sticking up from the hub. Be sure tape is facing correct direction as you will be winding it onto the hub by turning the hub clock-wise. Also the shiney silvery lubricant side ot the tape faces the inside of the hub; the brown recording side faces out/away from the hub spool. Now start winding the tape slowly onto the hub with the hub mounted in the bottom half of the case (cont)
Hey Waukee.
What are some of the things that can cause a little bit of the tape to pull itself out of the cartridge & into the player while the tape itself is playing?
Mark Covington Aside from a broken splice, Player: Heads are dirty, capstan is dirty and/or magnetized. Clean and demagnetize both. Tape: (1) Tape is wound too loose on the spool so that when you pull the tape out it doesn't pull tightly enough to rotate the spool. Open the cart, get to the splice, undo the splice and pull the outer (take up section) end of the tape until it is tight (hear a squeek). Then unravel this about 3 or 4 turns and resplice. Turn the tape spool by hand/screwdriver or pull out the tape from the center to see how freely it turns. If you hear squeeking or it turns hard and/or the tape moves stiffly/tightly, you need to unravel a few more layers. Unfortunately, you may have to wind the tape all the way around again to get to the splice where it just comes out from the center. Need it to come out "just right" not too loose or too hard. Another thing may be the reel is dragging/warping against the case. If the reel is soft and flimsy you can carefully flex it up so it doesn't touch the case. Make sure the case itself isn't damaged or melted/warped in some way as the case itself is an integral part of how the tape fits and plays in the machine. Finally, the rubber pinch roller may have dirt or stuff on it and needs to be removed and cleaned with Goo Gone (make sure you wipe all this off completely) or with rubbing alcohol.
Thank you so much
Glad it helps!
Hey Waukee. How did you end up letting the splice on the Tony Orlando & Dawn 8-track tape break on the day it happened?
Mark Covington I think I deliberately unspliced it. Pretty sure though if I picked one of these, the splice would have broken (highly prone to splice breaks): Columbia TC8 with the 2 or 3 tabs on the top case, RCA riveted (also have the grasping ridges on the side ends where you pull out the cart, on both halves. Later ones (non-riveted) only have on bottom half and they don't tend to break)
Hi Waukee321 What can I use to splice an 8 track tape if I don´t have those splices they sell on Ebay? I tried making one out of insulating tape, but it doesn´t seem to stick on well, and after a few plays the tape comes apart again. Thank you, greetings
You really should just buy a spool of metal splicing tape. It needs to have the metal to conduct electricity so as to change the track when it touches the electrodes. Needs to be thin too to prevent jamming and smooth tape flow. You could cot strips of aluminum foil and use double sided tape or flexible type glue.
@@waukee321Sorry but I need the tape not for track changing, it's because I need to put the tape together and splice it on the back. Thank you for your kind advice :) greetings
In that case (for splicing the tape together not at the sensing foil ), indeed you need to apply the splice on the back of the tape. It helps to scrape off as much of the gray lubricant coating where the splicing tape will be adhering to. You can do this as I do by holding a straight edge razor at a 45 deg angle and very gently and carefully scraping off the lubricant coating until you see the brownish color of the tape beneath it. Don't press too hard or you will cut/fray the tape. Alternatively, I have also used Goo-Gone with a Q-tip to rub off the lubricant and then clean off the Goo Gone with Windex or similar cleaner if you don't want to use a razor. Removing the lubricant will allow the adhesive on the tape to adhere better. Buy a spool of regular (non metalic) audio splicing tape
Hello sir, is there a recording somewhere out there of what it sounds like when the splice breaks and the tape gets eaten? I don't actually own one of these but I found this video looking for that. I've always wanted to know what that sounds like, since I mostly grew up with cassettes and the machines seamed to almost never stop eating them. I figured such a recording would be easy enough to find since there are lots of videos on youtube of VCRs and other machines eating tapes. Does it just sound like a cassette being eaten, or does it have some other qualities to it? If your splices are good, do you have to worry about these getting eaten randomly the way cassette tapes do?
genuinescorruption Interesting request, but I don't think I've ever heard or found a recording of a tape in any format being eaten. I've seen and heard some strange recordings like training your bird to talk (wierd things to teach it) and the Farting Contest to name a few as well as a home recording of some teens getting high from "far out" way back when (they're probably members of Congress now ; ) ). Anyway, as for a description of the sound, the best way to look at it is the normal sound of the tape playing. Just hear the motor humming quietly and maybe the inner spool turning as it may rub the case in a uniform manner. Take a small piece of paper and slide it on a table top. Pretty much the sound of the tape. Now slide it from the table top over another sheet of smooth paper, that's pretty much the sound of the splice passing over the head and electrodes. Now wrinkle the paper as you move it. That's a bad sound that something isn't gliding along the heads correctly and likely the splice breaking and the tape being pulled in by the capstan but not being wound around the inner spool-a bad thing. Goodbye program intros if you don't pull it out in time.
waukee321 Meanwhile, what's coming out of your speakers?
There are videos of machines eating tapes, but it's mostly VHS where the eject sequence fails to un-thread the tape so everythings just fine until you press eject and it makes a mess.
As well, what do you hear if you mistakenly play a tape that has pinch roller "Soup"?
This is something I kind of want to get in to, but with my handicap it'd probably be more difficult than it's worth.
genuinescorruption As for the speakers, if the tape segment being "eaten" has anything recorded on it, the sound will be garbled and then cut out once the tape no longer passes over the head (e.g. the tape broke). If no sound recorded on it then no real sound, perhaps varying degrees of "hiss". I used to work on VHS players and broken/loose/old belt will usually cause the un-threading failure. You don't want to insert one of those AMPEX mush rollers into your machine. Never did it because I knew what the result would be. As for what you hear. If the roller can miraculously turn and transport the tape you will hear the recording. My guess is the chance of that working is less than 1% and if so it won't last long. Owning and using these old tapes and players does require some know how. They just are not in the new condition they once were back in the day. As with most older items, TLC is needed. Good Luck.
How does pulling from the center allow you to rewind all the loose tape on the other end? Aren't you just replace one pile of tape with another?
Pulling from the center when the tape is just tight enough will turn the hub and naturally wind up the tape from the outer edge of the hub. Just have to keep the tape tight enough on the hub from time to time otherwise the hub will not turn.
Hey Waukee.
What is the name of that tape you were trying to fix in this video?
Mark Covington Mark, It's been so long I don't remember. From the looks of the shell, it's a gray, 3-tab Columbia/TC 8 cart which are the most frequently ones prone to broken tape splices (foil). If you have these, ALWAYS pull them out when they come to the program change (i.e. splice) and inspect, tug and flex the splice. A few times I just looked at some of these as OK only to have them break on the 2nd or 3rd pass around! So really check them good.
one of my 8 tracks was eaten and all of its tape came off its spool.Can the tape be rewound on spool and how is it done.
thanks,mark
Sure can. Make sure you have the correct end, hold it against the center of the hub and start winding it up. Make sure the tape stays against (down) the hub wall.
That's a nice bed. Do you live in a hospital or nursing home?
Sorry for the lighting. I am pulling the tape from where it comes out of the inner hub of the spool (inside). As I pull from there, the tape is winding onto the outer (outside) hub and winds down toward the inner hub. Pulling from the outer hub would not work. This is all to get the beginning end of the tape to "just" come out from the inner hub. Then you can just wind the rest of the tape around the outside and then re-tape the foil. Make sure the tape is not twisted as you pull it.
(cont) As in this video here, unravel the folded tape, shake out the twists, until you have it layed out neatly. Before you wind onto the spool, carefully clean any soiled, greasy areas (from being eaten) with soft paper towel and rubbing alcohol. If any areas were wrinkled use the low heat iron method video I have posted here to straighten the tape. When tape is clean and ready to wind onto reel, take lead end of tape and with a small piece of masking tape, (cont)
I'll try the video in subtitles next time...
Is this post still active?
Yes
I check back once in a while. Busy with other things though. Since I don't greatly advertise my posts some people may discover it 10 years after it's been there. As the Ontario license plate states: "Yours to discover"
Hey Waukee.
How come we never get to see your face in any of the UA-cam videos you've done? :) I'm curious to get to see it. :)
I'm hoping that all these years since my videos that people have had success in repairing their 8 track tapes rather than having them end up in a landfill; my original intent. I also saw some other methods of opening up 8 tracks that were pretty destructive and I said "Oh No!". I try to preserve the original components as much as possible and not resort to breaking tabs and using adhesive tape to hold the shell together.
@@waukee321 I've had some success in repairing some 8-tracks & some cassettes as well. I've even cleaned some vinyl records by removing pops, static, skips, loops, etc.. What do you think about that?😀
@@waukee321 I've always liked Shaun Cassidy. Yes, I am willing to see your face.😀
@@markcovington8159 Sounds like a Roberta Flack song. ☺☺
@@markcovington8159 Actually vinyl was my first love and I have a pretty decent collection. I started collecting records in the early 80s when people were dumping their CDs. I bought a used VPI record cleaner which has been fantastic. I use Simple Green cleaner with distilled water in the machine. There are various recording softwares that also remove pops clicks and hisses. One of them is Adobe Audition but unfortunately it is now subscriber based so $$$. As for 8 tracks, the only reason I really start getting into them was because they were so cheap in the early 1990s. Classic rock tapes were about 25 to 50 cents in thrift stores. Well, ebay of course changed all that and a lot of the thrift shop finds are no longer that great because most of their items are online now for considerably more $$; Goodwill is an example.
somebody has the sniffles
have another line
Join me.
i think im just gonna give up trying to mend this rod stewart 8 track and just make a nest with all THIS TAPE!! 😫😫😫
hope you didn't quit KISS ORIGNALS VOL,1 spooled out on me I didn't quit iwas mader then hell but I did it
Congrats! Have to be patient with this.
No, that was part of your parent's generation which explains your mental condition.
Z
Not to say you are wrong but it seems that your method may be time consuming and confusing to the novice repairer. You are going to make your viewers waste a lot of tape and possibly get them frustrated and give up resulting in more tapes in the dumpster. You are only making twists in the tape path which will wind up as magnetic spaghetti when winding it back manually on the spool is there is a lot of tape. Usually the tape is broke at the outer spool and the center is the side where more tape is coming out of it. I found it better to pull the entire tape from the center hub in the same direction of the tape onto the floor in a strait line and uniform position with tape on tape neatly in a loose pile. Do not pull from the top strait up to remove. This will create twists in the tape path. Hold your thumb on the spool and pull out at least 2 - 3 feet at a time.Once that's done you then wind the beginning of the top half of the pile on the empty center spool holding it down with a small piece of tape at the center of the spool in the bottom cart half with a screwdriver or object to turn the center of the spool while guiding the tape. This will take some time. Be sure you start at the right side of the tape or it will play backwards hehe. That's all to there is to it. Now clean off your hands. They will be covered in black dust so don't pick your nose hehe.
To each his/her own. Just sharing the way I do it and never had a problem, never had to cut the tape and re-splice (I hate that), and never threw out a tape. In fact, any broken case, I remove the tape and wind/append onto another blank tape turning a 40 min tape into an 80 min one.
lol are you snoring or ? i hear something like that anyway
oh okay sorry..
+MultiTechnicss No Problem. Besides, anyone who appreciates 8-tracks can't be all that bad.
8^ )
;) . Anyway your youtube site is useful
Man you sleep on that bed with all that back coating graphite dust on it from the tape? Prolonged contact with the sensitive skin may cause shin rashes for some. Don't inhale the stuff or get it on your mouth or nasal passages, It can be toxic and cause cancer. From the sound of your sniffing it sounds like you already got a nose full hehe
It's not graphite, but iron oxide.
“Cause cancer” lol
@@christianjohnson7228 That was the 60's and 70's man. lot of things where unknown if they where dangerous to someones health. You never knew what they was using if it was toxic to inhale and may never find out. Asbestos was still used in manufacturing, Lead was still in gasoline, Kids toys had sharp metal edges and where dangerous that where very hot, used dangerous exposed AC line electricity, or blew up. The original etch a sketch had toxic paste in it and could cause blindness if you got it in your eyes. They where the best fun times as a kid.