At 10:46 AM 2008-01-23, I wrote:

>  (c) Non-back-coated tape (possibly 3M176) that had pinning and that horrid
>        ripping sound on rewind (this was the first one I 
> encountered) that WAS
>        corrected by a dry cold soak inside double plastic bags with 
> a silica gel desiccant.
>  (d) Similar to above, but not corrected with the same 
> treatment--this one was mostly
>        near the hub. Remember (c) and (d) were NOT back-coated.
>...
>While I have little/no confirmation of this, I think that one of the 
>reasons (c) was successful was that there was enough 
>shrinkage/expansion to break the cross-wrap bonds at a microscopic 
>level without causing pullouts. Why (d) has not been successful is 
>anyone's guess. That tape is now in someone else's care as it fits 
>his mandate for gratis reformatting better than mine.

Here is another data point on (d) from the person who now has the tapes.

"The layers stick together more like velcro rather than from 'gumminess.'"

He opted to slowly wind through and got a fairly good transfer--thank 
goodness they were 15 in/s. Similar pullouts in Melody (3M seconds) 
brand tape are shown here:
http://richardhess.com/notes/2006/05/26/binder-adhesion-to-back-of-next-layer/
I think the Melody was worse. The Melody had been very damp (maybe 
even wet) at one point was my understanding.

There are clues in all of this, but I can't figure out precisely what 
it's telling us, so I thought I'd publish the clues for posterity at 
Stanford's COOL site.

Cheers,

Richard

Richard L. Hess                   email: [log in to unmask]
Aurora, Ontario, Canada       (905) 713 6733     1-877-TAPE-FIX
Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.