Hi, Ted,

That's one of the reasons today why I keep D5
(Decamethylcyclopentasiloxane, CAS Number 541-02-6) on hand. It
ultimately evaporates and it solves problems quickly, when needed. It is
safe in that it is used to provide the slipperiness to personal care
products and is also used in dry cleaning.

On 2012-08-14 4:48 PM, Ted Kendall wrote:
> With the usual caveats, this worked on a reel of Shamrock under
> extreme duress (many years ago, I may add) :
>
> The tape in question was a dub of ETs of Buddy Holly's hometown radio
> station on the day of his death, and was required yesterday for a TV
> production (aren't they always?). I had a Revox 700 to hand, but could
> not stop the tape squealing. In desperation I sprayed the tape with
> WD40. Instant success! - followed by instant failure as the lubricant
> passed on and the squeal returned. Eventually, however, I found that
> wedging some cotton bud tip betwixt erase head and fixed guide, in
> contact with the tape, and dousing it every three seconds with the
> WD40 enabled silent playback. Of course, it created a b-awful mess of
> tape and machine, but this cleaned up all right, and in any case the
> job sometimes has to come before the tool!
>

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