Back in the day, I had a few occasions where batch numbers were not the 
same with bulk 1/4" (406 & 456) on hubs. Tape that was on reels in 
boxes, when purchased in case lots, were consistent.

I've also had Marie's experience with Sticky Shed where the same tape, 
from the same batch (Based on the batch #'s from the tape ends stored 
with the reels), stored on the same shelf, had different levels (some 
with none) of SS.

Corey
Corey Bailey Audio Engineering
www.baileyzone.net

On 12/17/2015 7:47 PM, Marie O'Connell wrote:
> When I was in the States I made a largish order of about 1000 reels of
> Emtec 911 open reel tapes.  From memory the boxes contained 20 reels per
> box and my immediate boss liked me to record the batch number as part of my
> workflow.  Not all the tapes in the boxes were from the same batch.
>
> We had a situation here where the Mitsui Gold CDR's, shrink wrapped and
> all, not only had pit holes in them on the gold layer, but when you opened
> the shrink-wrap and case they were full of dust!.  We sent them back but
> heard that another institution in Asia had complained about the pit-holes
> and sent theirs back after opening them.  It appears they were then
> re-shrink-wrapped and we got them!
>
> The joys of archiving!
>
> Marie
>
> On Fri, Dec 18, 2015 at 3:54 PM, Richard L. Hess<[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
>    
>> Tom, what you describe is the theory. I have heard rumours that was not
>> the case in Opelika. Cases were filled with reels when needed. I suspect
>> that bulk packs were perhaps a bit more likely to be all the same batch.
>>
>> How wide were the jumbos in Opelika?
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Richard
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 12/17/2015 9:27 PM, Tom Fine wrote:
>>
>>      
>>> I thought the numbers on the box and on the stickers box indicated batch
>>> numbers and dates of manufacture, indicating that all pancakes in the
>>> box were from that batch and date. At least that's how I always
>>> understood 3M and Ampex boxes.
>>>
>>> -- Tom Fine
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lou Judson"<[log in to unmask]>
>>> To:<[log in to unmask]>
>>> Sent: Thursday, December 17, 2015 7:54 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Interesting sticky-shed data point
>>>
>>>
>>> Tom, is it a documented fact that all (12) rolls (reels or pancakes) of
>>> tape in a box would be from the same manufacturing/slurry batch? I never
>>> looked, but it would not surprise me if there were different
>>> manufacturing runs on the same delivery carton…
>>>
>>> <L>
>>> Lou Judson
>>> Intuitive Audio
>>> 415-883-2689
>>>
>>> On Dec 17, 2015, at 4:38 PM, Tom Fine<[log in to unmask]>  wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi Marie:
>>>        
>>>> This is very strange:
>>>>
>>>>          
>>>>> I have also had reels of Ampex 456 come out of the same box of 10 or
>>>>> 20 and
>>>>> purchased at the same time where 1/2 have SSS and the rest are fine!
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>            
>>>> I've never heard of that from anyone else. That would almost seem to
>>>> defy all theories of what causes sticky-shed, because one would assume
>>>> by a "box" of tapes you mean a real-deal Ampex case with a batch
>>>> number on it. If that's so, it's really freaky that some tapes in the
>>>> same batch (which I think means the same production run of the
>>>> chemical slurry) would get sticky-shed and others wouldn't.
>>>>
>>>> I'm not doubting your testimony at all, just saying that is calls into
>>>> question what is believed to be the cause of sticky-shed, in that I
>>>> can't see how the binder chemistry could differ within a batch.
>>>>
>>>>          
>>> --
>>>        
>> Richard L. Hess                   email: [log in to unmask]
>> Aurora, Ontario, Canada                             647 479 2800
>> http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
>> Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.
>>
>>      
>