Thanks Richard and all for the replies.
Even though I've not modified a machine as Marie did in NZ, I continue
to wonder about the wisdom of the whole "lubrication" technique except
perhaps as a last resort when all other techniques such as baking and
cold play have failed, and I mean really failed not just because not
implemented well enough, or the limits of baking or cold play have
been reached. Especially since apparently the problem is not "lack
of lubrication" as such but more "soft binder".
Richard you said, "While I love the initiative demonstrated by Marie's
isopropyl drip
method (which she has indicated she's moved away from) I found better
results with decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5, cyclomethicone,
CAS 541-02-6."
In what ways was D5 superior to Iso?
I' m also not sure what Marie has "moved away from". The drip
application technique? The use of Iso? Wettting technique itself?
Given that it's not really a loss of lubricant but "soft binder", and
that my experience so far has demonstrated on both cassettes and open
reel tapes A MARKED LOSS OF HIGHS DUE TO SPACING LOSS, I'm tempted to
abandon tests with wettting the head/tape interface and instead
concentrate on mere cooling of the tape especially as it interfaces
with the repro head.
I read of practical problems trying to run an open reel machine
inside a fridge. Do we need to limit ourselves to that approach? The
entire machine doesnt need to be cooled, only the tape and repro head,
and the minimum number of tape guides upstream of that repro head.
Why not pursue techniques which ONLY COOL WHAT NEEDS TO BE COOLED and
leave the rest of the machine unmodified and at usual room
temperature, able to be used and monitored in the normal way? Has
anybody pursued this?
A couple of initial ideas for experimentation:
1. Cool the repro head via a small Peltier effect device attached to
it.
2. Pre cool the tape by refrigerating it before playing.
3. Modify the machine to make the tape run in a small insulated
tunnel, from the exit point on the supply reel to running over the
repro head, which tunnel could also be cooled via Peltier effect
device. This could also cool the minimum number of tape guides
upstream of the repro head.
Maybe such work has already been done or at least tried by people such
as Specs Bros? I have no idea.
Comments?
Cheers Tim.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List"
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To:<[log in to unmask]>
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Sent:Thu, 25 Feb 2021 13:33:52 -0500
Subject:Re: [ARSCLIST] Tapes for testing wet play technique
Hi, Tim,
As you know, Marie's article (with photos) is published on my
website.
<https://richardhess.com/notes/2006/03/09/wet-playing-of-reel-tapes-with-loss-of-lubricant-a-guest-article-by-marie-oconnell/>
There is a comparative analysis in my paper from the ARSC Journal.
Not
much has changed since then and the web page you allude to is meant
as a
supplement to this paper.
<http://www.richardhess.com/tape/history/HESS_Tape_Degradation_ARSC_Journal_39-2.pdf>
For those looking for the supplementary page, it's here.
<https://richardhess.com/notes/formats/magnetic-media/magnetic-tapes/analog-audio/degrading-tapes/>
A colleague is doing limited work with PEM-46x and may publish
results
later. I don't feel able to discuss it in more detail at this point.
While I love the initiative demonstrated by Marie's isopropyl drip
method (which she has indicated she's moved away from), I found
better
results with decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5, cyclomethicone,
CAS 541-02-6.
I just came across this 2008 report on D5 from Environment Canada and
Health Canada.
<https://www.ec.gc.ca/ese-ees/13CC261E-5FB0-4D33-8000-EA6C6440758A/batch2_541-02-6_en.pdf>
My degrading tapes page mentions Sony PR-150, but at one point, it
was a
"poster child" of squealing tape, but later it seems some batches
don't
show it. I don't mention much about PR-150 as I've expanded so much
on
other squealing tapes, I should expand on this, too. See if you can
find
some that squeals.
Cheers,
Richard
On 2021-02-25 12:06 a.m., Tim Gillett wrote:
> I've revisited playing around with Marie O'Connell's wet play
> technique but have come to a dead end as I need as a test sample an
> actual squealing tape which does not respond to normal baking.
Marie
> mentioned PEM 469 of which I have many reels but the samples I've
> tried seem to play fine. I also have much 3M 177 but reports on
that
> seem mixed. Perhaps that's related to the moderate Mediterranean
> climate here in Perth, Australia. Richard Hess mentions 3M 175
and
> some others but what would be the most common known bad cases? I
may
> have some here in my collection but it would shorten the process if
I
> could narrow my search down to certain tape types known to squeal
> regardless of baking.
>
> Thanks for any advice,
>
> Tim
>
> Perth, Western Australia
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--
Richard L. Hess email: [log in to unmask]
Aurora, Ontario, Canada 647 479 2800
http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
Track Format - Speed - Equalization - Azimuth - Noise Reduction
Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.
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