Topmusicanswers
- Can reel-to-reel tapes be restored?
- How do I restore old cassette tapes?
- How long do reel-to-reel tapes last?
- How do you bake reel tapes?
Can reel-to-reel tapes be restored?
Baking at 130°F is the sweet spot to reverse "sticky shed syndrome." Enlarge / Audio buffs are rediscovering the sound quality of reel-to-reel tapes. Chemists at the Library of Congress are studying why the tapes tend to degrade over time and why baking them can often reverse the damage.
How do I restore old cassette tapes?
Insert a ballpoint pen into the right-hand tape head. Turn the pen counterclockwise while keeping the length of tape from tangling as it is being wound back into the cassette. Turn the pen until all the tape is back in the cassette. The cassette can now be inserted and played in a cassette player.
How long do reel-to-reel tapes last?
Stuck in a car the tape may only last a year or two before significant sonic degradation; in a controlled storage environment 10 years or more is not uncommon. Much older tapes have been reported, natch, but they usually require some processing to recover all the signal.
How do you bake reel tapes?
Place the tape in a convection oven for three to eight hours at 135 degrees F to 150 degrees F. Remove the flanges from the reels to prevent melting the tape. After baking, remove tapes from the oven and allow them to cool to the control room environment for 24 hours prior to working with the tapes.
