Cassette repair tips needed

erik · Posted 1 Nov 2004 3:27 pm

I have a 30 yr old irreplaceable(sp) 90 minute cassette that came detached from the spool. Also, the first 2 ft got crunched in the player. What's the best method of action? How do you get a glued case appart? I need to move it to a new screw case. Should i cut the spools off and splice to new ones? Anyone with experience ironing tape? TIA

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-johnson

Mike Winter · From: Portland, OR

Erik -- It's been a long time, but I used to use a flat head screw driver to pry those cases apart. It'll probably break, but that doesn't matter. When it's all apart, just take one that's screwed together apart and replace it with the old one. It's next to impossible to salvage the crinkled section, but once it's all back together, I would then copy it onto a CD. (It's hard to fasten a tape onto the plastic ring; I always found it better cut the tape and tape it together with a small piece of clear shipping/packing tape. Put the tape on the INSIDE, and make sure you trim it to fit the width of the tape. Hope this helps.

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

100 years ago they actually used to sell Casette repair kits at Radio Shack . It came with a new plastic case, and a splicer.

Now the repair kit is a blank CD

This is actually a somewhat easy task..just be careful not to hurt your hand or cut your fingers while taking the molded case apart..

before you remove the tape from the molded case, take the screw case apart and study the tape path..before you remove the unwanted tape from this case. Be sure the tape you want in this case is mounted exactly the same way as the one you are removing or you will have more crinkly tape.

This whole process should take less than 5 minutes.

Erik ole' buddy, what are you doing listening to the original casette for all these years without making a back up or CD copy anyway ..this is 2004 ! I thought I was the only one who did this ...

t

Smiley Roberts · From: Hendersonville,Tn. 37075

I was one of the fortunate ones to have acquired a cassette splicing block,lo,those many eons ago,from Radio Shack,& have found it to be,endlessly,helpful. The problem w/ C90 cassettes is,they used .05 mil tape in them,which is EXTREMELY thin,& EXTREMELY hard to work with. However,I have repaired more than one,& its like anything else. The more you do it,the easier it gets. I have saved many "screw-held" cassettes,where the tape was no longer useable,as "repair kits".
BTW,I would not advise using any kind of sticky,mending tape to splice the cassette tape,as the adhesive has a tendency to "bleed",under warm conditions. Then,when passing over the recorder heads,will deposit the adhesive onto the heads. They make a special audio splicing tape for this purpose. If you have any friends that own a audio repair store,or are "audiophiles",they can probably perform this service for you. Hope this info helps you Erik.

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c c johnson · From: killeen,tx usa * R.I.P.

10/4 Smiley CC

Ray Minich · From: Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra

My splice block is Radio Shack circa 1977. Does both cassette and 1/4" tape. Still in the drawer since I used it last 10 yrs ago?

erik · Posted 2 Nov 2004 2:28 pm

Thanks for the tips. Believe it or not I saw 2 splicing blocks on clearance at RS. But no repair kits. Copies were made but the listener hit record by accident and then wondered why no sound was coming out. That ended up erasing about 50% of both tapes. So, I have the 2nd generation master. It is my mom's performance in community theater from the early 70s. it's South Pacific. It actually sounds pretty good considering the age and poor recording methods (recorder placed on stage). I should have broken the tabs on the copies but never had an issue like this before.

I might just pony up and pay a pro to do it, AND make a CD. I read somewhere that engineers would use an iron to flatten out tape. I just need to know what setting and what to use between the iron and tape. I'll do a search.

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-johnson

Smiley Roberts · From: Hendersonville,Tn. 37075

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

would that be Angle Iron or Wrought Iron ?

t

Dave Van Allen · From: Doylestown, PA , US , Earth

as long as it ain't a magnet...

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