Ken Weitzel wrote:


Bill Jeffrey wrote:

Just a random idea, since I don't play with tapes much. Wouldn't it
help to unreel the tape and drape it out in big folds across the floor
or across some handy furniture? The idea being to reduce to nearly
zero the friction that the shiny pinch roller has to overcome as it
pulls the tape off the supply reel. Yes, you would have to be careful
that the now-unreeled tape feeds into the pinch roller at the correct
angle, but that isn't hard. Might even have to add just a smidge of
drag, though I don't think so. What say, all you experts?

Bill


Hi Bill...

Respectfully suggest that the same thing can be accomplished
far more easily, and much safer by just FF'ing and re-winding
from end to end a few times

Take care.

Ken

Ken -

Thanks for the reply. I have a few old tapes that I would like to
transcribe, but can't. Somehow, the first 2/3 of the tape will feed
through the player OK, but then it begins to slow down and eventually
stop. I have tried them on a number of players, and I grant you that
they are all pretty crappy players, but it appears that the FF-Rewind
trick somehow tightens the tape on the inside of the supply reel more
than on the outside of the reel. Or maybe I'm theorizing in the
entirely wrong arena? I haven't tried looping the tape out over the
floor, as I suggested, but was hoping to find someone who had.

Bill