On May 10, 8:46*am, (Brad) wrote:
Hi,

* * *I service TVs and VCRs for over 10 years. *I have a jig I use
to unlock
the reels in a VHS cassette. *I also have a reel/spindel, removed
from an old
VCR, that I use to insert into the TU side of the cassette, that is
fully
rewound. *I can feel, as I turn the spindle with my fingers, if
this cassette
has a lot of resistance ("drag"). *New cassettes, it is easy to
turn.
Cassettes that had hard use, have much resistance. * I have taken
apart a high
"drag" cassette and tried to determine what actually caused the
increase in
resistance. *The posts, etc. *that the tape comes in contact with
is very
clean. * I have to assume that the side of the tape, *that contacts
the posts
in the cassette, which is the *opposite side that contacts the
heads in the
VCR, *is the cause of this increase in resistance.

* * *Do you know the answer to this mystery?

* * * * * * * * Thanks in advance, * Brad

* Before you type your password, credit card number, etc.,
*be sure there is no active keystroke logger (spyware) in your PC.

We play back _old_ (late '60s to late '70s) 2" quadruplex video tapes
at work for restoration. The 2" tapes get sticky and will not roll
through the transport - sometimes stopping after less than 1 second of
play. We now routinely bake the tapes in a food dehydrator. The quad
tapes get 13 hours at 135F and then play just fine. We've also done
this with 1/4" and 1/2" audio tapes with good results.

You do not want to do this with a gas oven as the whole point of
baking is to dry it out and one of the rsults of burning gas is water
vapor. You also want the air circulating around the tape. For plastic
case cassettes you might want to lower the temp to 125F so as to not
warp the case.

GG