On Thu, 10 Jan 2019 08:55:55 -0500, Pat
wrote:

I have a question. How can "static" be
a symptom of dirty tape heads? Drop outs - yes. Loss of highs - yes.
Static? Sounds more like a bad connection or static electricity being
generated somewhere.

There's quite a bit to be found using Google search on the topic:
https://www.google.com/search?q=tape+head+static+electricity
The motion of the mylar tape backing over the resin filled head tends
to build up a static charge on the tape. Metal reels and tape
cartridges will discharge most of this, but plastic reels and collect
static.

In high tech tape backup drives, such as LTO type drives, it is
possible for the static electricity to fry the heads.
https://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/116367/data_recovery/sony_lto_tape_storage_media.html
"The working of the MR head is very much disturbed by
the static electricity, and the MR head can be destroyed
even by a minute static charge electricity."


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