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Vintage Tape (Audio), Cassette, Wire and Magnetic Disc Recorders and Players Open-reel tape recorders, cassette recorders, 8-track players etc.

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Old 22nd May 2017, 5:06 pm   #21
Biggles
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Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Hexham, Northumberland, UK.
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Default Re: Which way does the tape go?

Now I'm confused. The tapes are type 456, and all seem to be wound so that the shiny side would face into the heads. I actually tried reversing a small section of tape and it made no difference so there must be an electronic fault somewhere, which I still have to find. Bias is running ok and none of the tracks record, pointing to a common problem to all eight channels so maybe switching/control logic deck may be the culprit.
Alan.
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Old 23rd May 2017, 2:49 am   #22
TIMTAPE
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Default Re: Which way does the tape go?

From memory the Teac 8-80 has a motherboard whose track side PCB faces upwards and so it collects dirt and rubbish that falls into the machine. Copper tracks can become corroded and fail. Also there could be problems with solder joints between tracks and connection points.

But as to the tape, you say you have been using Ampex 456. As James implies, that's a big "no no". I would lay the machine on its back and take a good look at the tape heads and guides under a strong light. They're possibly covered in tape gunk. Having cleaned the tape heads, and it can be quite a job removing the muck, dont reuse that 456 tape. Use a tape that wont gunk up the tape path.
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Old 23rd May 2017, 12:22 pm   #23
jamesperrett
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Default Re: Which way does the tape go?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Biggles View Post
Now I'm confused. The tapes are type 456, and all seem to be wound so that the shiny side would face into the heads.
That's how it should be. The problem is that we mostly talk about domestic machines in this forum which don't use back coated tapes so the oxide side is less shiny than the backing. Ampex 456 is a back coated tape which means that the oxide side is more shiny than the matt black backing.

As Tim says, take a very good look at the state of the heads and guides. They are likely to be coated with oxide unless the tapes have been stored in an extremely dry environment.
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