Rejuvinating VCR pinch rollers

[IanNVJ35]

Now that genuine spare rollers are drying up - or have dried up, I have been turning to other methods to see if I can reuse the old roller. As you know, worn rollers mess up the tape in short order so they must be in excellent condition to allow the tape to transport smoothly.

I have tried a few methods, all apart from one was not successful.

1. Rubbing with alcohol - did not get the lubricants out of the rubber or make the surface flat.
2. Use emery board to rub - did not ensure the whole roller was abraded evenly nor did it get through the embedded tape lubricants.

I struck lucky with method 3 - use a 100 Watt Minicraft drill, a pop rivet and fine nail board. I pushed an unused 4mm rivet through the roller centre hole and into the chuck of the drill. The jaws of the chuck and the taper of the rivet aligned the roller to centre line and with a tap of a hammer on the end of the rivet it clamped the roller. By running the drill at a low speed and gently pressing the emery board against the roller I could see when I had cut through contaminants and old tape lubricant - usually about 0.25mm in. The worst point was at the tape edges - a greasy line persisted quite a way in to the roller. The contamination looks like a darker area which gets smaller as the surface is removed.

After washing the roller in sudsy water even the worst roller was working like new again, however in one instance the centre bearing was worn which made for a picture with side to side issues, fixed by fitting a new bearing from another roller.

Note - this method does not work on cassette deck rollers which have a precise profile nor will it work on hardened rollers as they have no 'good rubber' inside them.

Anyone else have any techniques or have any input? Its well worth making the roller as good as possible on any VCR I think.

[stevehertz]

I fasten my fine wet and dry paper to a flat surface such as a kitchen work surface, then, holding the ends of the pinch roller between thumb and first finger I use a rotational sweeping motion across the w&d paper, working my way around the roller, thus ensuring that the 'cut' is not a series of flats. I guess my method will achieve the same results as yours but in my opinion there's more room for error with your method as it takes skill to keep the roller parallel to the w&d paper while holding a 'massy' drill several inches away from the point of contact. With my manual method you can easily 'feel' if you are holding the roller flat or at an angle to the paper. I have used this method for many years with great success; nice clean, rubbery, refreshed surfaces.

[john.north]

Re: rejuvenating vcr pinch rollers.

I use the same method for rollers and idlers as well as turntable drive pulleys.
Soak in IPA then get some kitchen paper, hold pulley etc between finger and thumb and wipe the edge whilst turning. Keep turning bit by bit and keep wiping till you see no more dark rubber coming away. Works every time on drive pulleys. So if your table is slow give it a go.

[cathy_vintage]

http://cpc.farnell.com/electrolube/r...96?CMP=CPC-PLA

Magic stuff. used it on printers many times but no so sure on rollers in VCR's that are in contact with tape. Certainly removes the layer on rubber caused by ozone from the atmosphere very effectively.

Maybe that stuff then IPA?

[Edward Huggins]

A Metal Machinist's lathe (not necessarily a Carpenter's) can be set to a very few microns. Edward

[Vauxfan2k]

I use this stuff, no issues and as long as you let it evaporate fully it won't mess up the tape surface.