Tape Trail Reel to reel, cassette and other analogue tape formats.

---

[ Follow Ups ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ Tape Trail ]

---

[ Alert Moderator ]

---

Sticky Tapes

Posted by Inmate51 on January 25, 2006 at 16:06:48

In Reply to: Another newbie ? - how to recognize "sticky" tapes before buying posted by BofService on January 25, 2006 at 13:57:27:

Actually, it started in the early 70s, and it wasn't just Ampex. It was any tape manufacturer which used a particular type of binder chemistry. Since I'm not an expert in the chemistry of binders, I'll leave it at that. But as a general guideline, this is a problem which occurred with a variety of high-output polyester-backed tapes. (Acetate backed tapes, generally from the 60s, are a whole different animal.) The main problem is that the binder slowly absorbs moisture and becomes gummy.

This problem not only gums up the components along the tape path, it is removing oxide from the tape. And, as you might already know, the higher frequencies are the first to go.

While Ampex had trouble with 456 and 406/407, others also had trouble. Maxell and TDK made so many different labelled tapes that it would be inappropriate for me to note a particular product name. Agfa and BASF also had the problem. I just bake them all.

Low-heat (125 - 140 F) baking can temporarily repair the problem. Details are available on several websites. I built an oven to bake my old tapes, and it's worked out perfectly for transferring my old tapes to hard disk.

As a result, I would not recommend buying old "new" or used stock, but rather, buy new NEW stock which was designed and manufactured after the sticky shed problem became apparent and was addressed in new binder chemistry. Quantegy 469 is an example of a new tape formulation.

If you have some tapes which you think are subject to the sticky shed syndrome, don't play them, don't rewind them, don't do anything with them, until you know what the consequences are, and then proceed accordingly.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

VH Audio

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---