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Re: [ARSCLIST] Audio tape crystals
Hi Richard:
Try a swipe of freon if you can get any up there. The stuff is magic on
sticky/gooey substances such as old oozing splices. Do it in a well-vented
room. If the freon dislodges the substance, it's probably what to use, but
try isoprop also because it's kinder to the environment and to you. I
suspect this might not be a job for isoprop but it's worth a try on one or
two spots. You also could try baking and then isoprop because if it's live
mold, baking may dry it out and dislodge it and the isoprop will remove its
residue.
Don't discount Lou's theory about battery droppings. This tape could have
sat in a portable machine and the battery leaked goo over time. If that's
the case, I'd suggest that isoprop may remove it but it may be acid and may
have eaten away the oxide under it in any scenario.
-- Tom Fine
----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard L. Hess" <ArcLists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2005 9:30 PM
Subject: [ARSCLIST] Audio tape crystals
> Hello,
>
> This is the latest joy I'd like to share with you all.
>
> http://www.richardhess.com/tape/tape_crystal.jpg
>
> I just received a 3" reel of 1/4" tape from one of my clients and
> there were a few whitish "crystals" on it. The one in the photo is
> about 42 mils across--th overall top-to-bottom of the photo is about
> 50 mils (0.05 inches). There are several others, but this is the
> largest. I did a little scratching at the surface as you can see from
> the photo.
>
> This tape had been stored in Trinidad and now Beatty Nevada inside a
> mobile home.
>
> Anyone have any thoughts about this and what damage it might be doing
> to the tape and what would be the procedure for unwinding it.
>
> In case you are interested, the photo chain was an old AO-Spencer
> microscope with a 3.2X objective and a 10x eyepiece lens and a Nikon
> D100 on a microscope mount. The illumination was from a 5W Luxeon LED
> in a Surefire L4 flashlight. The JPEG is a 1/4 linear (1/16 area)
> reduction of the original raw file.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Richard
>
> Richard L. Hess richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Aurora, Ontario, Canada http://www.richardhess.com/
> Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm