Re: [ARSCLIST] Library Wind tape modes and long-term tape storage

[Scott Phillips <scottp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Richard,

I confess I haven't run into this on tapes that were as old as 25 years
post-last-wind if the tapes had been 'library wound'. That has extended
to tapes from various machines, with both constant tension and
calculated tension hardware. The only time I've seen this was with tapes
that had been 'play-wound', or played from end to end before storage. Of
course, this isn't scientific information, just experience to pass on.
The tapes I've had with this were play wound and kept in high humidity
and temperature conditions for long periods of time. Other than that,
they were tapes that were play wound, stopped in the middle, then a fast
wind or library wound to the end. I have no idea if that is similar to
your experience, as you handle many times more tapes than I do. However,
so far I am normally pretty aware of how the tapes I'm dealing with have
been handled over time, and I'm sure that is always a question for you.
I'd love to know about yours and other experiences with this. I'm going
to read up on the Brushan book, but I'm also aware that most of his
suppositions may well depend on the basic characteristics of the tape or
storage remaining well understood. As we know, tape is anything but well
understood under storage conditions.

Scott

-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Richard L. Hess
Sent: Friday, February 15, 2008 4:29 PM
To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ARSCLIST] Library Wind tape modes and long-term tape storage

Are any of you aware of any research been undertaken about proper
winding profiles that optimize the long-term storage of magnetic tapes?

I have written about why I'm questioning this here
http://richardhess.com/notes/2008/02/15/winding-tapes-for-long-term-stor
age/

The short summary is that constant tension wind may exacerbate spoking
and interlayer slip of tape. There's some pretty deep math in the
Bhushan book cited in the blog entry.

Any comments or experiences would be appreciated.

Cheers,

Richard

Richard L. Hess                   email: richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Aurora, Ontario, Canada       (905) 713 6733     1-877-TAPE-FIX
Detailed contact information:
http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.