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Eating Tapes

01 Oct 00 - 01:34 PM (#309637)
Subject: Eating Tapes
From: GUEST,Sheila

Please, can anyone out there explain what is causing the problem when I put in a tape to play, either brand new or previously taped, and the music stops and the tape unwinds, spilling out into the machine? Is there a problem with the tape? With the play=back on the machine? I've tried cleaning the heads, and still, it sometimes, not always, happens. It's gotten to the point that I'm afraid to play any of my tapes. HELP!!!!

01 Oct 00 - 01:40 PM (#309643)
Subject: RE: Eating Tapes
From: catspaw49

Probably not enough salt.

9 times out of 10, its the deck.....Some can be adjussted, others not. Take it to someone who repairs them.

Spaw

01 Oct 00 - 01:47 PM (#309652)
Subject: RE: Eating Tapes
From: Clinton Hammond2

Eating tapes?

I prefer to leave that to the worms...

[~`

01 Oct 00 - 01:55 PM (#309657)
Subject: RE: Eating Tapes
From: Lepus Rex

Back in the early 90s, I went through like 5 copies of 'Hell-O' by GWAR in one year. My tape player would only eat that one. It left 'Scumdogs of the Universe' and 'America Must Be Destroyed' (both also by GWAR) alone. I think some tapes are just cheaply made. My 'Hell-O' cd hasn't been eaten, yet, so I'm happy.

---Lepus Rex

01 Oct 00 - 02:10 PM (#309664)
Subject: RE: Eating Tapes
From: GUEST,Sheila

Hi. Maybe I should have suggested another thread title! The problem, and it is real, is that the machine functions but the tape cassette doesn't. I use tapes from a reputable company and when it happens, I wonder if it's the tape or my machine. I sometimes pull a foot of tape out from the machine if I haven't caught it quickly enough from the sound. Sheila And please spare me any cute aphorisms.

01 Oct 00 - 02:16 PM (#309667)
Subject: RE: Eating Tapes
From: Pene Azul

Sheila, if this happens frequently it might be a problem with the tape deck. It's possible, though, that your tapes are loose. Before you play them, hold the cassette tape side down, put a finger in the back of the left hole to hold it still, and turn the right hole counter- clockwise until the tape is tight (don't force it).

Jeff

01 Oct 00 - 02:55 PM (#309689)
Subject: RE: Eating Tapes
From: GUEST,Sheila

01 Oct 00 - 02:57 PM (#309691)
Subject: RE: Eating Tapes
From: GUEST,Sheila

Sorry, don't know how that happened. Thank you, Jeff. I've gone that route. Almost automatically, tighten the tape around the spools. So what next? I'm open to any and all suggestions. Sheila

01 Oct 00 - 03:00 PM (#309697)
Subject: RE: Eating Tapes
From: catspaw49

Let me repeat myself.......9 times out if 10 its the deck. Take it to a pro repairman to see if it can be adjusted.

Spaw

01 Oct 00 - 03:16 PM (#309708)
Subject: RE: Eating Tapes
From: GUEST,Sheila

Spaw, I'm listening. Have you any idea what part of the machine needs attending? Regrettably, all repairmen are not as conversant as you! Thanks. Sheila

01 Oct 00 - 03:53 PM (#309734)
Subject: RE: Eating Tapes
From: DougR

Shiela: if he/she is a pro, they will know. Chances are they have seen the problem lots of times.

DougR

01 Oct 00 - 04:01 PM (#309738)
Subject: RE: Eating Tapes
From: catspaw49

Doug's right. I'm not being a smartass Sheila, but try to find someone who either sells the brand you have or is an independent with no ax to grind (ie, sell you a new one). It could be one where replacing/adjusting the heads is NOT possible and you'll end up buying another anyway. My best advice is 1) Don't try to fix it your self. 2) Tell the repairman exactly what you said here and don't try to diagnose it for them.

Good luck.

Spaw

01 Oct 00 - 04:23 PM (#309748)
Subject: RE: Eating Tapes
From: GUEST,Sheila

Hi,all. I AM listening. I cleaned the heads. I tightened the spool. So what else could it be? Is this too mechanical a question? Sheila

01 Oct 00 - 06:18 PM (#309818)
Subject: RE: Eating Tapes
From: Micca

Often the problem is the capstan as the little rubber wheel that pulls the tape past the headat a uniform rate) is called, this gets 2 tacky" and when the tape is stopped it wraps the tape around it self and damages it because the tape slightly adheres to the wheel surface..swabbing witha q tip moistened with alcohol sometimes helps, Cheap tapes shed material onto it which causes/contributes to the stickiness.

01 Oct 00 - 07:42 PM (#309870)
Subject: RE: Eating Tapes
From: WyoWoman

Sheila -- seems to me you're getting pretty good advice here. I've had the problem several times before and cleaned the little rubber round turny thing (this is a technical term) with a swab dipped in isopropyl alcohol.

If that doesn't work, it does sound like a job for an audio-visual technician. And the deck is an actual part of the tape player, so that wasn't just a cute way of saying "your tape machine, dummy." I don't think that it's "too mechanical a question," just a question like telling a doctor over the phone that your stomach hurts, then resisting the advice to come to the office so s/he can check it out. If the easy, amateur fixits don't work, you'll have to either get a new one or take it to someone who fixes them for a living. And if s/he doesn't know what to do when the tape machine spits tape out, s/he ought to go into another line of work.

Good luck.

ww

01 Oct 00 - 08:07 PM (#309890)
Subject: RE: Eating Tapes
From: Bill D

sometimes it is the price of the tape player....I'm really NOT trying to be flip...the expensive ones often have better adjustment and tracking mechanisms....BUT I have seen very good ones eat a tape after a few years, for just the reasons described above. (I have a top-of-the-line Sony VCR (VHS)which ran perfectly for 7 years that JUST started grabbing and chewing...*sigh*...(though, the even older BETA VCR is still chugging happily along!)

01 Oct 00 - 08:15 PM (#309895)
Subject: RE: Eating Tapes
From: GUEST,mrmouse

I have several old tapes and these sometimes are damaged by dampness, warped cases when left in the sun and also the sticky roller effect.

Owning several analogue tapedecks and also using the Computer as a Track editor I can recommend a CDRW as way of Archiving all old tapes and saving new ones as well. These things cost as little as 100 bucks (Mitsumi)and the disks run 1 to 2 bucks. The disks capacity depending on the format used can hold a bunch of recordings. MP3 format is ideal for most old tapes as the quality on the original is not like new.

Please correct me if I err, but a disk holds as much as 4 to 5 hours of analogue material.

This point leads neatly to the issue of NetMP3 culture, and with the rather topical matter of why buy a tape in the first place.

One can now search the net using Napster like devices for any published track that exists, and to my amazement I never failed to locate a track yet. It is, I must add, illegal to download and use a track unless you already paid for the recording. I O W if you loose/destroy/damage a CD, Record/Tape you can download and use the track/s.

01 Oct 00 - 11:32 PM (#310001)
Subject: RE: Eating Tapes
From: Rich(bodhránai gan ciall)

I had a roommate with a drug problem who stuck a lot of my CDs in her arm. Does that count?


Sorry for the thread creep. It sounds like good advice. I've had a few tapes eaten over the years. Usually cleaning the heads seems to do the trick. I'm gonna have to remember the trick about using a swab with rubbing alcohol on the capstan

Rich

01 Oct 00 - 11:41 PM (#310008)
Subject: RE: Eating Tapes
From: CarolC

I've had this problem a couple of times. One time it was because the belt that turns one of the spools that pull the tape had broken. Consequently, one of the spools (the one that the tape was winding off of) was turning, but the one that was supposed to take it up wasn't.

The other time it had something to do with to motor thingie that turns the gears that pull the belts. Again, same result as the broken belt.

In both instances, the repairmen said I would be better off buying a new tape deck because fixing it would cost almost as much as buying a new one (they were both pretty inexpensive to begin with). I don't know if they were telling me the truth or not. Sounds like you either need an expert, or a new tape machine.

Carol

02 Oct 00 - 12:43 PM (#310280)
Subject: RE: Eating Tapes
From: GUEST,Russ

This has happened to me a number of times. The tape playing machinery seems to be the fragilest (most fragile?) part of the system and most subject to the kinds of problems you describe. I have learned the hard way that "repair" is now more of a theoretical concept than a real possibility for electronics. In the old days I would try finding a competent, honest, repairperson (talk about oxymorons), but since then I have repeatedly bitten the bullet and simply replaced the offending boom box, or tape deck, or tape player.

03 Oct 00 - 04:03 AM (#310783)
Subject: RE: Eating Tapes
From: AKS

Sheila, it is quite obvious that the problem lies - as CarolC suggests - below/behind the tape slot, in the mechanism that turns the take-up spool. If, for any reason, the take-up spool can not keep up the pace of the tape (4,75 cm/sec) it results in what you were describing.

Adjusting or even replacing that mechanism (either belt or wheel driven) can be tricky and time-demanding, if not impossible because some brands seem not to provide any repair parts for cassette recorders at all.

Guest Russ here, sad to say, is quite right, thus my advice: if your player is not an expensive one and you don't want all your tapes to be damaged, buy a new one straight away. If it is, ask a repairer whether it'd be possible to fix it for a reasonable price - and then buy a new one :-)

AKS

03 Oct 00 - 12:29 PM (#311017)
Subject: RE: Eating Tapes
From: Grab

Re MrMouse, a typical MP3 runs about 1 Mbyte per minute as a good estimate, maybe a bit more. I know someone who's fitted the entire Beatles back catalogue on a single CD-R at reasonable quality. Unfortunately, in the UK the drives are about 50-60% more expensive.

Grab.

03 Oct 00 - 01:35 PM (#311059)
Subject: RE: Eating Tapes
From: mousethief

If you clean the inside of your tape player with isopropyl alcohol, IT IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL that you allow ALL the alcohol to dry before putting another tape in the machine! It does really unpleasant things to your tapes if you don't.

sadder but wiser in Seattle,
Alex
O..O
=o=

03 Oct 00 - 02:32 PM (#311150)
Subject: RE: Eating Tapes
From: catspaw49

Hey mousethief.....I didn't know they had a plant there. We've got one in Columbus too. Of course the home of Anheuser Busch is St. Louis.

Spaw

03 Oct 00 - 02:36 PM (#311161)
Subject: RE: Eating Tapes
From: mousethief

You've lost me, Spaw.

Alex
O..O
=o=

03 Oct 00 - 07:03 PM (#311418)
Subject: RE: Eating Tapes
From: GUEST,Sheila

Thank you, one and all. It was interesting to learn that the tape deck is the most fragile part of a system. What a pity to consider that the radio and CD aspects are on their own. So........what to do? Buy a moderately-high/high cost tape recorder? I'm basically a simple soul and do not use a tremendously expensive sound system. Thanks for all your wonderful responses. Sheila

05 Oct 00 - 09:36 PM (#313206)
Subject: RE: Eating Tapes
From: GUEST,Sheila

Dear WyoWoman and Micca and others: Before I just dump my otherwise wonderful machine, can you tell me where this rubber round "turning"thing is? Where should I be looking? On the tape? On the machine? PS, this is not a boom box, but a system incorporating a radio, CD, tape recorder and playback and a turntable. Thanks again and always. Sheila

06 Oct 00 - 06:59 AM (#313389)
Subject: RE: Eating Tapes
From: GUEST,micca at work

Sheila, it is in the tape deck and should be in a line with the recording heads if you need further inof Pm me and I will take a digipic of one and send it to you... or email me from my addy in the resources..