Dirty Video's ( one's with mould on that is! )

[StuR]

Hi has anyone found or come up with a cure to the mould you can get on the spools on VHS tapes.
(people living in dry climates like California need not worry, people in damp UK may understand )
I have to forward, rewind, ect and then clean the VCR, eventaully the top has to come off the VCR and a thorough clean is required. A pain, I've got spare VCR's just for doing this.
You still end up with some on the tape though at times. Any Ideas?
Cheers

[JohnnyMalaria]

You need to store your tapes in a dry place. Mould thrives on moisture and you'd be amazed how much mould there can be in a house - especially with wall-to-wall carpetting.

How do you currently store them?

[StuR]

Hi,
well it's not a current problem so to speak, the mould mainly came from being stored in the 'end room' thats my dad's 'office' in our old house. That's a 200yr old stone cottage with walls like sponges with weather only for ducks.
Now there in the attic of our new modern home - well boxed and insulated to keep them as is till they can be 'saved' if ever!.

The mould seems to set the VCR spinning and I wondered if a TBC would help, problem is that the mould will still be on the tape and other than lengthy manual removal ( what with I don't know ) it will continue to distort.

[JohnnyMalaria]

I came across this:

http://www.answerbag.com/q_view.php/42027

If your tapes are valuable, it might be worth transferring them to DVD.

[StuR]

That's a very handy site. Not really the answer I wanted as that could mean a lifetimes work! I sort of thought that there would be a machine that could clean a tape as it passed through, but it's a little late for that invention now, an ever decressing market!

[Rawit]

There are machines that clean tapes: http://www.datadev.com/p4790.html I used a similar device to clean some tapes, which made them "playable" again (the vcr lost tracking all the time before), but don't expect wonders. Depending on the dirt and the age of the tapes, it's possible that some of the magnetic layer is taken also while cleaning. I suggest that you try it out on a tape you could miss first.

[StuR]

Thanks Rawit, I'll look into that, not sure if it's available in the UK but I'll do some searching.

[StuR]

Ebay Update,
same thing sold on ebay UK branded as
"Sound Tech VC-8088" if that helps anyone else.
Not to me by the way, and don't bid on the next one please!

[lacywest]

I knew a woman who had a cockroach problem. They got inside the VHS tape and laid eggs and they hatched.

She tried to play the tape and made things worse. She gave the tape to me to fix.

The tape had her wedding on it.

I had to open the cassette and ... wipe off the tape with a damp cloth.

At the time the woman was my girlfriend's roommate.

And yes ... It took all night and tape was every where ...

About a year and a half later ... the woman died in the hospital from a severe case of congested lungs ... doesn't seem fair ... she was way too young.