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  1. I just skimmed the original posts, and the OP's description was very confusing. In his initial post he seems to say that he fixed the problem by putting the problem tape into a new cassette shell, but then in a later post said that this didn't help.

    One problem I have had has to do with the tape cover lock mechanism. As you know, there is a little button on the side of the cassette that releases the lock on the tape cover so it can swing up out of the way and reveal the tape when the cassette is inserted into the player.

    On my VCR, about one out of every ten tapes won't insert properly because this button does not get depressed all the way. Usually the cassette jams, but sometimes it appears to go in all the way, but the tape won't play and the VCR sounds like it is self-destructing and, thankfully, comes to a stop and tries to spit out the tape.

    My solution -- and this is very easy to do, so it is worth trying -- is to take a small piece of Scotch tape and put it over the button so that it is depressed all the way. You can double over one end of the tape to make it easier to remove the tape later on. Make sure to not let the tape interfere with anything in the VCR.

    I'll have to admit that this problem does sound different, but if in fact the problem is with the shell and not the tape, then this is worth trying.
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  2. hech54, removing the reel lock mechanism doesn't change things at all. The tape still won't play, fast forward or rewind. When I remove the reels from the cassette and unspool the tape by hand, it unspools freely without sticking to itself. When I return the spools to the cassette shell and turn the spools by hand (without any reel lock mechanism) the spools turn freely and the tape unwinds from the feed spool freely and is freely taken up by the take up spool. When I put the whole thing (without any reel lock mechanism) back into the VCR, the machine loads the tape properly through all the various guides and around the head drum. Yet, when I press play, the tape doesn't transport at all and the machine stops. If I try to rewind or fast forward, the reels don't turn at all (although they seem to be straining to) and the machine stops. I've tried all of this in 6 different VCR's and the results are always the same.
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  3. Member hech54's Avatar
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    The only logical thing to try now is to do a housing swap I guess.
    I seem to recall that many of the higher-end VCR could actually read the tape size/length when it was inserted into the machine. Does anyone know if that is true and how it worked? I doubt you have 6 VCRs that are all able to do this....but maybe the tape is being read as one of those huge 240(?) tapes and the machine is refusing to work with it?
    I'm just shooting spitballs here. Within the past month I had a huge (240(?) tape that my Panasonic refused to rewind or play. I assumed the reason was because the tape was too big to pull....but sure enough I tried it one more time for a laugh and it worked. I was able to review it and ascertain that there was nothing of value on it so I pitched it....
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  4. I'm a Super Moderator johns0's Avatar
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    Most likely the tape itself is the issue,i had a cassette where i transferred the tape without the original reels itself to a new vhs cassette and it did the exact same thing,wouldn't play or r/w or ff.
    I think,therefore i am a hamster.
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  5. In my experience you can whack the flat face of the cartridge against something soft, like your leg, several times to flatten out the windings. That's usually enough get the tape moving again. Then FF to the end and RW to the beginning a few times to even out the windings. It should play after that.

    If the tape still doesn't move, stick something in the locking mechanism to unlock the reels and wind the tape by hand. Maybe use a drill with a big bit to turn the reels.
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    I just had one do that on me and here is what I did to get it working. Apparently this is caused by the spool hubs dragging on the bottom of the shell. I took a can of dry lube which is like a powdered silicone, and with the pinpoint spray tube installed, I hold the cassette up and flat, then I press each hub up and spray the dry lube into the space between the shell and bottom of the hub. The liquid propellant evaporates in seconds leaving the slippery powder behind. Just don't over do it. Worked for me.
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    I have just run into this problem myself. My assessment prior to googling for solutions was that the tape is oxidized on mine. The tape is from 1987 and back side of the tape is very dull compared to other cassettes. I also tried new shell. Hand rewinding. Lubing the hub. I had hoped if I could rewind it, the players would play it. I have not tried to bake it. I am unsure of what best practices are for baking magnetic tape, although I have heard of it (usually with audio reels) and I thought of doing it if I could figure out how. Can I simply place the tape in a dehydrator with the shell open? Or do I need a temp higher than 130 degrees? I'm fairly comfortable with exposing the tape to 130 degrees. Will baking even help if it is oxidized?

    A little more about my tape: I think I have narrowed the drag on the tape to the back side of the tape as it passes over the metal guides where the tape enters the inner part with the reel housing. The back is no longer glossy at all and the metal guide posts are coated with a sticky substance that I believe is coming off the tape. This was the main reason I decided to try to change the shell.

    I did notice, that with the shell open and the brake released, I could easily turn the reels in either direction. However if I was very steady and had no "wobbling" of the reels it would start to bind again on the post.

    I think the problem is with the tape itself. Its not the reel, the shell, the lid, or any of it. The tape has taken on drag.

    Anyone think that a Tapechek or other burnisher could fix this?
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    Sounds like Ampex 189. The back is coated with a dull carbon black material. It's the only VHS tape I've seen with a backcoat; this formula was much more prevalent with audio tapes.

    You don't have oxidation. (The tape is already coated with a magnetic oxide.) You have sticky shed syndrome. Take the reels out and put them in the dehydrator at 135 °F for 12 hours or more. While they're incubating, clean the tape guides in your VCR and inside the cassette shell with 99% isopropyl alcohol. If you have really stubborn deposits, you can use acetone but not on plastic parts!

    If the tape is still sticky after you bake it, you can put it back for a few hours more.
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    Thanks JVRaines

    The cassette is Hill-Rom--maybe repackaged Ampex? I have previously had trouble with some other old Ampex VHS tape.

    Thanks for your info. I will put the cassette reels in my dehydrator tonight.

    John
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    Hi, I have Fuji E180 tape that will not play, wind or rewind , however there are no screws visible in the casing to enable it to be opened up. ? possibly sealed when manufactured, holes are there , but no screws visible.

    Does anyone know how to open it ?
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    It may be held together with snaps and/or glue. In either case, you will probably have to pry it apart destructively and move the reels to a donor shell.
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    Now sorted , thanks to J V Raines for reply.

    Instead of screws,case appeared to have been glued with lugs where screws would normally have been.
    Drilled straight through screw holes at low speed, removed the only two visible screws going through spindle area , prized case open , removed reels and re-located into donor case , video now playing fine !!

    Can only assume ,must have been something wrong with spring mechanism

    Well pleased, now watching our Christmas day from 1998

    Happy New year to all
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    Some Ampex VHS tapes, particularly 189, get sticky shed syndrome. This results from the type of binder formula Ampex was using for their better tape, which absorbs water over time and becomes sticky. I work at an archival operation, and we automatically bake Ampex 189's before even trying to play them because they're virtually all unplayable without baking. Sticky shed is very prevalent among premium open-reel audio tape and more prevalent among U-Matic tapes, but there are a few tape stocks that we receive that are consistently sticky, and a few others that aren't always sticky. But Ampex 189 is always sticky, regardless of condition or storage quality. You'll also find tapes made by big manufacturers like Ampex that are licensed to other tape brands and will get sticky.

    We don't remove any reels from cassettes; we just bake the whole tape. Usually that works, only very occasionally it doesn't. I don't do any baking myself, but there are tutorials online, mostly for open-real audio tapes. Even with the best storage techniques, Ampex 189 is just the worst.
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  14. Video Restorer lordsmurf's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by El Scotto View Post
    I work at an archival operation
    but there are a few tape stocks that we receive that are consistently sticky
    I'm curious what you think of pre-1989 BASF tapes, especially anything from 1985-1988. BASF made stellar tapes in the 80s, but a few have given me pause in recent years. I'd always breathe a sigh of relief after a successful transfer.
    Want my help? Ask here! (not via PM!)
    FAQs: Best Blank DiscsBest TBCsBest VCRs for captureRestore VHS
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    I was given an Ampex 189 cassette several months ago. It wouldn't play more than a few seconds before choking. I put the reels in my dehydrator for a few hours and that did the trick. You have to clean the tape guides inside the shell as well as the VCR to get things going again. I do not recommend baking the entire cassette; it's safer and more effective to extract the reels.

    Not certain about the years, but I've converted some pre-1990 BASF cassettes without incident. The main thing to look out for is backcoating. Most sticky-prone tapes (audio and video) have a carbon black backcoating.
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    A few months back got a tape baking machine. Only baked a few tapes. How you do extract the reels, putting back together can be a giant spaghetti mess. Only using like 125 or 130 degrees for about 8 hours. Have not had time to fully test the results, in one case the picture did look a lot cleaner.

    Have had no issues with melting reels or cases baking them as of it. Have not tested out all kinds of methods, this is a new area for me.

    What I do know is this sticky tapes can really mess up the heads on the VCR, it is a nightmare to attempt to fix. You can wreck your VCR.

    A lot of my old betamax recording suffers from oxide drop outs, have not tested them by baking as of yet.
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    I bake at 135 °F. You can go as high as 150 without damaging the tape or other plastic. Removing and replacing the reels is not difficult if you are moderately careful. If it seems like too big a challenge, then yes, you should probably leave them inside. Sticky tape will not wreck your VCR because it shuts down when it senses that the tape is not moving. Acetone is an effective solvent for removing sticky shed from metal parts, including magnetic heads. (Keep it away from plastic and rubber, though.)
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  18. Member Deter's Avatar
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    JVRaines, Sticky tape or when you get complete white snow can run for a while with out shutting off the machine. Not all people sit and watch what is being played. The avg person does not know how to manually clean VCR heads. Just them attempting this can screw up the heads. Every time I got the sticky tape or shedding on the VCR heads it was a royal nightmare to clean. It is not fun. Yes every time this happened was like oh great I messed up the heads, granted knew how to fix it. Even still it was not a sure bet. The avg Joe or the 70 year old lady playing the tape, the VCR will never work correct again.

    Have a VCR sitting on my deck which was sent to me, by playing bad tapes messed up the heads and tracking. It doesn't play a thing and never will without replacing the heads.
    Last edited by Deter; 17th Mar 2017 at 15:14.
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  19. I want to thank everyone for their generous suggestions over the years.

    I recently discovered a cache of 30 year old VHS tapes I had never transferred to digital. Fortunately I had hidden a "new" VHS deck in the attic about 8 years ago and it played many of them with minimal problem.

    But then I came across tapes that were T30 and T60 with the large 62mm center hub on both sides. Not a single one of these would play for more than 30 seconds. Most wouldn't start playing after loading. I was formerly a video producer and we'd have hundreds of T30s for our window dubs laying around, so some family stuff ended up on these. Sort of a cobbler's children have no shoes story.

    I removed the brakes. No joy.
    I took out the jumbo reels and put them in the most expensive working shell, but no joy.
    I tried to cobble together a winding machine. No joy.
    Thinking the hub was affecting torque, I put a small hub on the take up side. No joy.
    I tried some dry lube but that didn't seem to make much of a difference.
    I tried manually helping the spooling. No joy. In fact it made a mess of the tape due to uneven winding.
    There may have been professional digital Betacam tapes that had anti-friction sheets in them, but I don't think that would help.

    So in desperation I searched and found this site.
    I've never heard of "shed" but in disk drives we call something similar "sticktion."
    I'll build a heat and dehumidifying box and report back.

    I'll give you a nickel for the first one who solves this! (as my grandfather used to say)
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    Dear Nickel,

    No need to build a box. Just get a Nesco/American Harvest food dehydrator. Nice, even air flow and pretty good temperature regulation. But be aware that incubation only works for some tapes. We have only seen sticky shed with Ampex 189 when it comes to VHS. There are other degradation modes that require cold playback, temporary lubrication, or scraping/cleaning.

    J.
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    This question goes out to JVRaines and El Scotto specifically, based on your work in videotape archive, but I'm happy to hear from anyone with expertise or advice on the matter.

    I'm currently transferring an archive of 1980s era Betamax, VHS and U-matic tapes, and have run into some of the textbook symptoms of sticky-shed syndrome on a handful of the Betamaxes (which are my first format of the project).

    Symptoms include:
    - Tapes squealing, motor audibly straining, and finally coming to abrupt stop. Inability to FFWD, rewind or play after that point.
    - Inability to hand-rotate the tapes - feels like the spools are locked in place, only on these tapes (unless I'm unaware of a reel lock mechanism?)
    - Visible flaking of the black shiny layer of tape.

    I have a dehydrator at the ready, but I'm leery of jumping into that without exhausting all other non-destructive methods.

    My question is two-fold:
    1. JVRaines mentioned "other degradation modes that require cold playback, temporary lubrication, or scraping/cleaning". What could be some symptoms of those other degradation modes that I should be aware of? How can I ascertain whether the root issue stems from a faulty or dirty deck vs. tape cartridge mechanics malfunction vs. sticky-shed or some other tape issue?

    2. If some of these "other degradation modes" are potentially at fault, can you offer any specific instructions or trouble-shooting methods to try? For instance, does cold playback involve reducing both deck and tape temp, and to what degree? Can you elaborate on "scraping": how and where that method could be employed? I've cleaned my decks before, just basic tape-path and head cleaning.
    Many thanks!
    Cassia
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    I have had the same problem on two of 38 VHS tapes that I am digitizing. The other 36 worked fine. But both of these won't work in either of two VCRs I have. They will rewind at slow speed for a half a minute before the player gives up. After a fresh cleaning, the player will play one of these for a few seconds, but at slower-than-normal speed, and there's a squeaking sound. I've tried putting the reels in a different case, with no improvement. I've tried removing the rewind locks, but that didn't help, either.

    Both of the troublesome tapes are the same brand: Ampex. I suspect that there's something about that brand's tape chemistry that is causing the problem. While other tapes are shiny on both sides, these tapes have a "shiny" side (out), and a "dull" side (inside).

    Maybe there's more static "cling", either to itself, or to parts in the VCR? Maybe it is more stiff, and can't turn around the little corners as easily? I haven't measured tension when spinning the tapes by hand, but they do feel a little tighter. But maybe they just don't slide along all those little metal and plastic parts as easily.

    I haven't found a solution, though. It appears that the signal is still on those tapes, but I can't see a way to get it to move through the VCR's guts without screeching everything to a halt.
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  23. Do you actually see any problem when you look at the tape? Most of the problems I have had with cassette-based tape formats, including not only video tape, but cassette audio tapes as well, are due to the cassette shell itself, and not the tape.

    So, press the latch on the cassette, flip open the protective cover, and look carefully at the tape. If you don't see evidence of shedding (the surface will have flecks on it from the adjacent layer) and if the tape doesn't seem sticky when you carefully touch it, then I'd suspect the shell. You should be able to find posts in this forum which discuss how to remove the tape and put it in another shell.
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