VCR HEAD Clean how often?

[amira]

Hi

How often should I clean the VCR head? And what brand "Tape" cleaner should I use? Is it good idea to do it?

Right now my tapes run normally.

[pbhalerao]

Head cleaning requirement depends upon the quality of tapes that are used and the environment. If you are renting a lot, then it may be advisable to do it once in six months. If there is dusty environment around, I would also advise to open the box and blow the dust away with a hair-drier (set on cold).

I will advice you NOT to use those wet type head cleaners. The tape cloth inside could be abrasive. However wet cleaning is better than the other head cleaning tape that is available (can't remember the type).

I do wet cleaning myself. I open the VCR and use denatured spirit or my camera lens cleaning fluid and speacial optical lens cleaning tissue.

[edDV]

Use the cleaning tapes (a few seconds) before capturing.

Have it professionally cleaned periodically if being used heavily.

[lordsmurf]

Whenever it acts up.
I prefer to dismantle a unit and use alcohol.
Those dry "tape" things don't do much for you.

[amira]

So far i think I ran 30 old home video tapes to capture. I don't use Rent tapes.
By the way if the VCR chews your tape, what do you do to recover the tape?

[edDV]

Open the lid and carefully fish it out.

[johns0]

So far i think I ran 30 old home video tapes to capture. I don't use Rent tapes.
By the way if the VCR chews your tape, what do you do to recover the tape?

For badly damaged tapes buy a splicing kit if you can find one and cut out the damaged tape and splice it together.

[lordsmurf]

And that means the VCR alignment is off, usually. Fix it.

[edDV]

The slice will cause about 10 sec of video disturbance due to the slanted video tracks and servo recovery time.

[TheFamilyMan]

To recover a munched VCR tape:

1. If the tape is broken or badly damaged or stretched, it should be considered a lost cause. But you could splice it, providing you can find the correct materials for doing this. You should remove the badly damaged section. If this bums you out, the image on that badly damaged section is already destroyed beyond repair anyways.

2. You can put the tape back into its case by simulateously poking something that fits into that hole in the bottom of the case while turning one of the reels to tighten the tape.

For both procedures, DO NOT TOUCH the tape with your fingers if at all possible. The use of latex gloves should be OK though, but I cannot gaurantee it. Also, the above should make the tape playable but the munched section most likely will NOT have any signal left for the player to detect. Good Luck.

As a side note, I knew a computer operator that worked with amdahl mainframes. He told me they had an iron in the computer room that they would use to flatten munched tapes, usually with favorable results. Unfortunately this will NOT work for your VCR tape.

[NightFire]

Hi

How often should I clean the VCR head? And what brand "Tape" cleaner should I use? Is it good idea to do it?

Right now my tapes run normally.

Nobody put it but I have also heard that running a blank VHS tape will also clean it. Has anybody know if this actually works?

[redwudz]

Running a VHS tape through won't clean anything whether the tape is blank or not. No difference mechanically between a blank tape or a recorded tape as far as the player is concerned, though a new one may be cleaner.

Heads get contaminated with oxide deposits, sometimes glued on with airborne contaminants such as grease or oils from the kitchen, etc. You need to clean them off.

The rotating disk that the head is mounted in gets deposits, along with the tape guides, rollers, etc. They all need to be cleaned at the same time. IMO, the best way is to clean them with alcohol, I prefer denatured as isopropyl can contain additives. Foam q-tips are a good idea also as cotton q-tips can leave strands of cotton on the head or guides. Be very careful cleaning around the head itself. It is brittle and a little too much forceful cleaning can damage it.

[NightFire]

I think the blank tape is for a quick fix and is not meant as a full cleaning. I forget where I read it but newer VHS tapes also do a little cleaning while playing (as long as the tape isn't dirty and adding to the problem I guess). I checked quickly and found this http://www.ehow.com/how_113964_clean-vcr-heads.html

[ZippyP.]

How To Clean VCR Heads

Link fixed.

Not great instructions though at the link. Pure alcohol and a swab is the best method, but not for the inexperienced.

[amira]

Thanks all for your help