Cannot play Hi8 tapes

[jimgardner]

I am converting all my old camcorder tapes to DVD. I got back to the year 1999 and couldn't playback the tapes anymore because there were Hi8 and my current machine is Digital8 and it isn'y backward compatible. I borrowed a Sony Hi8 machine from my father and managed to copy the remaining dozen or so Hi8 tapes going back to 1991 apart from two tapes for the year 1999 itself. These two tapes do not show any picture when played although when I fast forward the tapes you can see some of the images showing through in the background. On normal speed they appear to be blank tapes (but were recorded on). Has anyone any ideas on what has caused this and is it something that could be professionally restored? It is dissappointing that I have now captured 16 years of camcorder footage to DVD with the exception of the year 1999 (ie just before the Millenium celebrations!). Has anyone else ever had this sort of problem with camcorder tapes?

[thecoalman]

Does this problem lessen or go away if you directly connect the hi-8 cam to a TV?

[jimgardner]

Doesn't matter. These two tapes wont play at all, connected to anything or standalone. All I get is a blank screen ie as if the tape is blank. I only discovered there was something recorded when I fast forwarded the tape!

[Marvingj]

The binder is responsible for holding the magnetic particles on the tape and facilitating tape transport. If the binder loses integrity - through softening, embrittlement, loss of cohesiveness, or loss of lubrication - the tape may become unplayable. Procedures such as tape baking can temporarily improve binder integrity, allowing sticky tapes to be played and data recovered. BUT IF YOU DON"T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING DON"T DO IT!!!Lubricants are normally added to the binder to reduce the friction of the magnetic topcoat layer of the tape. Lower friction will facilitate tape transport through the recorder and reduce tape wear. In a VHS recorder, where the tape is wrapped around a rapidly rotating head, low friction is also important as it prevents overheating of the tape. The surface of a magnetic tape is actually quite porous. In some tapes, a liquid lubricant is added to the binder and will reside in these pores, similar to water absorbed in a wet sponge. When the tape passes over a head or a tape guide, lubricant is squeezed out onto the tape surface, providing a slippery interface between the tape and the guide pin. After passing by the guide pin, the excess lubricant on the surface of the tape is absorbed back into the surface of the tape. The phenomenon is similar to that observed when the surface of a wet sponge is gently pressed and released - water is exuded to the surface when the sponge is pressed and is reabsorbed when the pressure is released.

Over time, the level of lubricant in the tape decreases. Lubricants are partially consumed every time the tape is played. This is all part of their job as lubricants - they are consumed and worn down sacrificially to protect the tape. Some of the lubricant will migrate from the tape to the guide pins and heads of the recorder each time the tape is played.

Lubricant levels decrease over time even in unplayed, archived tape as a result of evaporation and degradation. The lubricants used in some tapes are oily liquids that are volatile and slowly evaporate away over time. Some lubricants are also subject to degradation by hydrolysis and oxidation, just like the binder polymer, and will lose their essential lubrication properties with time.

[thecoalman]

You may still have some signal coming through but because its so poor the devices are putting up a blue screen. I know I've seen that happen on some of the VHS tapes Ive tried to capture where parts of the tape were badly damaged, just like if you switch to a broadcast channel that doesn't exist some TV's will substitute a blue screen for the snow.

I guess the obvious is they must have somehow been damaged either through storage or other means. Any possibility they were recorded using LP mode? the tape will be running faster and things such as tracking need to be more precise. Physically damaged tapes is beyond my expertise however I'd imagine if you can still see video when you FF then it should be somewhat recoverable, you only need a machine that has more flexibility in the settings it allows such as the tracking.

There's a lot of people here with such knowledge, somebody will have a suggestion.

[handyguy]

Sony says that video starts to turn to fuzz around 15 years. Which is about your time period.