Quantegy 407 Tape

microstrip

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jcmusic

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May 20, 2010
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Well I don't have that much expirence with SSS tape, I know what it is and what it does. How long does it take to manifest itself? Does it start right away or after lots of pulls through the machine? I ran one reel of this tape through one of my decks three times and the heads are still clean clean clean...
 

Atmasphere

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That's good.

You can bake tapes to reduce shedding. We use a toaster oven set on the lowest setting and bake the tape for about an hour which usually does the trick. If the tape has gotten so bad that it is sticking to itself there may not be much for it.

Once the tape is baked the moisture will take months or years to get back in the tape and you can bake it again. Its a good idea to store the tape in a plastic sleeve with a packet of Silica Gel inside.
 

Tom B.

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The SSS subject has been beat to death on various recording forums, but in a nutshell:

Yes, much of the 407 exhibits sticky/shed, even pancakes which are found sealed or purported to be 'new'. If you are doing anything that could be considered important, purchase new ATR or RMGI tape and go from there. Baking is not a permanent fix for tapes that are already compromised. Will it work once, twice, more.......? Perhaps. Is it reliable enough to re-use the tape indefinitely? Nope.

Sticky is one thing, but if it is shedding oxide in flakes it should be considered junk.

If you own an *important* tape, have it baked and transferred to digital by a proper lab. The home-oven thing rarely works, I'm surprised anyone has success with it at all, and most merely melt the substrate permanently.

Tom
 

Atmasphere

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^^ FWIW we have been doing this for years in our studio.

Baking can work multiple times but flaking is junk- that is too far gone.If you see dust when fast winding the tape it is at the end of its service life.

Any polyester tape will shed and flake; this is because water molecules can intercede between the oxide and the polyester itself. Baking temporarily chases out the moisture but as you point out, it is temporary, lasting a few weeks to a couple of years depending on the condition of the tape.

Acetate tapes don't shed (although they break quite easily) on this account.
 

Tom B.

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^^ FWIW we have been doing this for years in our studio.

Yes, but you have to be careful. The temperature controls in most ovens aren't that precise and it's easy to heat the tape beyond what it will tolerate.

Tapes in which the binder has become hygroscopic have done so in storage over considerable time. I've found on most reels that the problem is consistent throughout the reel, regardless of the density of the tape pack. In drying the tapes however, best results seem to come from moderately-low temperatures over several hours, with some drying times close to 24 hours. The oven won't do this. A laboratory heater or incubator will.

I've also done basically the same process using pharmaceutical freeze dryers, running with shelf heat and careful vacuum control.

Unfortunately most people don't have this equipment at their disposal.

Tom
 

Bruce B

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Apr 25, 2010
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I use both an incubator and dehydrator. I bake tape for 12h at a time at 130 degrees. I don't remove them from the unit, but just let them come back to room temp.
 

c1ferrari

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The home-oven thing rarely works, I'm surprised anyone has success with it at all, and most merely melt the substrate permanently.
Tom

I've achieved success baking tapes :D
 

Tapetech

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Apr 10, 2014
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My experience is that there is a big difference between Ampex and Quantegy. So far, I've never encountered a Quantegy tape with SSS. I think your Quantegy 407 tapes may be fine. Actually, Quantegy is the highest quality tape I've ever encountered. Better than the two brands available now.

On the other hand, you can safely assume any Ampex tape will have SSS and should be baked before playing. As in, don't even try to play them to see if they have SSS.
 
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Atmasphere

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I use both an incubator and dehydrator. I bake tape for 12h at a time at 130 degrees. I don't remove them from the unit, but just let them come back to room temp.

Bingo.

Funny thing- I have an old truck that has a cassette player in it. That's where I store my cassettes too. In the summer, they get baked naturally. I have tapes in there that were made in the 1980s that still play fine.

Recently we did an LP reissue project for a local label (we have an LP mastering operation). The artist still had the master tapes, which had been stored in a box in his attic since the early 1970s. They were a polyester 'high output' tape that should have been shedding like crazy, but they were immaculate- we didn't have to do anything to them at all, and our tape machine had perfectly clean heads after we were done with the project. The attic is a much better place to store tapes than the living room or basement apparently.
 

rockitman

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Once the tape is baked the moisture will take months or years to get back in the tape and you can bake it again. Its a good idea to store the tape in a plastic sleeve with a packet of Silica Gel inside.

I put silica gel packs in all my RMG tape. It seemed like common sense to me. Bruce B I think said, don't do that. Any clarification ?
 

Tom B.

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Jul 10, 2011
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Well guys so far the tape is perfect!!!

Excellent. Was there any useful information (date, lot...) on those pancakes for reference?
 

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