How To Clean And Demagnetize Your Tape Heads

J.C. is full of B.S.! Maybe they can use him on Sesame Street?!

The fact is, any pro knows that the most effective way to clean and demag a head (at the same time!) is to hold an alcohol-dampened Q-tip against the head using the tip of the (energized) demagger, moving it back and and forth across the gap. This does two things: First, it allows the tip of the demagger to be brought very close to the head yet without fear of scratching it. Second, wiping the head with alcohol in the presence of the demag field assures all oxide particles are loosend and removed -- especially the ones that can get into the gap.

nsgarch said:

J.C. is full of B.S.! Maybe they can use him on Sesame Street?!

The fact is, any pro knows that the most effective way to clean and demag a head (at the same time!) is to hold an alcohol-dampened Q-tip against the head using the tip of the (energized) demagger, moving it back and and forth across the gap. This does two things: First, it allows the tip of the demagger to be brought very close to the head yet without fear of scratching it. Second, wiping the head with alcohol in the presence of the demag field assures all oxide particles are loosend and removed -- especially the ones that can get into the gap.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! Sounds like it takes a little coordination

Now the issue here is that I use the Hani-D demag for my r2r and it will not contact the heads directly. And it would seem even if you don't do them together to clean first and then demag?

Also, most of the demags out there now have a teflon like covering to deal with scratching. Do you think this is still a problem then?

What the video show is what I have done across hundreds of units I cleaned in 1970s when I was repairing them. The stuff that is stuck on the head would not come lose with any kind of magnetic field. The binder practically glues them to the head. So while I appreciate what is being said in theory, in practice i think you want to be able to be free in how you hold and manage the q-tip.

One thing I would add to his video. If you touch the pinch roller and it is hard and shiny, then rubbing alcohol on it will not be sufficient. And I have heard that the alcohol can dry up the rubber making the problem worse later. So our technique was to use very fine sandpaper and use that to scrape off the top layer of the rubber as it is rotating. This returns the rubber to its supple nature. Of course, you then need to meticulously clean it and surrounding area as to not leave any of the debris around. Today I would use one of the ultra fine scrubbing sponges as a replacement for a real sandpaper as that does not shed much. To clean the shavings, etc, you would want to use a specialized cleaner. I don't recall the brand we used to use but here is something that might work: http://www.weisd.com/store2/TEC1612-2SQ.php

Of course the preferred route is to get a new pinch roller but if you are a pinch, pun intended , this may be a good to way to rescue one. Note that as the video says, not keeping your pinch roller and capstant clean leaves to more problems than bad sound. The tape will slip and could ooze out and/or jam. So it is super important that you keep it in top shape. Eight out of ten tape deck repairs we did was simply cleaning this way!

Second advice . With anything mechanical, you want to use it frequently. If you don't, the lubrications gum up, causing things to fail. So play with your unit. Use all of its functions (rewind, etc.). Get a scratch tape to use for this purpose if you are not in a mood to listen to something from it.

That looks like the right stuff. That said, I would not rely on chemical process to restore a glazed roller. If the surface is hard, I would still take off the top layer. The consequences of a pinch roller not being totally sticky and supple is just way too high .

Steve Williams said:

You can buy a terrific pinch roller cleaner from Laser Media, RC-5

http://usrecordingmedia-store.stores.yahoo.net/larc5twopapi.html

The can will last a life time

I also use the CL-100 tape head cleaner from Laser Media

http://usrecordingmedia-store.stores.yahoo.net/laclheandguc.html

They also sell the HanDMag

http://usrecordingmedia-store.stores.yahoo.net/tahede.html

Click to expand...

I use this on my pinch rollers:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pro-Pinch-Roller-Cleaner-Rubber-Rejuvenator-Teac-/400092096669?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item5d2758e89d

and this for cleaning tape heads:

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Studio-Grade-Tape-Head-Cleaner-Best-Market-/400067925997?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d25e817ed

Dan Schmalle also recommends Formula 409 for cleaning the pinch rollers.

The type of alcohol matters. I use grain alcohol ('Everclear' at your local liquor store ;--) Teflon coating or not, I freak out if anything touches my tape heads (Crown R to R and now Nakamichi CR7-A) and not just because of scratching: demag tips can 'chatter' if they touch a tape head while energized -- usually not forcefully enough to affect alignment, but why go there? Head demaggers are necessarily small, and so you have to get them close. It takes a steady hand to maintain a 1/16" distance from the head without touching it; wheras a Q-tip or better yet, a soft piece of T-shirt cotton doubled over makes an ideal separator while allowing one to apply some scrubbing action. Heads get dirtiest from playing prerecorded tape a lot -- not so much from recording on blank tape.

Alcohol isn't great on rubber parts because it is so drying. And I don't like those rubber renewing products because most of them work by dissolving the top surface of the rubber. My favorite solvent is naphtha dry cleaning fluid -- available in small quantity as Ronsonal or Scripto lighter fluid ;--) It's terrific on rubber and plastic, and it's the only product for safely cleaning the labels on NOS tubes (like those delicate Telefunken/Amperex chalky white labels? no problem!)

If a rubber part is really old and dried out (not just dirty) and can't be replaced, save fabricating a new one, I wipe some pure silicon fluid or gel onto the part and let it sit overnight, next day removing the excess using several wipes with paper towel or cotton cloth. I avoid sandpaper for a couple of reasons: it just allows oxidation of a new surface without really re-conditioning the rubber, and, especially with idler wheels, can create flat spots you can actually hear!

I would agree type of ROH matters-in part because of the amount of water contained. But personally, I'd be a little leary of Everclear (and I know people have asked about using it to clean LPs too) since it has lot of other contaminents eg. sugars, etc, in it.

I think the Q-tip is a great idea but in my situation, the Hanni won't reach the heads! But I'm not sure if that's good or bad?