Re: arsclist Deterioration of Acetate TAPES and FILM

[Parker Dinkins <parker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

on 7/9/01 2:03 PM, Jeff Carroll wrote:

> I've had some acetate based tapes that had been stored in the manufacturer's
> original plastic bag and original box that smelled of vinegar.  They played
> back fine and we allowed the tapes to air out after the transfers, although we
> removed them from our shelves for fear it might be contagious.  We replaced
> the original boxes with archival boxes.

Our experience with the vinegar syndrome is that in advanced stages the tape
is noticeably lighter in weight than unaffected tape, and that severely
curled tape wanders across the heads during playback, even jumping out of
the tape guides.

The solution has been to increase tape tension tremendously by using
mechanical devices. The greater the tape tension, the more likely the tape
will behave properly. Unfortunately, on many machines you can't increase
tape tension to the extent required.

> We've had two very extreme cases of VS within the last year, and they were
> both triacetate-based  Kodak reels from the 50's or 60's.  The reels had also
> been stored in the original plastic bags from the manufacturer.  They were
> very strong in odor, stretched beyond hopes of a second playback during
> playback, had curling edges and had to be thrown away because the tape itself
> would not pack onto the take-up reel.  I am not certain of the climate these
> reels were stored in until they reached us within the last year.  But I
> believe they had been in the donor's attic here in the hot, humid southern US.

We haven't had any acetate tape stretch on us, but it does distort (curl)
with the vinegar syndrome.

If tape tension is increased tremendously during fast forward or rewind, the
tape will pack back onto the reel satisfactorily. In rare cases you may have
to put the tape on two reels.

We re-recorded over 800 reels of tape which were stored with no climate
control for about of 40 years in the French Quarter in New Orleans. Many of
these tapes suffered from vinegar syndrome, but they *all* played (albeit
with some loss of high frequency response).

---
Parker Dinkins                      CD Mastering + Audio Restoration
MasterDigital Corporation               http://www.masterdigital.com