Re: [ARSCLIST] Dry tape squeal problem

[Mwcpc6@xxxxxxx]

In a message dated 02/10/2003 5:47:19 PM Eastern Standard Time,
pattac@xxxxxxxx writes:

> Silicone oil is not something that you would generally like to have
>  soaked into your artefacts, because it is so difficult to get rid of if
>  you need to. Obviously as regards tape it all depends on whether
>  you think that you will ever want to play the tape again.

I am old enough to remember when every box of 3M tape advertised the silicone
lubricant soaked into the coating.

Before I ever heard of tape baking, I used a felt pad soaked in silicone oil
in the tape path of a deck to allow me to play tapes so sticky that they
would instantly glue themselves to the heads without the treatment. I still
have the tapes somewhere and will try to find them and see what has happened
to them.

On the other hand, for some cassettes that had the dry squeal problem, (the
incredibly poor quality used for recorded books) I used finely powdered
molybdenum disulfide lubricant successfully, rewinding the cassette several
times to distribute it. Of course intentionally dusting a medium would be an
anathema to archivists.

Does anyone have any experience with the long term effects, good or bad, of
silicone oil on artifacts?

Mike Csontos