[ARSCLIST] Agfa PEM 526

["Richard L. Hess" <arclists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi, all,

Anyone have any insights into Agfa PEM 526 and 
its degradation? I had a reel that behaved 
somewhat differently from the standard Ampex/3M 
SSS in that the back coating appeared to be 
shedding, but the normal sticky buildup didn't 
happen, but the powder (carbon black?) from the 
back coating transferred onto the playback head 
(in a loose form) and quickly killed the highs via increased spacing loss.

This did not seem to improve with baking for about 20 hours at about 54 °C.

Pellon wiping did take care of this, but I needed 
to wipe on the actual transfer pass to remove a 
fine coating of black powder from the oxide face 
of the tape. The oxide was brown, which made it even more interesting.

Cheers,

Richard

Richard L. Hess                   email: richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Aurora, Ontario, Canada       (905) 713 6733     1-877-TAPE-FIX
Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.