Re: [ARSCLIST] broken video tape

["peter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <lists@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Joe:

The prohibition about splicing video tape is about splicing it somewhere in
the middle or recorded part of the tape, not re-attaching the leader. That
portion of the tape should not impact the heads.  Once upon a time,
replacement end-splices were made for 3/4" tapes.  Unfortunately, the
manufacturer stopped making the splices (we bought out their inventory when
they shut down).

The biggest thing to look out for is not to use anything that might leak
glue through the slice or around the edges of the tape.  While the end spice
shouldn't impact your heads, leaking glue on the adjacent wrap could
contaminate your machine (with very negative effects- video heads are
generally a lot more delicate than audio heads).  3/4" tape also runs
against guides/rollers in the cassette when it enters/leaves the cassette.
Any adhesive residue on the leader splice can get on these guides and
transfer to your tape and then your machine.  Just don't use a splice with
extra or potentially leaking "goo".  A few really bad choices we have seen
people use (that ended up with them sending the tapes to us for repair)are
Scotch or "cello" tape, masking tape and (believe it or not) duct tape.
Audio splicing tape, cut to the right size, should work fine.

One way to help make sure that residual glue does not leak around the sides
of the tape is to make the leader splice slightly less wide than the tape.
Since this splice does not impact the heads, a small amount of each edge
that is not held down by the splice is not a problem (if you look at the
manufacturers' splices, you will notice that they don't go right to the edge
of the tape).

Last bit of advice- If the head splice came off, it is also quite likely
that the tail splice will also fail should you run the tape all the way to
the end.

Last/last bit of advice- sniff the tape under the access door.  If you smell
"waxy" or "crayons", the 3/4" tape is hydrolyzed (has sticky shed) and
playing it without treatment could damage the recording surface- just like
with audio tape.  The 3/4" tapes that most often have this problem are from
the mid-70's to mid 80's.  The worst offenders are (in descending order of
general severity) Dupont, Agfa, Ampex and Sony (note that Ampex 3/4" often
don't exhibit much smell and can still totally lock up in the machine due to
sticky shed).

Have fun.


Peter Brothers
SPECS BROS., LLC
973-777-5055
peter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tape restoration and disaster recovery since 1983


-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of joe@xxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, June 24, 2009 6:40 PM
To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ARSCLIST] broken video tape

I have an old 3/4" video tape. The leader has separated from the oxide 
tape. I woud like to splice it back together.

I am conversant with audio tape splicing. Anything special I need to 
know about splicing video tape?

Yes, I know it is not recommended and the next step, should repairs be 
effected, is to Xfer to DVD. I'm hoping the place where the leader and 
tape join does not actually contact the head...

joe salerno