Best way to preserve Maxell Tapes? *

Maxwell's Silver Hammer

 

It's not as important, but it's a better for the tape. At the very least, it does no harm.

 

The lead containers should be at least this thick:

 

A few weeks ago I pulled out most of my cassette tapes out of my backyard shed which has no climate control and is not insulated.They have been buried out there for years and mostly are rock concerts from the radio and a lot that I recorded live on mostly the best TDK and Maxell of the time with a few Memorex. BASF,Scotch and Fuji mixed in. There are at least 200 and they are just stored in cardboard boxes.
I am going to transfer my favorites to cd so I have been listening to them when I can and have not found any ones yet that have degraded at least to my the human ear. I have really been surprised considering how they have been stored especially in our climate here in Northern Ohio. I guess I just lucked out!
It is fun to discover all these great live concerts again

 

A cool, dry storage place. High humidity creates great risk with tapes. ​

 

I have tapes that lived in cars for 20 years. In Arizona. Still played just fine as of a decade ago, sounded alright. Don't have a tape player anymore, though...

 

Well, there ya go, folks. Store your precious tapes in sunspot42's car in Arizona.

 

I would hope by now that car is in a junkyard somewhere. But, you never know...

 

Copying the cassettes to a digital format is indeed recommended...if for no other reason than to have a backup just in case the cassette finally craps out. Plus, you can play your digital copy endlessly without wear and tear to the original cassette.

Perhaps this goes without saying, but the OP didn't mention copying the cassettes to digital.

 

Definitely converting to digital.

 

Think I'll try putting moisture packs inside the cassette holders. Don't think they should cause any problems. I'm getting a reading of 60% humidity.

 

I have a number of Maxell tapes, some 35 years old some newer, and they've all been sitting on shelves, upright in rows, at a normal, varying room temperature, occasionally being dusted. I've yet to have any issues with them ageing. The tapes are UD1, UD2, XL2s, and some Metals. Only the metals have got an odd sweetish smell, but play okay.

 

I have never re-wound a tape before storage in my life. A tight and uneven pack is bad for any tape: open-reel, cassette, or video.

 

Would horizontal storing be this way: If this way works I would prefer to store them like this.



Or this way:

 

As far as the tape is concerned, there's no difference, it lies horizontally in both photos.

 

You mean vertically?

 

Whew. That's a relief. Who would want to preserve the worst track on "Abbey Road"!

 

Both are equivalent.
The reason for these positions is that if the tape has been unevenly wounded (for instance, when you play and stop several times instead of continuously playing the whole tape side) a tape loop could have been slightly displaced laterally and when you put he case horizontal (planar on the table) this loop could be holding the weight of the whole tape. This is also the reason why it is better to play the whole tape side without interruption before storing it.

 

No. The cassette is vertical, the tape inside lies horizontally.

 

We must be misunderstanding each other somehow, since the reels of tape inside the cassette are still vertical.

 

That sounds like a good idea, thanks.

 

Unlike me, cassettes are taller standing up

LOL, I have this on one of my old cassettes:

 

Yep my bad, in the top picture the cassette is positioned vertically and on the bottom picture it's positioned horizontally for all intensive purposes. I guess then vertical is not the way to go but my safe onky safe option is as seen in the second picture ,upright. Based on the knowledge that you should never lay reels flat I think the bottom pictures is the best way to go. If vertical (top picture) shouldn't be a problem please do let me know.

 

I see what you mean because tape is in a circle anyways so it doesn't matter which way you have it as long as it doesn't lay flat. Think I'll store em as seen in the top photo, then I'll be able to keep my cassette shelves on the table. The information I have is that it is ideal to store open cassette tapes with the reels or tape packs vertical. Reels should be supported by the hub (whatever that means, I assume to center price that holds the tape together). Tapes should be stored like books on a library...

 

Yea, the reels are vertical, but look at the tape, it is not resting on its edge, it is flatly wound upon the hub, perpendicular to the reel.