Denatured alcohol and tape head cleaning

I'm a faithful cleaner of tape heads, using denatured alcohol after every play. But I hate the stuff: that it's toxic and flammable and fumey. Is there anything else in the world which will do the job?

 

Great, and thanks!

 

Just be sure to use Isopropynol 99% and not the "Rubbing alcohol" which can contain up to 30% mineral oil.

 

Every play??? Isn't that just a wee bit excessive?

I use 97% isopropyl from the drug store. And, then, if you are in a pinch, use some Everclear from the bar.

BUT, NEVER use the rubbing alcohol compounds! They have chemicals that leave residue on the heads and pinch rollers, and will cause malfunctions.

 

In my experience, most manufacturers recommend cleaning after 10 or 15 hours of use, not after every time you use the deck.

 

This is what I use and I use it before each recording session. I also clean the Rubber with this Tascam stuff that smells like diesel fuel but it keeps the rubber impeccably clean and the surface tight and tacky. As a result, I never have any problems.

Bob

 

I guess it must be different for R to R's, unless you use it on a cassette deck as well.

I had a JVC back in the mid 80's and the cassettes I was using jammed up and became a gooey mess. When I took it in for hopefull repairs the tech told me that this kind of damage was pointless in trying to repair. He told me that it was caused from using rubbing alcohol and that I should have used 99% Isopropynol to clean the heads and spindles,<auto reverse you understand>.

 

Bob uses the neurotic forumula (which I admire), but the 97% is fine. I wouldn't use anything less than that tho.
99% can sometimes be hard to find!

 

Re: Re: Denatured alcohol and tape head cleaning

Well, I'm doing some more or less archival transfers of R to R stuff, so yep: every play!

 

Dave,

I use the 99% stuff - sorry I was not clear....

Bob

 

While we're on the subject, I don't suppose there's any good substitute for that nasty pinch roller stuff Bob mentioned (which I also use)?

 

Spent nuclear fuel!

I have used the Isopropynol alcohol with success but that noxious Rubber cleaner does work the best!

Bob

 

Re: Re: Denatured alcohol and tape head cleaning

To think people drink the stuff (Everclear)..

Regarding alcohol (of any nature) and pinch rollers.. I thought alcohol on rubber was a big no-no . Am I right?

I don't know about that rubber cleaning stuff you guys mention, what I personally do (less and less, since the cassette decks at home are dying slow deaths and I'm not replacing any of them) is to just not clean the pinch roller at all, just the metal parts (heads, guides and capstan).

If the pinch roller is easily accesible I might hold a piece of clean tissue to it with the unit on, to rub off whatever gunk might be stuck.. but no alcohol!

Cheers

 

With no cleaning the rubber roller (at least in VCR's) can go all shiny and hard with tape residue. By that time, I think replacement is in order. So, cleaning might not be a bad idea.

 

Too much alcohol can make the rubber too tacky so the tape actually sticks to it. The only cure for that that I know of is to run some unimportant tape through until it settles down.

Also, be very careful not to let alcohol (or other volatile liquid) drip down into the capstan bearings.