Temperature for storing cassettes

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Justme87, Jun 10, 2021.

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  1. Justme87

    Justme87 Active Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Belgium
    Hi,

    I’m rather new in collecting tapes.
    As my collection starts to grow I wanted to know the ideal conditions for storing them.

    My room is sunlight free, low humidity and I store them upright on shelves. Most of the time it’s about 18 to 20 degrees Celsius (66 Fahrenheit) in my room.

    My question: in Belgium we only have a few days a year where the temperature climbs up to higher temperatures. 30 to 32 Celsius in my room (88 to 90 Fahrenheit). Could this be harmful for playback?

    Thanks in advance
     
  2. I think you wouldn't need to worry. I've had tapes stored in my old bedroom in Southern Spain, at 800 meters from the sea and with Summer temperatures of over 40 ºC and these play great. More so, I've had a few DCC tapes and Mini Discs stored in the same room and when I moved to a new flat inland Spain, my old DCC portable deck and two Mini Disc stand alone and walkman popped up. On the new flat I wanted to test both my own recorded DCC tapes and Mini Discs. Mini Discs played flawlessly and DCC tapes had a few glitches here and there, around 3 or 4 on a 90 minute tape. But keep in mind that 'though DCC's digital format used error correction, it fitted 9 tracks where regular cassettes had only two. Also, the DCC tapes were recorded back in 1993/94, that's over 25 years ago.
     
  3. Justme87

    Justme87 Active Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Belgium
    Thx for the reply !
    Glad I don’t have to worry about the hot weather conditions only occurring a few times a year.
    I collect pre-recorded audio cassettes (genre metal) that are not released on vinyl/CD
     
    The FRiNgE, pscreed and Kiko1974 like this.
  4. Wayne Nielson

    Wayne Nielson Forum Resident

    Location:
    My House
    72° F.
     
    Justme87 likes this.
  5. brockgaw

    brockgaw Forum Resident

    More importantly avoid electrical fields. I have seen people put cassettes on top of speakers and wonder what happened to the sound. I keep my cassettes in a temp-controlled and humidity-free basement.
     
    Justme87 likes this.
  6. Lowrider75

    Lowrider75 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
    I think you have an ideal setup.
     
    George P likes this.
  7. regore beltomes

    regore beltomes Forum Resident

    Location:
    Helenville, WI
    I store mine in a basement cabinet. Temp seems more stable with de humidification.
    I try to keep the humidity at 35-50% year round. Not much use in the last 12 years though.
     
    Justme87 likes this.
  8. Justme87

    Justme87 Active Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Belgium
    S
    Thx!
    So if the room temp. goes up to 90 farenheit (only a few days in a year) it should be no problem?
     
  9. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    Humidity is more of a factor. Also, like VCR tapes, I wouldn't leave them half-wound, if you can wind them all the way in one direction or the other. There are purists who insist on keeping VCR tapes standing up, with the tape wound so it sits on the bottom half of the cassette. Could just be anal-retentive posturing, though. But, it's all magnetic tape, and that leaves some risk of bleed-through over time, from one layer to the next; the emulsion side helps a little with that.

    My advice, is just to transfer all magnetically-recorded media to digital medium as soon as possible.

    Just to enjoy watching the analogue purists get their panties in a bunch. :D
     
    bever70 and Justme87 like this.
  10. Lowrider75

    Lowrider75 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
    Agree that humidity is the enemy of tape. 90°F is hot, make sure there's no direct sunlight.
     
    Justme87 likes this.
  11. Lowrider75

    Lowrider75 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
    I re-read your post. There is no sunlight. I think you're fine.
     
    Justme87 likes this.
  12. vwestlife

    vwestlife Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    Remember that people used to have no fear about leaving cassettes in a parked car in the sun with the windows closed, in which temperatures can reach above 150°F. Of course this isn't good for the cassette, but it's not normally going to be directly or immediately harmed by such heat.

    The shell and storage case of a cassette tape are typically made of ABS plastic, which has a maximum operating temperature of 80°C (176°F). The tape itself is made of Mylar, which has a maximum service temperature of 149°C (300°F).
     
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  13. Justme87

    Justme87 Active Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Belgium
    Thanks for the info!!!
    I guess they will be safe in my room
     
  14. Chris Schoen

    Chris Schoen Rock 'n Roll !!!

    Location:
    Maryland, U.S.A.
    Cool and dry. Below 70 c, but not freezing.
     
  15. Chris Schoen

    Chris Schoen Rock 'n Roll !!!

    Location:
    Maryland, U.S.A.
    An old friend borrowed a tape from me (the master for a show recorded off the radio,) and left it on his dashboard. It melted.
    I have never found any "bootleg" to replace it either! :realmad::shake:
     
  16. Vinyl Fan 1973

    Vinyl Fan 1973 "They're like soup, they're like....nothing bad"

    Interesting thread. I recently got all my tapes out of storage and wanted to buy a used NAD 6324 tape deck to listen to them again. Then I read something online that cassettes have a lifespan of 20 years. Now I’m wondering if it’s even worth buying the deck in case none of them actually play.

    How are people collecting and playing cassettes from the 80’s if they have such a short lifespan? Should I fast forward and rewind them all first before playing?

    I like the idea of getting a deck because I have some titles that I don’t own on CD or vinyl as well as all my original live bootlegs that I’d like to hear again. It also opens up the door to buying future cool titles I may come across while out at used record stores.

    Any suggestions?
     
  17. vwestlife

    vwestlife Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    I have about 50 cassettes from the 1960s and early '70s and they all still play fine. The only thing that typically goes wrong is the adhesive on the pressure pad fails with age and the pad gets loose or goes missing entirely. But it's easy to reattach or replace them. Also on one cassette I had to open it up and replace the slip sheets because the originals used a graphite coating which wore away with heavy use. And on two of the Ampex cassettes from the '60s the clear leader tape at the ends had gotten sticky, so I spliced in new leaders from a donor cassette.

    All of the hundreds of cassettes from the '80s and newer I've had have been fine, except for one which must've been exposed to prolonged extreme heat because the originally white plastic shell had turned dark yellow!
     
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  18. GyroSE

    GyroSE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    Get that NAD 6324 and enjoy the tapes you’ve. If they have been properly stored they will work. I’ve cassette tapes that I recorded back in the 80`s and they still sound great.

    Yes it’s a good idea to FF and REW before you play’em if you haven’t touched them in many years.
     
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  19. Bill Larson

    Bill Larson Forum Resident

    I keep my tapes in a wall unit in a 60-65 degree basement. I often pull out tapes that I haven’t listened to in 25-30 years, and they still look and sound new. I was also given a large number of reel-to-reel tapes recorded in the ‘60s. They play fine.

    In short, I think tapes would have to be very poor quality/stored in extreme conditions to deteriorate significantly in 20 years. Like most non-food things, they should last indefinitely if properly cared for.
     
    The FRiNgE likes this.
  20. The FRiNgE

    The FRiNgE Forum Resident

    Tape storage and tape head maintenance have always been a consumer level problem. For those who are too casual, or don't care, their cassettes (or reel to reel tapes) deteriorate with storage and improper use. Tapes and cars are probably the worst pairing... or maybe stored in basement or attic.

    With proper care and storage, tapes will last several lifetimes.

    A tape can tolerate brief periods of heat and humidity and not suffer damage, really nothing to worry about. I have reel to reel tapes I have recorded back to 1970, that still play perfectly... and prerecorded in-line tapes (two track) from the 50's that play perfectly. These have not always been stored under optimal temp and humidity conditions. (never extreme such as a hot car interior) However they have been protected from stray magnetic fields... perhaps the most important storage consideration. Tapes are comfortable in living environments that we are comfortable in. But cooler temps with lower humidity (about 30% to 50%) are even better.... but not practical, since most of us do not have a climate controlled room for our tapes.

    Something to note, magnetic fields do not care about walls and floors... and ceilings. That vacuum cleaner run in the apartment above will slowly erase your tapes stored on the top shelf... within close proximity of the ceiling. It is not as much DC mag fields that are a tape's enemy, such as a speaker (not too close to them however, more than 1 meter is safe IMO) But it is AC fields that destroy tapes. What are the sources of AC electro-magnetic fields? A one horsepower vacuum cleaner will draw about 12 amps of current, and produce a very robust magnetic field. Keep vacuum cleaners away. Any appliance with an AC motor produces a magnetic field, refrigerator, washer, dryer, food processor. There are other sneaky AC fields.. fluorescent lights, a 24 volt desk halogen lamp (contains a transformer) the door bell transformer, the thermostat transformer usually near the furnace.... the oil fired furnace (electric motor and high voltage electrodes) phone chargers, any wall wart, the cell phone itself (keep away) ... non-shielded wiring in your home. For the life of me I do not know why unshielded cable (Romex) is NEC approved? (usa) Our homes are a magnetic field paradise. Again, a transformer on the other side of the wall, such as a phone charger will affect tapes on a shelf on the other side of the wall (in the next room)

    If far enough away from these AC magnetic predators, the tapes are safe. Awareness is key. AC magnetic fields are your tape's worst enemy. Magnetized and dirty heads on your machine, destroys tapes.
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2022
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