This seems to be a thing I have gotten into lately. Whenever I acquire new gear, I like to clean the mechanism and guides, and disassemble the machine (covering any rubber parts while doing UV exposure) and expose the inside of the machine to UV light such as a germicidal UVC lamp after cleaning the casings. I guess you could also use the sun, but UVC light is a bit more effective for this task, while UVA/B is what you get from the sun.
I have always been nervous that any machine may have previously had mold exposure. I got the idea when I got one of the more valuable Panasonic decks from a car boot sale that I wanted to use for myself, which had a moldy tape inside when I bought it. After loads of elbow grease cleaning every inch of the machine including boards and casing, I exposed all the parts and transport at varying angles to UV light for good measure, having covered the thoroughly cleaned rubber parts beforehand, as UV light can degrade rubber.
Not sure if anyone here thinks this is a good method, but I have done it for a while now if I added new gear to my collection, as you never know what been played in it before. Or if a good deck has known mold exposure, do a more complete disassembly and do it at all angles.
Who here thinks this is a good idea? I have never found any references to such a method online, but it was worth it as 1. I had a UV light source on hand, and 2. The Panasonic deck was worth around £300 on
eBay and I had wanted one for myself, and 3. It makes a good precaution on an 'unknown' deck regardless if they are mold damaged. As before this, I would have considered any VCR with mold exposure as good as trash or for moldy tapes only.
I found I would have to ensure UV light could reach the inside at all angles, so it will require an intense disassembly if you wanted to kill all the mold that you cannot see. You need to expose it for a couple of hours at all angles possible.
Seemed a better alternative than throwing away a £300 deck or having it limited to moldy tapes only.
The only potential problems I can see (though I hope some more experienced members may give advice here) is you may want to be careful if any VCRs (though I have never seen any with such a chip personally) have an EPROM (different to an EEPROM)chip with the little window, those were intended to be erased via UV exposure.
And that you need to do a complete sterilisation ,and ensure you use protective goggles when using such a lamp, it can cause wielders flash!