Smashed VHS cassette stops playing intermittently?

[koberulz]

I've got a tape from a friend, who got it from someone else, apparently in a completely smashed cassette. He put it into a new cassette, but while it does play it apparently stops every minute or two.

I'm reluctant to just throw this into my machine and see what happens, is there anything I should look at doing beforehand?

[lordsmurf]

He didn't repair it correctly. Maybe too tight, maybe pathed wrong. Redo it.

[koberulz]

How? I'd Google it but last time I mentioned fiddling with cassettes based on YouTube you just about had a fit.

[dpalomaki]

Youtube how-to information can be good (sometimes), or bad (which is common), or just not applicable to the specific device you have in hand, so there is a risk if blindly following it. Also, individuals have widely varying levels of the fine motor skill levels needed to work on cassettes.

You could try take a know good cassette (with material you do not want), open it, study it carefully for components, routing, pressures, springs, levers, etc., and use it as a template/model for the repair. Note that all cassettes are not all identical inside so the model should match the type of cassette you are using to make the repair.

[koberulz]

Well my last one came out fine - I was re-attaching it to the reel after it snapped off - but lordsmurf just about reached through his screen and strangled me when I mentioned it. Or he just casually mentioned it wasn't the best idea. It was one of the two.

I have no known-good useless cassettes that would match this one. I think. I mean I don't really know what this one is. It's a black box with tape in it, as far as I'm concerned.

[dpalomaki]

Probably a bit more than a casual mention, but not likely close to suggesting bodily harm to you. Too many people get into bigger trouble when they try to make repairs that are beyond their ability, and there is no easy way to screen that in a web posting. He wants you to be aware of the risks.

If you have had success making VHS cassette repairs in the past you are a step ahead of most posters. (Just do not try to splice any portion of the tape that will pass over the VCR heads.) A different shell might work, but watch for slight differences in spools that could cause the binding. In any case, good luck with the repair.

[lordsmurf]

I started a nice guide for it last year, but just never finished. It was in draft form still. I went ahead and just hit publish, but it's only half done. Even then, you may find it useful?

http://www.digitalFAQ.com/guides/vid...videotapes.htm

For one thing, I need to include ample warnings about how you can irrevocably screw up the tape if it's done wrong.

The fun part was using the toy car as a tool to respool the tape. That guide was made for tape breakage, not simply clamshell transfers. And that's one reason I stopped writing it, needed to actually create two.

[koberulz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dpalomaki

Probably a bit more than a casual mention, but not likely close to suggesting bodily harm to you.

I was exaggerating for comic effect.

This is the second time I've seen "don't tape it back together"...is there a solution if it tears/breaks/whatever? I know this bloke does have one tape that he's taped together.

[dpalomaki]

The slight discontinuity/irregularity in the tape surface at a splice can mess up the spinning heads. If your "bloke" has a working one, hes been lucky so far.

The safest home brew solution may be to move each half of the split tape into separate shells with splice to the leader at a point where it never leaves the cassette during playback. You lose a bit of the program material but it is safer for save the heads.

Alternatively send it to a professional tape restoration facility for repair (not some guy transferring tapes in his garage).

[lordsmurf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dpalomaki

The safest home brew solution may be to move each half of the split tape into separate shells with splice to the leader at a point where it never leaves the cassette during playback. You lose a bit of the program material but it is safer for save the heads.

That's it. You take a broken tape, and make 2 new ones. That all you can safely do.

Tape or other non-tape material on a head is like scraping it with sandpaper, as bad as Q-tips, and you seriously risk damaging the deck.
Don't do that!

[ehbowen]

So what would be a good idea to have on hand to be pro-active about such a problem? A lot of 25 old VHS tapes from eBay or similar?