Thank you, LORDSMURF! Using RTI TapeChek to clean tapes!
 

Hello everyone!

This is my first time posting, and I have to say, a HUGE thank you to Lord Smurf and the others who have provided valuable information on the restoration of VHS.

I have to say, that I followed Lord Smurf's advice, and others, and my transfers are AMAZING.

Honestly, I can't believe it when I see it, it looks great.

I'm going to be making a thread on the machine I happen to have, called the RTI Tapechek 460.

This machine retails at $2,000- $4,000 and I believe it made a HUGE difference to the quality of my tapes.

Essentially, this machine cleans your VHS tape and re-tensions the tape, along with polishing with a Sapphire blade. It make a big difference in quality of the tape.

I will post a thread on this machine later.

Thanks again everyone.

i always wanted one (or try at least) but with that high price..my wallet wasn't deep enough.

It would be nice if you'd have before /after pics or caps

Yes, I'm going to be making a thread soon showing my process to restore old VHS, the before and the after.

RTI makes some nifty equipment for disc/tape restorations. But I hope you're only using it for tapes that had known issues. Cleaning a tape is generally not advised, as the cleaning can just as easily make a tape worse.

I'm curious to hear more about what prompted you to get one.

I look forward to your new thread with before/afters! :)

The website doesn't claim it can clean moldy tapes. Can it clean moldy tapes?

Is the tissue moist? Does it use any kind of cleaning liquid?

I stumbled across some comments elsewhere on the net regarding these Tapechek machines.

Does anyone know where I can see before/after comparisons?

I found a brief clip or two on YT but those tapes seemed in rather poor condition from the start. Maybe that's the only time to use a Tapechek? :wink2:

Would be interested in hearing from anyone here who has experience with one of these machines. DigitalRestorerPro, are you still out there?

Thanks!

I have some moldy tapes coming my way, I'm still investigating how to deal with them, or not.

For moldy tapes, I simply sterilised the pancakes in UV light to kill the mold, and then cleaned the pancakes and cleaned the tape as well.

This has given me success.

My pockets are not deep enough for one of the tape cleaning machines!

Checkout this guy's creative method of removing mold on 8mm tapes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IbpKwGfu74