Resurrecting a U-matic video deck - special cleaning precautions?
 

I bought two U-Matic decks for very cheap. One of them is an exact duplicate of my machine except every time I try to get one error code fixed anther one pops up. At the very least I can use it for parts.

The other machine has a layer of white on the head drum, erase, and audio head--my guess due to cleaning with q-tips. On the drum this layer covers one of the middle video tracks. Should I take any special precautions when I am cleaning the video heads and tracks (with chamois tips)? Can I be a bit rougher with the video tracks than the heads? It may take some pressure to wipe it off.

Never, ever use cotton swabs, including the Q-Tip brand. Use either foam, chamois or sensor swabs. Heads have, well, heads! The cotton can snag on it, and either pull/damage the heads, or leave cotton fibers behind.

And be gentle! Again, heads have heads -- it's not a smooth surface.

Unless you have good reason to do so, cleaning heads is overdone and not suggested. It's the analog version of cleaning DSLR sensors. Unless you notice an issue that is 100% proven to be heads related (or sensor related), as proven by a thorough process of elimination, leave it alone. It ain't broke, so don't fix it!

The goes for VHS, S-VHS, Betamax, etc -- not just U-matic.

Thank you, so I guess I should not even bother with the heads when removing this cotton or whatever it is from the video track. I don't know if the heads were affected at this point. Is it okay to gently remove the material from the video tracks (not the heads) using forceps? Some of it does not seem to want to come off. What is the risk of damaging a video track?

Yes, remove debris. That's a good reason to clean heads!