VHS tape leader broke, how it repair it?

[Magicaltoe]

Trying to digitize a home video from the 90s. When I rewound this specific tape, the leader broke. There was no ribbon under the top flap. I followed every tutorial on youtube and none addressed my specific scenario. The problem is, there is only about half an inch, MAYBE a full inch of leader still attached to the magnetic side. The rest of the leader broke off and is wrapped around the other side. What is the best longterm way to fix this? Do I remove the extra leader on the takeup side, and pin the small piece of leader on the magnetic side under the C-Clip on the take-up side? Or is my only option to keep it all in-tact, and use tape to bridge the two pieces together? Thanks

[aramkolt]

If you want to get fancy, they do make tape splicing blocks that allow you to align everything perfectly before taping together - tape gets applied to the side that doesn't face the head. You'll want to unwind the still wound clear leader to get the joint to line up. Splicing block isn't absolute require, but they are kind of fun to use and are pretty inexpensive. Some will come with fancy splicing tape also, but scotch tape is honestly fine to use, especially on the leaders since they shouldn't really touch the heads.

[lordsmurf]

Never use tape. That will ruin the VCR heads. That makes extra problems, costly problems.

[radiokom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordsmurf

Never use tape. That will ruin the VCR heads. That makes extra problems, costly problems.

Video tapes can be spliced as any tape, but know how and good splicing block and professional splicing tape is needed. I prefer BASF 1/2" splicing tape and CAT (TAC) automatic splicing block (sadly there are no more cartridges available for that but it can be used without cartridge). I would avoid RTM/RMGI etc. blue splicing tape because it is a bit sticky. Old BASF, AGFA and 3M/Scotch are pressure active. Common Scotch (clear) what you can buy in any shop NEVER should be used on VHS tapes and any other magnetic tape.

20251220_103959[1].jpg

[Magicaltoe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordsmurf

Never use tape. That will ruin the VCR heads. That makes extra problems, costly problems.

The issue is, the leader snapped near the stub on the magnetic side. There is 1/2 inch or maybe a full inch of leader on that side. And the rest of the leader is wrapped around the take-up spool. Is the leader on the magnetic side too short to reattach to the C-Clip?

[Magicaltoe]

Here is a picture of where it snapped on the magnetic side. The rest is wrapped around the take-up spool on the other side.

[aramkolt]

As far as tape goes, the tape should never actually touch the heads because it's on the opposite side of the tape as the heads.Typically you'd also make the area of the splice a little narrower by cutting a very shallow "D shape" from both the top and bottom if the the tape is applied perpendicular to the tape. If you apply the tape in the same direction as the tape goes (parallel) and you're sure there's no overlapping so that there's no chance of tape overhang that could actually touch the head. Splicing tape, after all, is also a type of tape. the trick is that you can't have any gaps where it's joined which makes the splicing block handy for perfectly perpendicular cuts which will go together nicely. Most people do splices expecting to only transfer a tape once, so scotch tape is probably less ideal for multiple passes or if you want to be able to play it back many years from now.

Your break in the leader is actually the ideal place to need a splice since no information will be lost.

I'm not clear what the problem is here - you really shouldn't need to remove any clips, just unwind the rest of the leader tape from the hub. You can grab that with tape on a stick or a probe to get it free.