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Alternatives to splicing tape and foil tape

harleyfatboy

harleyfatboy

Well-Known Member
I was curious if one were to need to splice tape on reel to reel can you use regular scotch tape or should you use the specialized splicing tape. Also - how about the foil sensing tape for autoreverse on R2R- can you use the metal tape that goes around duct work? just curious as stuff I have seen on the web - the sensing tape looks like metal tape for duct work...
 
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No and no. Scotch adhesive tape does not have the proper adhesive formula and will bleed adhesive all over the tape and machine eventually as it gets squeezed through the pinch rollers and gets packed up under the layers of tape after it. It's also not pliable enough for the job and will eventually slip off or break apart at the splice.
Sensing foil is very thin and pliable, whereas foil duct tape is very thick and not very pliable at all (think of all the guides, rollers and sensors that the tape must travel through) plus the adhesive is not the correct type. The proper splicing tape and sensing foil is readily available and cheap, so there's no need to cut corners there.
 
I have spliced tapes with scotch tape only once, and I ended up transfering the material to another tape, and removing the splice, and splicing it properly.
 
3M 'Magic tape' is quite a good quality 'non-splicing' tape that I have used occasionally and it last well without problems.
 
steerpike2 said:
3M 'Magic tape' is quite a good quality 'non-splicing' tape that I have used occasionally and it last well without problems.
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If it gets warm and the tension builds up on it the adhesive will loosen up, the splice will slip and you may end up with adhesive all over your heads and guides. You also run the risk of contaminating the tape as the layers pack up over the sticky spot and also breakage when the tape sticks to itself as the machine is pulling it out of the reel. In short, not a good idea!
 
audiojones said:
If it gets warm and the tension builds up on it the adhesive will loosen up, the splice will slip and you may end up with adhesive all over your heads and guides. You also run the risk of contaminating the tape as the layers pack up over the sticky spot and also breakage when the tape sticks to itself as the machine is pulling it out of the reel. In short, not a good idea!
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I agree that using the wrong tape is a risk. I just wanted to point out that it is not always a disaster, since I have used it in desperate circumstances, verifying that sometimes it does work, and does last many years.
 
Scotch tape is also too thick and will cause an uneven wind which can crease the tape.
OTOH, in an emergency when you only have a hammer, everything begins to look like a nail.
 
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