Is there a method to play a reel without the tape going over the heads.

[Pbpoint]

I have a bunch of older blank tapes I’d like to reel on the spool in a non-tightened (sorry, what’s that term) way. I’m just worried about non-essential tape head use.

Anyone have a method for this or am I overthinking this? My reel player, Sansui QD 5500, only has play and fast forward.

 

[dhnash]

Most R2Rs have tape lifters that move the tape away from the heads during fast forwarding and rewinding which prevents any head wear that would otherwise occur during these operations. If I understand your question, you want to place a reel on the supply (left) side and transfer the tape that is on that reel to another reel on the take-up (right) side without threading the tape the way it would normally be threaded for playback. Assuming this is correct, you should be able to do that by threading the tape directly from the supply reel to the take-up reel, bypassing the automatic shutoff feature by holding the right tension arm in the up position (see the notes from the instruction manual below) and pressing the fast forward button. When the tape has fully transferred from the supply reel to the take-up reel, you should then release the tension arm or press the stop button so the reels will stop spinning.

 

[spicer]

I have a bunch of older blank tapes I’d like to reel on the spool in a non-tightened (sorry, what’s that term) way. I’m just worried about non-essential tape head use.

Anyone have a method for this or am I overthinking this? My reel player, Sansui QD 5500, only has play and fast forward.

I am quite certain the deck has tape lifters for keeping the tape off the heads during fast wind forward or back. Load a tape and look at the tape path while in the wind mode and I'm sure you'll see the tape lifters in action compared to being in the play mode. I think every deck except for small cheap early units had tape lifters. It used to be an advertised feature until it became so common it quite being advertised. You can however run the tape between the reels as suggested keeping the auto stop lever lifted... it is not necessary though to keep tape off the heads during fast wind.

 

[Pbpoint]

When ever fast forward/rewind are used, the tape is wrapped around the spool in a tighter fashion than compared to when the tape is spooled in regular play mode. Play mode wrap is nice/consistent flat. At least on my machine, it’s evident by looking at the tape where it was fast forwarded mid way, etc.

My line of thinking is I’m assuming a looser pack will provide a better bulk erase or cross talk. Just trying to preserve these tape heads. I could be way off though.

 

[dhnash]

My line of thinking is I’m assuming a looser pack will provide a better bulk erase or cross talk. Just trying to preserve these tape heads.

Neither of these two things should be beneficially affected by having a looser tape pack. The tape heads will experience no additional wear during fast forwarding or rewinding assuming the tape lifters move the tape out of contact with the heads.

 

[Pbpoint]

Nice, good to know. I was not sure about this. The whole tails out on quad and 2track made me over think.

Are there any circumstances where you don’t want the reel spooled with different packing?

Maybe long term storage or different tape formulations?

 

[dhnash]

The general recommendation is that tapes should be stored in a state where the tape is wound evenly which is usually accomplished by playing the tape or using a library wind or spooling feature available on some R2Rs. Fast winding (fast forwarding or rewinding) doesn’t provide this even winding. Quad tapes and 1/2-track tapes should be wound tails out to help minimize pre-echo caused by print-through.