Squeaky Cassettes

[tmblack]

I got some prerecorded cassettes that sounds squeaky with extreme wow and flutter. Played on a dual capstan Nakamichi it even stops on playback.

Heads and transport were cleaned but problem persists.
Must be some residue on the tape.
Any way to clean the tape without harmful effects?

 

[sax6]

Same Prob here
On my JVC auto reverse tape player, they flutter like Hell

But on my realistic SCT 32 cassette player... nooooo prob
seems like the motor is like more powerfull

A good FF and rewind a couple a time is a way trough this problem too


The Gentle Giant

 

[J English]

You can also try cannibalizing some of the graphite slip sheets that ride in the upper housing, from a donor cassette. They can help the tape/hub turn just a little bit easier. Or, import that tape/hubs into a better donor housing, entirely.

 

[MRL_Audio]

Sometimes tapes just wear out. I have about 250 cassettes that I recently picked up on eBay. Not all were winners. Most were but I have run into the occasional tape that just isn't right. I pitch em immediately for fear that continuing to try to get them to operate will screw up my deck. About 5 of the 100+ I have been through so far fall into this category.

 

[cp2buy]

Weird my main cassette had a very bad squeak for a,mnst a year. I finally put my head to the cassette and lo and behold it was not coming from the cassette mechanism but from the counter. A shot of de-oxit and good as new. Wish you luck!!!

 

[AAA3330]

Sounds like the infamous "Sticky Shed Syndrome" to me. If you do a Google on AK, I'm sure that you'll find many threads on this. I've had some myself. If the content is easily replaced, it's best to probably throw them out if this is indeed the case.

 

[tmblack]

Well they are prerecorded cassettes so they are not so easily replaced. Or they are worth restoring if possible.

 

[drknstrmyknight]

I used to sharpen a pencil and get some graphite around the hub - sometimes it worked.

 

[Wilhem]

Since no cassette manufacturer used the polyurethane binder infamous for hygroscopic breakdown of the binder, it is unlikely to be the "sticky shed syndrome." Causes of squeaks, in order of likelyhood:

• 
  extrusion of fatty acids from a tape leaving a waxy deposit on the head--the tape sticks to the head and squeels as the capstan/pinch roller pull it off. Clean the heads and throw the tapes out.

• 
  fatty acids from a different tape remain on the head and finely calendered tapes adhere to the head as above--clean the heads and guides

• 
  highly polished tapes stick to a highly polished head when humidity is high--turn the A/C on to reduce humidity

• 
  oxidation of the pins for the roller guides has built up and causes the rollers to resonate within the shell--disassembly the housing and give a very slight coating of high performance grease on each roller

• 
  the squeal comes from a mechanical resonance in the deck itself (as in counter or some other rotating device--find the source and lubricate it

Since the tape shows both sqeal and wow and flutter and stops in a Nakamichi deck, I suspect the ooze of organic acids is the cause. The tapes are no good.

 

[eclectik]

If the tape itself has some kind of chemical breakdown and squeals, in my experience you can even hear this friction in the sound, just like playing a squeaky/SSS r2r tape.

The worst offenders with sticky cassetteshave been: Warners pre recorded circa 1978-80. Some MCA 1980-84.
Most were of US origin. In many cases, the audio was not too great anyway, rather muddy. For some reason, the European pre recorded tapes always seemed better quality.