Hello Fans,

Are there any recommendations for a good cassette deck head demagnetizer? :scratch2:

Thanks,
John. :music:

Hey,

I bought mine off of eBay from this guy:
http://www.vintage-electronics.cc/

Works quite well.

As for clearner, you can use 91% or better Isoproypyl Alcohol with Qtips. Radio Shack also sells some tape head cleaner really cheap. Probably no different from using IA, but I saw pictures of a respected tech using it so I figured why not.

Hey,

I bought mine off of eBay from this guy:
http://www.vintage-electronics.cc/

Works quite well.

As for clearner, you can use 91% or better Isoproypyl Alcohol with Qtips. Radio Shack also sells some tape head cleaner really cheap. Probably no different from using IA, but I saw pictures of a respected tech using it so I figured why not.

Hi,
Thanks for the info, is it a cassette that you put in to play type? :scratch2:

John . :music:

No, not one of those. Someone on this board said those do not work.

It looks like some kind of adapter. You plug it in and slowly move it towards the tape heads. Then back off. There is a thread that has precise instructions. Just do a search.

I have a Recoton brand demagnetizer. It's in a clear cassette shell, and has a little button battery and major looking pc board in it. There's a red led that lights up when it's in operation. I've had it for so long that I can't remember where I got it from. Seems to do the job just fine.

As for cleaning the heads, I use a Allsop brand unit. This is also in the form of a cassette. It has replaceable felt pads that scrub back and forth while in operation. Removes a lot of oxide and gunk. I use the fluid that came with it, so I don't really know what it is. It does smell like alcohol though. I use the same fluid on a q-tip for the rest of the tape path parts like the rollers and etc.
Bill

I would really like to find a hand applied fluid....anyone have a recommendation? I prefer to get into the guts and clean everything up myself....and I'm almost out of my, out of business, head juice.

I contacted CAIG about 3 weeks ago, but have yet to hear a response.

Would LP cleaner be an alternative? or should I simply use clean Isopropyl?

What do the tape heads use in here?

I would really like to find a hand applied fluid....anyone have a recommendation? I prefer to get into the guts and clean everything up myself....and I'm almost out of my, out of business, head juice.

I contacted CAIG about 3 weeks ago, but have yet to hear a response.

Would LP cleaner be an alternative? or should I simply use clean Isopropyl?

What do the tape heads use in here?
Isopropyl works fine for the heads (minimum 91%, but 99% is better), and guides, but not for the rollers. Yes it will certanly clean rollers, but it will gradually dry them out, and cause them to harden, which is bad.

I use rubber rejuvenator on my rollers, but this substance is a bit of a pain to get back off, once applied. Doc says that he uses Vodca to clean his rollers. I keep meaning to try that, but we don't have a bottle around our house...

Thanks for the tip....vodka, I'm sure my wife will roll her eyes on that one :)

I found out the hard way about rollers when I Iso'd the ones on my RT-909....turned them into a gooey mess. Oh well...it was an excuse for new ones.

hi all. i use a Dollar store generic brand of Simple Orange cleaning /degreaser....it REALLy cleans the crud and residue off the pinch roller....it is totally water soluble....just soak a q-tip with it and scrub across the width of the pinch roller...slowly turning it with your other hand...when the qtip fills up with crud, soak a clean tip and continue... then turn the pinch roller and scrub it with a q tip slightly moistened with the cleaner....then finally use a DRY q-tip to ensure all cleaner is off the roller and the roller is dry, DRY!. When the roller is NO longer shiny and a solid black, you know its clean.... works for me.. Dollar Tree...."awesome orange"...works great!!!! BLOOeyz

Keep the alcohol away from the rubber!

hi all. i use a Dollar store generic brand of Simple Orange cleaning /degreaser....it REALLy cleans the crud and residue off the pinch roller....it is totally water soluble....just soak a q-tip with it and scrub across the width of the pinch roller...slowly turning it with your other hand...when the qtip fills up with crud, soak a clean tip and continue... then turn the pinch roller and scrub it with a q tip slightly moistened with the cleaner....then finally use a DRY q-tip to ensure all cleaner is off the roller and the roller is dry, DRY!. When the roller is NO longer shiny and a solid black, you know its clean.... works for me.. Dollar Tree...."awesome orange"...works great!!!! BLOOeyz
I'm sure that it cleans well. But is it genuinely safe? Many cleaners that work, are far from safe on various surfaces....

Personally, I don't think that this is a good place to experiment with random cleaners, unless you simply don't care about your deck potentially getting ruined by using the wrong types of cleaners.

I found out the hard way about rollers when I Iso'd the ones on my RT-909....turned them into a gooey mess. Oh well...it was an excuse for new ones.
It was not the ISA that gooed up your rollers. They were already gooey, and were waiting for you to discover it when you tried to clean them. The rollers for that model are notorious for gooing. ISA will dry out your rubber over a long period of use. It will not kill them if you need to use it in a pinch.

Here is some nice stuff that is good for heads and rollers (It is what I use and recommend): http://www.usrecordingmedia.com/s7prheclquca.html

Enjoy,
Rich P

This fluid is safe and effective for heads, capstans AND rubber pinch rollers. And it dries very quickly.

http://americanrecorder.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=11&products_id=108

[QUOTE=dorokusai]Thanks for the tip....vodka, I'm sure my wife will roll her eyes on that one :)
/QUOTE]
besure to get a gallon so you dont run out

What are the symptoms of a magnetized head?

What are the symptoms of a magnetized head?
Gradual loss of high frequencies on each tape played (damage to recording), as well as increasing hiss and noise on the tapes played on the machine.

Tape deck transports (heads, capstans, tape guides, etc.) should be degaussed (demag'd), and cleaned (in my opinion), after each 8 hours of tape transport, and before any recording session or transport of a calibration/alignment tape.

Note: The cute little cleaning cassettes are just about worthless. You need some good, tight-headed, cotton swabs on wooden sticks, and a good cleaning solution.

Enjoy,
Rich P

I couldn't agree more with Rich P. I've read 12, 15. 20 hours from different mfg. 8 hours of use seems like a good guideline, considering the added (25+ years?) age of the equipment. You're not hurting anything be being pro-active with it, just take care with the chemicals on the rubber so you don't cause premature failure.

the maxell he-44 head demagnetizer and alsop 3 tape path cleaner (fixed and auto reverse) are also simple easy to use devices that have worked well over the years from experience...
am not sure if maxell still make this model..i bought mine in the 80's and it still works well...but well worth a search for old stock
q-tip are also good for subborn deposits...

I just received my new demagnetizer:

http://www.usrecordingmedia.com/handmagdebyr.html

My old one was suitable for cassette decks, but I was not certain it was able to do the bigger parts of reel-to-reel decks. It probably is, but, R2R calibration tapes are so expensive, I wanted to make sure the decks are really d'mag'd before I load on the expensive tape.

This unit really has the juice. It is pricey, but IMHO well worth it.

Enjoy,
Rich P

John, my old one is now available...