wet tape cleaner for cassette player?

Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

Hello,
we tend to use our boombox cassette player
quite a bit to play old tapes. We purchased
the cassette player about 4 months ago and play
about an hour of tapes a day.

I recently purchased a phillips wet tape cleaner
which has a cleaning tape and solution (from wmart).

is this safe to use on cassette player decks?


Please advice. THANKS

Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

In <mjtj019g30haorp4vbtlolms0h0dq9hb15@4ax.com>, on 02/09/05
at 11:41 AM, Laurence Payne <l@laurenceDELETEpayne.freeserve.co.uk>
said:


>On 8 Feb 2005 13:21:32 -0800, "ap" <corsica@ragingbull.com> wrote:

>>I recently purchased a phillips wet tape cleaner
>>which has a cleaning tape and solution (from wmart).
>>
>>is this safe to use on cassette player decks?

>Probably safe. But also probably not much use. Clean cassette heads
>and tape path with a cotton bud and alcohol. The cleaning solution
>from wmart will do.

Safe and better than not cleaning the deck, but not very effective.

Cotton swabs moistened with alcohol are much more effective, but in
some situations one cannot easily reach the heads, capstan, and
pressure roller with a swab. In such a situation, the cleaning
cassettes are more practical than disassembling the deck for every
cleaning.

At best the cleaning cassettes do a fair job of cleaning. Eventually,
you'll need to properly clean the deck.

Most tape "eating" problems go away when I clean a deck. A properly
cleaned pressure roller is dull black in color. If the swab comes back
with any visible dirt on it, clean the deck again. If this takes ten or
twenty minutes or more and dozens of swabs, keep going -- and clean the
deck more often in the future. You'll also have to figure out a
technique to keep from leaving swab hairs behind. (It helps to use
premium swabs, avoid the store brands.)

Use a damp swab, don't allow the alcohol to run into the bearings or
you'll need professional service.

-----------------------------------------------------------
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Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

On Wed, 09 Feb 2005 20:47:52 +0000, Andrew Chesters
<andrew.dontspam.chesters@ntlworld.com> wrote:

>Barry Mann wrote:
>SNIP
>>
>>>Probably safe. But also probably not much use. Clean cassette heads
>>>and tape path with a cotton bud and alcohol. The cleaning solution
>>
>>>from wmart will do.
>
>SNIP
>
>Use Isopropyl alcohol, not 18yr old whiskey. That would be a waste!

And that would be pure isopropyl, not rubbing alcohol, which is 30%
water and may also have oil in it.

-Bruce
Regards,

Bruce
Hitting reply is futile, use the following:
..(wb4yuc@juno.com).