[rescue] QIC Tape Archival

[Patrik Schindler]

Hello Kurt,

Am 03.12.2024 um 21:01 schrieb Kurt Nowak via rescue <rescue at sunhelp.org>:

> Just be very careful before you go down this road. There is more to this than just finding someone with an operational streamer. These old tapes very likely have bad drive bands as they are now decades old.

I have quite some experience with this condition, successfully repaired multiple cartridges, and spare parts for repairing more.

> It's been an issue everyone is having with these old cartridges...

From my own experience, this happens less often that your statement suggests.

> If there is resistance then the drive band is likely glued to the oxide layer which is bad news and will likely snap as soon as your steamer tries to read it.

I have never observed this. The band is plastic and not rubber, als often stated erroneously. With age, elasticity is lost. It does not decompose and stick to the magnetic tape itself, as rubber would do. Is this something you have observed yourself?

An issue I have also heard is the rubber roll in the drive decomposing and becoming more like bitumen. Once this mess has found its way into the cartridge, it's mostly game over. Or a lot of effort to clean the cartridge parts with appropriate chemistry. Still, I have not observed this myself.

> Even if it moves freely there is no guarantee that it will survive the transfer without snapping and creating a big tape salad in your cartridge.

Why should there be a salad? As soon as there is no traction from the plastic band, the reels stop moving rather quickly. Is this something you have observed yourself?

> You might also want to ask someone in the cctalk mailing list who has more advanced techniques than using a plain QIC streamer.

This is exactly the reason why I offered my help.

> Some folks have used techniques, such as baking the tapes in the oven

What advantages should this have besides possibly drying out residual moisture from less ideal storage conditions? I feel, it's increasing the risk of further damage by excess heat.

> and replacing the old drive bands with plasti-bands.

From experience, I'd only do this if the existing band has failed ("snapped"). Everything else is needless effort.

:wq! PoC