MRL calibration Tape, Expiration Tape???

Tim Gillett said:
How long it stays good before going sticky again is just time and the environment it's been stored in, during that time. It's not related to number of passes.

Sticky shed of tape is caused by its absorbing moisture from the atmosphere. It has nothing to do with being played except that it's exposed to the atmosphere for a short time.
But playing a sticky shed tape even once without the moisture driven out of it is of course asking for permanent damage to it.

Tim
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Absolutely.

My response was answering SD's question if a baked tape would only be good for a single pass once baked.

I purchase used 456 from a local TV station and after I bake it, it's good for a few sessions which include hundreds of passes on them and then about 6 - 12 months latter, depending on the reel I'm using, it will require another bake.

Cheers! :)
 
cjacek said:
Is Tim Gillett trying to pick a fight with the Ghostmyster now ? Oh my ... and I thought I'd seen it all! :eek:
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As much as you guys like to pile onto Tim around here, in this particular case he was just adding some good information to a very quickly written post on my part.

There are so few of us analog enthusiasts around any more that I think it would be a good thing if the few of us who remain and make the effort to help people out here don't eat each other alive in some sort of childish pissing contest about who is the smartest or most evil.

Cheers! :)
 
The Ghost of FM said:
As much as you guys like to pile onto Tim around here, in this particular case he was just adding some good information to a very quickly written post on my part.

There are so few of us analog enthusiasts around any more that I think it would be a good thing if the few of us who remain and make the effort to help people out here don't eat each other alive in some sort of childish pissing contest about who is the smartest or most evil.

Cheers! :)
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Although it’s Tim G that does the jumping, I’ll say amen to the second paragraph... and since we all know I'm both the smartest and most evil, why beat a dead horse? ;)
 
The Ghost of FM said:
Absolutely.

My response was answering SD's question if a baked tape would only be good for a single pass once baked.

I purchase used 456 from a local TV station and after I bake it, it's good for a few sessions which include hundreds of passes on them and then about 6 - 12 months latter, depending on the reel I'm using, it will require another bake.

Cheers! :)
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Thanks Ghost for your comments. I appreciate them.

Cheers Tim.
 
evm1024 said:
My MRL was made in Aug 1990. No shed (at this time!).

I tend to keep it in a freezer bag with a few desicant packs when not in use.
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It's interesting how some don't even get sticky shed. Do you know what kind of tape they used to make your MRL?
 
Tim Gillett said:
Does he? How do you know that? I would have thought he could speak for himself.

Tim
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Tim Gillett said:
Thanks Ghost for your comments. I appreciate them.

Cheers Tim.
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You know Tim, Now might be a great time to show a little humility. I know that you have a lot to offer and hope that you know that you do not need to prove anything.

I've stuck my foot in my mouth many times. And thinking that Ghost did not know (re)sticky is a function of time and not passes is putting your foot in your mouth. Or perhaps you just corrected his badly worded post with your badly worded clarification?

Olive branch extended
 
Beck said:
It's interesting how some don't even get sticky shed. Do you know what kind of tape they used to make your MRL?
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MRL knows of the problem and can tell you if you have SSS tape or not. They have a discount program and they recommend not using SSS tapes for alignment. SSS tapes for recording, you take your chances and maybe you are OK. Alignment is another issue. The SSS tape is not just "sticky" from moisture, but it sheds all the time it is running past the heads. It was a bad binder formulation and if you run it long enough, you will get increased headwear and (like what happened to me) maybe have to have your heads lapped. This shed oxide buries itself into the pores of the head and JRF knows far better than anyone why SSS tape is bogus and should just be replaced.
 
MCI2424 said:
MRL knows of the problem and can tell you if you have SSS tape or not. They have a discount program and they recommend not using SSS tapes for alignment. SSS tapes for recording, you take your chances and maybe you are OK. Alignment is another issue. The SSS tape is not just "sticky" from moisture, but it sheds all the time it is running past the heads. It was a bad binder formulation and if you run it long enough, you will get increased headwear and (like what happened to me) maybe have to have your heads lapped. This shed oxide buries itself into the pores of the head and JRF knows far better than anyone why SSS tape is bogus and should just be replaced.
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Yes, thank you for your post. I am very familiar with sticky shed (unhappily so) and have spoken of it in detail on these forums in the past. I was just interested in which formulation Ethan's tape was, as I know MRL used many different types over the years. I'm keeping notes on which are more likely to go bad. 406 and AGFA 468 have thus far had the best record. Ampex 456, 3M 226 and AGFA 469 have the worst.

You are correct that MRL has a tape trade-in policy for tapes with sticky shed. Unfortunately, it's only a 10% discount and you must buy the tape directly from them rather than a dealer. However, McKnight also recommends baking as a "temporary measure" in publication Shed_2.5, which you can find on the MRL site as a PDF file.

From that I gather he doesn't see sticky shed or baking as corrupting the accuracy of the calibration tape, provided it is caught and corrected in time. My own experience with shedding calibration tapes bears this out.

:)
 
Hey Guys, Thanks for all the great input!

evm1024 said:
It is Ampex 406.
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My MRL tape is also recorded on Ampex 406, made in 89' just like Ethan's, and is surprisingly still in great condition too!!! No signs of sticky shed at this point.
Yeah, Ampex 406. :D
 
51L214 for sale

Hi,

This is my first post on the forum, nice to meet you all! I have a 2" MRL 51L214 calibration tape (Ampex 406) made in 10/1988.
First of all I've read the "Is My Calibration Tape Still Accurate?" document on the MRL website and it doesn't seem to show any of the physical sign of wear/decay, but I don't have a machine to test it on...

2 questions: What (ballpark) would it be worth?

also,

Is anyone here interested in buying it? Any reasonable offer considered,

cheers,

Tim.
 
I have an MRL tape made in 1986 (I believe) on Ampex 406 tape, and it's not succumbed to SSS yet. *knock on wood* Althought it probably would be a good idea to store it in a ziplock bag with a couple dessicant packs...
 
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