Q's about cassette/414mkII cleaning and degaussing

A

adrianhouse

New member
Hi all,

So I'm now the proud owner of a mint 414mkII, excited to begin analog recording!:D Problem is that's literally all I have so far, other than a few guitars. Reading the owner's manual and looking on the net a bit it seems that I need a cleaning kit of some sort for the heads etc., and a de-magnetizer :confused:.
Looking around a bit it looks like there are:
a) kits which are a cleaning cassette that you just put in and it cleans and degausses the thing - I'm guessing these aren't the best choice?
b) a kit like in the owner's manual of the 414mkII, which just looks like two bottles of stuff, one for the heads and one for the rubber (couldn't find any of them online), which you use with cotton wool (?) and then
c) a demagnetizer which looks something like a barbecue lighter that you plug in. There's a cheap one on Ebay supposed to be "just like nakamichi" - should one go for the brand name though?
[I'm just assuming that you can't buy these things in stores anymore (still can't get out of my house much to check due to illness, though getting better)]
Then I saw an article (http://www.ehow.com/how_10507_maintain-cassette-deck.html) that said "Commercial head-cleaning fluids contain additives that will cause more harm than benefit.", and that you should use "anhydrous isopropyl alcohol" - true?
How important is cleaning and degaussing? How often should one do it? Just want to make sure I get the most out of this thing!:)
Should I put some sort of dust cover over the 414 when not using it?

Lots of questions I know :o. Again, any help is much appreciated, and happy New Year to you all!

Cheers,
Adrian
 
Congratulations!

There are "tape maintenance kits" that sometimes show up on eBay, which contain 'two bottles of stuff',... one fluid head cleaner and one fluid rubber cleaner. Tascam used to make an "official" head cleaning kit that fit this description, but these chemicals were banned in the US,... I believe for containing harmful chemicals that damaged the Ozone Layer, (boo hoo!):eek:;)... or was it that they caused cancer, I can't remember, (double-boo hoo!!):eek:;)

Most people use a 91% alcohol and cotton swabs to clean the heads, but for lack of a rubber cleaning fluid, sometimes a water dampened swab is sufficient to clean the pinch roller.

The cassette-shell type cleaners and demagnetizers are no-good for Portastudios, and I'd avoid using them as such. They'd be okay for a standard cassette player, but not a 2X speed deck like the 414mkII.

The "wand" type demagnetizer is what you'll want for demagnetizing. I've seen the ones on eBay that you refer to, and I suppose they'd be the best bet,... unless anyone on this board has a good reason to recommend against them.

The (downloadable) 414 manual says you should clean before and after any session, and demagnetize after about 10 hours of actual record/play time on the heads.

I've seen "pros" (in magazines) recommend a far wider range of demagging, from every session to not at all, so with this as with all things, YMMV.:eek:;)
 
Cheers, thanks for those straight answers to my boring questions! Pretty sure about what to get now - just one of those wand thingies and some alcohol and cotton, I think. Now to find some tapes (no luck so far!)!
Adrian
 
I was just last night making some older manuals scans to add to tech.archive, and I came across the "care section" and it reminded me again about how many times I saw mentioning using alcohol for cleaning rubber pinch rollers as recomendation in manuals.
So, is alcohol really bad for rubber? I really don't know for sure.
Any serious thought on it? And I mean - not! anecdotal stories about how vodka can destroy the tightness of thoughts :D
I've heard it's bad. I did clean rubber rollers with alcohol and they are just fine as I can tell. Or is it just a matter of time? and I just don't know what to expect in the future?
Somebody speak out, if you really know what the deal here.
I am attaching the cut from Denon DN-770R Cassette Deck Manual, as example:
 

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adrianhouse said:
How important is cleaning and degaussing? How often should one do it? Just want to make sure I get the most out of this thing!:)
Should I put some sort of dust cover over the 414 when not using it?
Click to expand...

Adrian,

Just wanted to add to the already good advice, my 2 cent worth.. ;)

Cleaning is very, very important. I do it after every recording session. For my portastudio I use q-tips, but ones with the paper or wood sticks and not plastic, also 99% isopropyl alcohol (but you can use any 90% or higher) and once in a while I use a slightly water dampened (excess squeezed out) lint free cloth (in only warm water), a cloth such as microfiber, to do a once over on the pinch roller, usually just turning it with one hand while holding the cloth against it with another. (I never use cotton for that as it gets tangled up).

I never demagnetize but do stay away from those cassette based demaggers, as ARP mentioned.

YES, certainly, cover your portastudio, be it only with some clean plastic, when not in use. I cover all of my stuff with some nice (and new) see through garbage bags.:eek::D Dust is not a good thing at all.:cool:
 
From what I've read and heard, alcohol on rubber pinch rollers basically speeds up the process of them drying out and getting hard. I'm not sure if that is what has happened on my Akai reel to reel deck or if it's simply old age. I clean the pinch rollers on my RT-909 with a simple solution of soap and water. My 424mkII is overdue for cleaning. I guess today would be a good day to do it seeing as how I have nothing else to do today.:D;)
 
Cheers guys,

Thanks for all the good advice on maintenance. So Cjacek, you don't demagnetize at all? Seems to be a varied opinion on this one. :confused:
 
cjacek said:
I guess I'm a hopeless case.:eek::D
Click to expand...
I don't demagnetize. But, then I don't magnetize much either lately.
I guess I'm a hopeless bag. :D
********
...and, Slow motion makes me nervous :D
 
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