Head Cleaner / Demag - URGENT

  • Thread starter Thread starter El Barto
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El Barto

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Hey, I bought an AudioBRUSH Cassette Tape Deck Cleaner/Demagnetizer from RadioShack for $10. It's a cassette with 5 little brushes in it on the bottom and cleaning fluid. Now, I've heard the stories of "You better use a good head cleaning kit," and I was wondering if this would be a good one. Has anyone here used it?

Oh, and should I take out my tape from the 4 track when I'm not recording and have the unit shut off? As in, the audio tape, not the cleaner. If I leave it in, does it lower the quality or anything of the tape or deck?
 
You would be better off using head cleaning fluid and rubber cleaning fluid and manually cleaning the heads and the pinch roller. The unit you have nowwill probably work ok for now, but after many uses it's effectiveness will go down the tubes (as well as your heads!!). Tascam makes a kit that includes head and rubber cleaner, I think it will run you from $15 to $20 bucks or so. But you will get a lot of use out of it, and really it will be cheaper considering that you will be doing alot of cleaning (you should anyway). Also you can get cotton schwabs from most electronic stores to do the cleaning. Q tips work good too.
A for demagnitizing, I really wouldn't trust anything other than a wand type demagnitizer. They are easy to use, but you still have to be carefull! These units aren't too cheap (I think i paid $35 for mine) but you'll never have to buy another one as long as you don't break it or lose it.
Your four track will last you many many years if and only if you do the proper maintenence. I've had mine for six and it still sounds good. (I really could use a new pinch roller though- they are always the first things to go.)

-jhe

[This message has been edited by James HE (edited 03-24-2000).]
 
As for leaving the tapes in, I've never really thought about it and I'm guilty of doing the same every once in a while. But since you bring it up, powering up and down the machine with the tape in might cause some problems. Like say if you get some nasty power surge or something it might cause some thing to happen to the tape- I don't know though for sure- I don't think it would hurt the machine though.

-jhe
 
El Barto!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DO NOT USE THAT CASSETTE THING!!!!!!!


That is not made to clean the heads on a multitrack cassette machine!!! James HE is right about the head cleaning and rubber cleaning fluid and the swabs. BUT DON"T USE THAT CASSETTE THING!!
And IT IS bad to leave your tapes in the machine. It is bad for the tape and your heads. It's just not a good idea, and it's not that hard to do - if you have trouble remembering (which I used to) use a post it note somewhere on your machine to remind you.

Brad

(sorry for the yelling, I am just pissed at radio shack, because you probably asked and they said "Oh yeah, sure! This works great on all cassette machines...")
 
How is it bad for the heads exactly Brad? The heads and the tape are in no way making contact with each other. Unless the tape is playing or recording, the only parts that are touching the tape on my machine are the little plactic clips that hold the tape in place. :confused:

-jhe
 
What if I just use the cleaning fluid that came with the kit and a cotton swab? And I get the Tascam kit when I run out. By the way, where can I order the Tascam cleaning kit?
 
Hey JHE,
It's those brushes. They act like sandpaper on heads, which, I think is needed sometimes on your home stereo, but not on recording gear.

El B,
What are the ingredients on that head cleaner?
 
Brad,

I wasen't taking about the headcleaner- i was asking about leaving the tapes in the recorder! oops...



[This message has been edited by James HE (edited 03-24-2000).]
 
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