Scotch 3M 226 - 1/2 known to be sticky??

  • Thread starter Thread starter VESSEL2020
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VESSEL2020

VESSEL2020

Somewhere in Space
Anyone out there that can confirm if Scotch 3M 226 - 1/2 is known to be sticky or not?
My friend has a case of 10 he said he'd sell to me for $150.00
Problem is,..he lives in a different state and doesn't own a 1/2 inch deck.
He said it was stored in a cool, dry area.
I can always get my cash back if it ends up bein' sticky,..but I'm not willing to throw a reel on my machine that will have me cleaning oxide off it for days.

Thanks
 
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Yes absolutely! Scotch 226 is one of the worst for sticky-shed syndrome. You won't find a good reel of this tape now days... and if anyone does I would like to hear from them. 226 was THE problem tape for 3M/Scotch when sticky-shed first got on our radar, and is the reason 3M researchers invented the tape baking process with large convection ovens. They ran a program for a few years where people could send in their bad 226 tapes for baking so they could recover what was on it. 226 was replaced in the early 90's by 966 (AKA 986) to address the problem with 226.

It's unfortunate because 226 was a great tape when it came out, but very quickly went sticky in a matter of months in some cases.
 
Beck said:
Yes absolutely! Scotch 226 is one of the worst for sticky-shed syndrome.
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Thanks Beck!!! You just saved me a big headache and extra time I really didn't have to spare!! Much appreciated!!
 
So we should see your friends tape up on ebay very soon then LOL

Alan.
 
Beck said:
Yes absolutely! Scotch 226 is one of the worst for sticky-shed syndrome. You won't find a good reel of this tape now days... and if anyone does I would like to hear from them. 226 was THE problem tape for 3M/Scotch when sticky-shed first got on our radar, and is the reason 3M researchers invented the tape baking process with large convection ovens. They ran a program for a few years where people could send in their bad 226 tapes for baking so they could recover what was on it. 226 was replaced in the early 90's by 966 (AKA 986) to address the problem with 226.

It's unfortunate because 226 was a great tape when it came out, but very quickly went sticky in a matter of months in some cases.
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I think you mean "996." Pretty sure that 966 is an adhesive tape. 226 was awful sounding tape, imho. At least the early reels they gave me to test for TASCAM were.
 
RRuskin said:
I think you mean "996." Pretty sure that 966 is an adhesive tape. 226 was awful sounding tape, imho. At least the early reels they gave me to test for TASCAM were.
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It was indeed 966, which was very quickly renamed 986. Probably because it was too easily confused with the +9 996. 966/986 was the +6 made to replace the ailing 226. Everything went to a 9xx number at that time. 808 was sticky as well, and that was replaced with 908. I actually liked 226 a bit better than Ampex 456 when it first came out, but to each his own. It all comes down to taste. But my all time favorite 3M/scotch tape was and still is 206 and its 1-mil little brother, 207.

If you find 986 its good stuff and is not prone to sticky-shed. And of course there is plenty of NOS 206/207 out there and its all good.

Unfortunately Scotch uses many of the same model numbers now for its adhesive tape, so it is harder to sort out when googling or searching eBay.

986.webp
 
witzendoz said:
So we should see your friends tape up on ebay very soon then LOL

Alan.
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No Alan, He's a good egg. I told him it was sticky and if he tried to sell it, he would have problems with a buyer.
Actually,..he said he was gonna take the tape off the reels and throw it away...then give me the empty reels.;):thumbs up:
 
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