Tape head cleaning disaster!

P

paintedtape

New member
Hey there, last week I inquired about cleaning my tape heads with some 99% isopropanol and an eye-shadow applicator pad. I was given the green light and went for it. Things seemed to work out well...

But it was a disaster! Well, at least on my walkman it was. (Nothing bad came of my sony tape deck, though the problem of the right channel not recording properly still prevails... any advice about fixing that?). Now when I play my tapes through the wee walkman, there is a big ol' noisy sound. Scratchy and evil is what comes through the head phones. (And it's not the headphones, as I have tried it with many different outputs and tapes). Is this a problem that I can fix? (It's not the end of the world if I cannot. I have another walkman. But I took the time to tape a picture of Arthur Russell on this one, so it has become special to me. Plus it was the one that worked...)

***It should be noted that I lay the blame for this problem on something I did, and not the kind advice I received on homerecording.com. I probably attacked something I wasn't supposed to. But I thought I was so damn careful...
 
Need to find yourself the correct cleaning solution (there's some on ebay)
Like say Tascam Head Cleaner, and even though it's hard to find, a good rubber cleaner...along with some good q-tips (not cheap ones)..that don't shed fibers.
 
I would think that on a walkman, the Q-tips would have been perfect size in the first place, as long as you do get the ones that are a little stiffer (I bought a ton at a bargain store that are made out of plastic with non-shedding tips). Also the safest thing to clean the heads with would be actual head cleaner, which you could go get at Radio Shack. I use this plus the generic dollar-store q-tips on my cassette deck and also on my reel-to-reel and never had a problem.
 
Thanks for the advice. ... do we think that this evil hissing and scratching noise is irreversible? Perhaps it will go away with a truly proper cleaning...
 
VESSEL2020 said:
Need to find yourself the correct cleaning solution (there's some on ebay)
Like say Tascam Head Cleaner, and even though it's hard to find, a good rubber cleaner...along with some good q-tips (not cheap ones)..that don't shed fibers.
Click to expand...

I bought some of that "proper" cleaning solution on ebay. They accepted my money but didn't send the product. Be careful with ebay, as I've been burned a few times!
 
paintedtape said:
Hey there, last week I inquired about cleaning my tape heads with some 99% isopropanol and an eye-shadow applicator pad. I was given the green light and went for it.
Click to expand...

OK, first off, you should have been using q-tips for a cassette deck as recommended in the previous thread. Second, 99% alcohol is fine. Third, excess liquid should have been squeezed (to prevent spills into the unit). Forth, it's doubtful that the cleaning screwed up your deck, unless you did something out of the ordinary. Step by step, HOW exactly did you clean it? Did any liquid spill in there? Take a good light, magnifying glass and inspect the heads. How do they look?
 
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