Sticky Shed on RMGI tapes?

JonHunt

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Nov 19, 2021
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Gear owned
MidiStudio 688, TSR-8
So I got my TSR-8 out and running for the first time in a few years. I noticed it wouldn’t record on tracks 7 or 8 without severe volume drop and a muffled sound. So I cleaned the heads, started over. No change. Cleaned and demagged the heads... no change. So to investigate I played the entire tape, after which I saw an unusual buildup of oxide on the heads; like, cakes of it. I thought the old ampex tape I was using had finally given up on me. Next I cleaned the heads again and tried a newer (2013?) RMG tape. It worked better, but after a few song length playbacks I still see a buildup of oxide and it sounds muffled. So my question is, has anyone noticed sticky shed on RMG tapes, or is something in the tape path causing the oxide buildup?
 
It can be sharp guides or lifters but the heads in a TSR8 have been known to have pole pieces that shave tape off the item running on it. I even had the head lapped and polished and it did the same thing still. I get the impression that the surrounding material is not as hard as the pole pieces and then it after enough hours begins to shave oxide from tape on certain tracks. many 8 channel heads have been mounted the poor way and so their wear is not uniform across the head- look at the wear patter and see if it is a rectangle or a trapezoid.
 
My heads have essentially no wear, fortunately. I do think one of the guides has some pitting that may be shaving off oxide. For now it’s working much better than before after a deep cleaning
 
Any guides that have irregular issue I draw a sandpaper strip through there several times to get rid of any sharp edges. The sandpaper scratches will be worn away by the tape down the line. I use 400 grit and sometimes 600 depending on what I am dealing with.
 

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