Recorded VHS tape damaging my VCR. How do I fix this?
Jul 16, 2022 16:04:53 GMT
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extremewreck2000 likes this
Post by crumbelivable on Jul 16, 2022 16:04:53 GMT
Hello.
So, I recently obtained a recorded VHS tape from circa 1989. It contained recordings of ASN, of screenings of some western and Howard the Duck. I attempted to rewind the tape, but it wound up stopping every couple of minutes, and causing my VCR to make horrible noises. When I finally got it playing after a few hours, the quality was horrible, and the VCR continued making horrible noises, causing the tape to glitch wildly. After an hour or so of playing the tape, I put in another tape to try and see if it was effecting the vcr in any way. To my horror, the tape, which I knew played perfectly fine before, was all fucked up. My theories range from the head simply being dirty, to the tape itself being demagnetized, and spreading that demagnetization to the head.
This experience has severely disillusioned me about lost media preservation, so much so that I've almost considered stopping my collection of media entirely. Do you think I should give up with trying to preserve the things on this tape, or find a solution to keep trying with? I've considered getting a sort of sacrificial vcr to play the tape in, but that still doesn't resolve how much it's fucked up my regular vcr. I'll need a solution, and soon, or I may just quit media searching altogether.
So, I recently obtained a recorded VHS tape from circa 1989. It contained recordings of ASN, of screenings of some western and Howard the Duck. I attempted to rewind the tape, but it wound up stopping every couple of minutes, and causing my VCR to make horrible noises. When I finally got it playing after a few hours, the quality was horrible, and the VCR continued making horrible noises, causing the tape to glitch wildly. After an hour or so of playing the tape, I put in another tape to try and see if it was effecting the vcr in any way. To my horror, the tape, which I knew played perfectly fine before, was all fucked up. My theories range from the head simply being dirty, to the tape itself being demagnetized, and spreading that demagnetization to the head.
This experience has severely disillusioned me about lost media preservation, so much so that I've almost considered stopping my collection of media entirely. Do you think I should give up with trying to preserve the things on this tape, or find a solution to keep trying with? I've considered getting a sort of sacrificial vcr to play the tape in, but that still doesn't resolve how much it's fucked up my regular vcr. I'll need a solution, and soon, or I may just quit media searching altogether.
