I once bought a cleaning kit for my high-end cassette recorders, and it had
two different cleaning solutions:

An alcohol-based solution for the record/erase heads,
and another solution for cleaning the rubber wheel, the pincher wheel.

They said that alcohol would corrode the rubber.

For whatever it's worth.

Peter Seymour


At 07:03 AM 9/5/05 -0400, burg.. wrote:
>My experience with cassette tapes goes back to 1969.  That experience
>causes me to disagree with Dan.  I relate the sound of squielling tapes to
>a tape that is much worn.  I do not know the exact cause.  Perhaps it
>relates to the cartridge in which the tape is housed.
>
>It is always a good idea to clean tape heads and capstin drives on
>machines.  They will wear longer and they will not muffle the sound of the
>tape if they are dirty.  I use grain alcohol for this purpose. I wet a cue
>tip with the alcohol and rub the wetted cotton on the heads and the
>rubber of the capstin drive.   Tom Burgunder
>
>On Mon, 29 Aug 2005, .dan. wrote:
>
>> It means the head is worn and the machine should be replaced.  A temporary
>> fix sometimes works.  Without a tape in the machine put it into play and
>> then advance both speed controls to full.  Using a cloth press it against
>> the wheel and shaft that are turning near the front of the opening for a
>> few seconds to wipe any material from them.  Then wipe the tape head which
>> is a square thing protruding near the middle of the front of the tape
>> opening to wipe any material that may have become attached. It is best to
>> ask your lending library for a replacement even if the fix seems to work
>> because the squeal will start soon again.
>>
>>                                XB
>>                                 IC|XC
>>
>>
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>
>
>VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
>To join or leave the list, send a message to
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>


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