What happens when the tension piece falls out?

[zenith2134]

Hey. I have a few cassettes I found which have no tensioner in place. They run rough in reverse and fast forward but play fine. Could this hurt my deck in any way ?

(I apologize for all the questions but I'm still learning analog recording)

[MacGyver]

you mean the felt pressure pad? i had one fall off a couple times, and when it did, all the high frequencies went with it! a tiny dab of super glue on the pad, and press it back into place, back to normal!! you mean to tell me that your deck will play fine even with out the pad?!?!

[Scorpion8]

If it's a dual capstan deck like a Nak or top-end Denon, then the felt pressure pad isn't needed. That parts job is mainly to keep the tape flat against the Playback/record head especially in portable/auto players, but also many home decks. Dual capstan decks take care of this and most of them (Naks, for instance) have devices which push the pressure pad up off the head so the capstand drive mechanism can do it's job. I've played tapes w/o pressure pads on my dual capstan-drive decks and they play fine.

However, what Lady Ayeka says is correct. Using some non-metallic device, pull a few inches of tape out of the shell at the head-gap and then you can either re-glue the original pad back in there or scavenge a pad off another broken parts-shell tape. Use tweezers to keep your fingers and skin oils away from contact with the tape.

[zenith2134]

Skin oils? But I am not human...

Thanks Lady Ayeka and Scorpion. I'm going to try and scavenge some old junk tape for the pressure pad and then reglue.

[stuwee]

Skin oils? But I am not human...

Thanks Lady Ayeka and Scorpion. I'm going to try and scavenge some old junk tape for the pressure pad and then reglue.

:-oo:-oo*stirpot* Pics Please zenith! You sound yummy *devil*

[Mr. Lin]

:-oo:-oo*stirpot* Pics Please zenith! You sound yummy *devil*

You're starting to scare us Craig.*???*

[MacGyver]

You're starting to scare us Craig.*???*


indeed. something's wrong with this guy today. must be something in the air in his house...

[Scorpion8]

stuwee's mind is a monorail, and that monorail runs in the gutter. Luckily, not the same gutter as mine, but a gutter nonetheless.

[Mr. Lin]

stuwee's mind is a monorail, and that monorail runs in the gutter. Luckily, not the same gutter as mine, but a gutter nonetheless.

At least his avatar is much more appropriate now. :D

[zenith2134]

Stuwee, I am sufficiently scared too. But yeah, I am 100% alien and my skin is a metallic substance unknown to you earthlings. I appear human during the day, however. Yummy enough? *devil*

Bet those skin oils really screw around with a tape path...maybe I'll give my tapes a soaking in pure isopropyl alcohol just to be sure....

[Mr. Lin]

Just wear gloves when handling tapes.

[Web Police]

Just wear gloves when handling tapes.

I'd wear a tin foil hat just to be sure. *devil*

[Mr. Lin]

I'd wear a tin foil hat just to be sure. *devil*

Oh I do that too, it prevents the electromagnetic field generated by your audio equipment from scrambling your brain.

[Scorpion8]

Shove the tin hat in your shorts. Brains can be replaced, and there are so many people out there each day that don't use any so why not? But the privates.... now those gotta be protected. You'll either shield them like a Faraday's Cage, or concentrate the RF energy and microwave 'em!