I need a Quad 8 track repaired locally (NJ, NY, CT)

[MMM]

Hello all,

You may recall from the "Shocker Log" that I won the 360 DEGREES OF BILLY PAUL sealed Quad 8 track recently sold on eBay. Well, the tape arrived a few weeks ago, but it is not currently playable.

The tape looked basically as described in the auction, except that there was a small drill hole in the label end of the cartridge. No big deal...

So, the next thing I did was carefully slit the opening, so I did not have to remove any shrinkwrap from the sleeve. I took the tape out, and as expected, the pad was totally dryrotted. Since this is one of the earlier style CBS Quads, with a locking tab under the label, and the cartridge was new and pristine, I really didn't want to make a slit into the label. So I carefully removed all the junk, pulled out a bit of tape, cut a new "Win-Gib" pad in half, put some Super Glue on the back of each piece, and carefully inserted each half with tweezers onto the original pad's backing. Next was the splice, which was thankfully right in place. It was still intact, but weakening, so I replaced that pretty easily. I also got a little bit of Super Lube into the roller center, barely having to wipe off any excess where it didn't belong. I was so proud of being able to do all this on a closed cartridge. But, well...

Once I pushed the loop I pulled out back into the cartridge, I noticed that once in, the tape wouldn't move, from the supply (left) side. Well, after all that detailed work, I had to open the cartridge! So, I carefully made the slits to get to the tab under the label, and opened it up. Arrgh!!!

Now, I do not have the largest collection of these tapes in the world, but do have quite a few. I've opened many of these, and have never seen anything like this. Besides some excess tape wrapped around the top/center of the reel (where the tape feeds out from the hub), was stuck tape, WITH MULTIPLE LEADS COMING OUT OF THE CENTER!!! See below - the excess tape was removed when I took these pictures, but the two leads haven't changed...

I am not qualified to repair this mess. I even had to cut off a short section of tape, which I carefully spooled onto an empty plastic 8mm film reel, secured with splicing tape attached to the back of the audio tape, which will have to be spliced back in. I do not have a reel deck to unspool (from the take up side) & respool this cartridge.

Due to the rarity of this tape, not to mention the state the cartridge is currently in, I refuse to mail this anywhere for repair. I am looking for someone who is really good at respooling 8 track cartridges so that they play correctly as intended, and is relatively local. I would need to personally bring the tape to you for repair, and I want to wait for it while being repaired.

I live in Northeastern New Jersey. I am willing to drive a reasonable distance. Please advise on how much fixing this tape would cost. Hopefully I can work out a date, etc. with someone who is willing to work "in person" on this. If you do not want to respond in this thread, I have the PM function on.

I'm not sure if I started this thread in the correct "room" of the Forum. If not, could a moderator please move?

Thanks so much, in advance...

 

[Q-Eight]

My recommendation is if you can still see the splice, cut that again, and pull from the center until you only get a single ribbon coming from the center. Wrap everything back up. I've had this issue with a few tapes. It's not fun.

 

[mtgc]

Go to this address:

http://www.katestrackshack.com/servicesoffered.htm

I have used these folks to repair over 100 of my 8 tracks. They do a fine job and are very reasonable as to prices.

MTGC (Michael)

 

[MMM]

My recommendation is if you can still see the splice, cut that again, and pull from the center until you only get a single ribbon coming from the center. Wrap everything back up. I've had this issue with a few tapes. It's not fun.

Thanks. The problem is that what's coming out of the inner hub is very tight. I tried pulling a bit when I first opened it, but looked like the tape would have gotten damaged from it not coming out as freely as it should.

 

[MMM]

Go to this address:

http://www.katestrackshack.com/servicesoffered.htm

I have used these folks to repair over 100 of my 8 tracks. They do a fine job and are very reasonable as to prices.

MTGC (Michael)

Thanks. I have bought pads from them. Nice people. I'm trying to avoid the risk of mailing it, but I might have to. I got a PM from someone who would fix this (and knows what he's doing), that I may send it to...

 

[mtgc]

Well, if you mail it, use UPS and insure it.

MTGC (Michael)

 

[ndiamone]

What You Do if you Can't Pull the Tape from the Center of an 8 Track Anymore:
1.Take a section about an inch out that is already hanging there and cut it on a Xedit or EdiTall block.
2. S-L-O-W-L-Y wind the remaining tape onto the outside of the hub.
3. Find an empty 8 track or 4 track cartridge. Place it pad-to-pad with your damaged tape.
4. The huge B and C and D size used for mall music works best.(8 track on the left of the table empty on the right (or v.v.)
5. Thread the tape through the pinch roller or catch mechanism (make sure to tape the catch open if using a 4 track)
6. S-L-O-W-L-Y by one finger wind the tape from the outside in. No reel to reel needed. Tape very thin and can be damaged.
7. When damaged tape is empty, dust V groove in hub lightly with artists fine graphite, apply with small paintbrush.
8. Reverse process to get tape back into it's original shell.Center of tape pack should have no more than 1MM of wobble room.
9. Pull tape easily out from center, through mechanism and splice on a Xedit or EdiTall block placed across top of open shell.
10. Replace changer foil, pads and roller as needed. Reassemble shell and play to changer foil and pull out of player.

 

[MMM]

Thanks for your assistance...

A while back, "QuadBob" (Bob Herndon) helped me out and did a great job fixing the Billy Paul tape. I was leery of mailing it because it's so hard to come by, but it all worked out well. Bob's a great guy...

 

[ndiamone]

The other thing you can try if your tape looks like the one pictured above:

PRACTICE ON A TRASH TAPE FIRST.

It looks as if this tape has come out of the center in more than one place.
In this case, take the side with the least amount of tape spillage per section.
Loop it over itself until it is sitting around the center, however improperly.
Repeat for the long side of the same spilled section and repeat one at a time for all other sections.
Proceed with instructions above.

 

[Doug G.]

What happens is that the tape starts to wind itself up the wrong way on the center of the reel.
This makes it appear that the tape has more than one part coming from the center but, of course,
this is impossible since the tape is a continuous loop.

This can occur when the tape pack tightens up and there isn't enough "slop" in the center. The tape
gets dragged around the reel from friction.

All that needs to be done is to slowly unwind the tape and eventually there will be only the one "end" coming out.

It can be a rather delicate operation though to avoid tape damage and may still require cutting the splice.

Always make sure there is plenty of space around the center spool so the tape can unwind easily.

Doug