microdrive cartridge repair/rebuilding

[tofro]

I thought that the tape used in microdrive cartridges had some kind of lubrication applied to it. To help the tape slide over itself on the internal hub.

I doubt that video tape has this lubrication, as it does not need to rub together. So I suspect you may have jamming cartridge problems. I have had some cartridges jam on me in the past, and I have suspected that the lubrication has failed.

Having taken several cartridges apart, there is no lubricant on the tape or in the drive itself. I've had a couple tapes wound on paper towel rolls for a few years and there is no sign of any lubricant remnants.

I remember an article in an old QL World where Aplex announced the mdv tape was made from "the highest-quality BASF video tape". Video tape material is so slippery, it doesn't need any extra lubrication.

[bwinkel67]

I remember an article in an old QL World where Aplex announced the mdv tape was made from "the highest-quality BASF video tape". Video tape material is so slippery, it doesn't need any extra lubrication.

I do recall hearing the same thing. The rig I had in mind was to cut up a VHS tape, splitting it into the right thickness, while on the VHS spool. I was going to have to design a 3D printed gadget that fit over the tape and had a place for a razor blade (or multiple ones if I wanted to get more than one cut in). It would have a crank that would wind the tape through the blades. So I had a concept in mind but was worried the tape wouldn't cut evenly as I thought about how it worked.

I'm hoping techy shares more detail on this to see what his friend did. I'd love to see the mechanism for creating new tape, as it sounds like they were successful. Forget about 3D printing, or even making molds and generating new plastic pieces. I'm more interested in replacing the tape in existing cartridges as that would be relatively simple and could rejuvenate a bunch of dead cartridges.

[NormanDunbar]

I'm more interested in replacing the tape in existing cartridges as that would be relatively simple and could rejuvenate a bunch of dead cartridges.

I'm pretty sure that you are well aware that the tape in the cartridges is a loop? When running, the drive pulls the tape from the center, by the spool hub, and winds it on to the outside of the spool. This makes rewinding a fresh tape loop quite difficult I would suggest, without the proper equipment?

Just a thought.

I did open a cartridge which had jammed, decades ago, and as has been typed elsewhere in this topic, the internals are a bit on the fiddly side to realign and put back together. None of the few I opened ever got put back together. Plus, there was bloody tape everywhere!

I wish everyone the best of luck in this endevour, and I'm certainly not putting you off trying.


Cheers,
Norm.

[bwinkel67]

I'm pretty sure that you are well aware that the tape in the cartridges is a loop? When running, the drive pulls the tape from the center, by the spool hub, and winds it on to the outside of the spool. This makes rewinding a fresh tape loop quite difficult I would suggest, without the proper equipment?

Having taken more than a few apart, I have some experience with them

So, the way you load a new tape in is that you pull out the slack of the old tape at the felt part. Then you cut the tape and splice the new tape to the old tape, careful not to have any overflow of adhesive tape you use. Then you pull the other end of the old tape and the new tape will be fed correctly onto the spool as you keep pulling the old tape. Once you hit the splice point where the new and old tape meet (i.e. the thing you did at the start), you cut and splice the new tape onto itself. Then you feed the excess back in to the leading end carefully and voila, you have a working tape. I actually tried this and was able to transfer one tape spool I had completely undone to another that stopped formatting AND got it to fully work again.

So, as long as you have the old tape on the cartridge, replacing the tape with the new one is simple. The micrdorive mechanism works by pulling the tape (i.e. there are no gears or anything, it's actually quite simple) so that can be done by hand.

I did open a cartridge which had jammed, decades ago, and as has been typed elsewhere in this topic, the internals are a bit on the fiddly side to realign and put back together. None of the few I opened ever got put back together. Plus, there was bloody tape everywhere!

I did get one back together once and it still works, but that part is way more difficult than what I described above and I don't recommend it. Somehow the tape had disconnected at the splice point and I couldn't fish out the end. So I had to crack it open (really difficult because of all the glue) and managed to, after many, many frustrating moments, get it all back together. I'm sure my greasy hands killed a few sectors, but better than not working at all.

[NormanDunbar]

So, as long as you have the old tape on the cartridge, replacing the tape with the new one is simple. The micrdorive mechanism works by pulling the tape (i.e. there are no gears or anything, it's actually quite simple) so that can be done by hand.

Sounds a bit like how I used to rewire yacht masts electrical fittings. Great as long as you had the old wire, not so great if it had snapped!

I did get one back together once and it still works, but that part is way more difficult than what I described above and I don't recommend it.

Likewise, it's really not advised. But I suppose, in an absolute emergency anything goes!


Cheers,
Norm.

[bwinkel67]

Sounds a bit like how I used to rewire yacht masts electrical fittings. Great as long as you had the old wire, not so great if it had snapped!

Yup, that's why I'm excited about someone creating new sources of tape so I could re-spool some of my dead ones.

[Cristian]

It's a bold and challenging project Techy. Good luck!

[Martin_Head]

I thought that the tape used in microdrive cartridges had some kind of lubrication applied to it. To help the tape slide over itself on the internal hub.

I doubt that video tape has this lubrication, as it does not need to rub together. So I suspect you may have jamming cartridge problems. I have had some cartridges jam on me in the past, and I have suspected that the lubrication has failed.

Having taken several cartridges apart, there is no lubricant on the tape or in the drive itself. I've had a couple tapes wound on paper towel rolls for a few years and there is no sign of any lubricant remnants.

I didn’t mean a liquid lubricant. I meant, that there was something special about the base material of the tape itself, that made it slide over itself easily. As tofro said "the highest-quality BASF video tape"

EDIT Also it might be a good idea to use video tape from a 4 hour video tape, as it might be a bit thinner and more flexible than the smaller length cassettes.