[QuadList] Ampex Head Cleaner

[rabruner at aol.com]

That may be.  I was just going by what we were told in class with the main point being that Xylene will disolve tape binder, so it would seem to be contra-indicated for cleaning tape. Another story they told in that same class was that Xylene is considered a hazardous material in some jurisdictions and needs to be handled carefully.  He told a story about an Ampex head cleaner spill at the factory which required clearing the building and bringing in the hazmat crew. (I think for procedural reasons and not because anyone was injured, etc.)

  And in response to another post on here, the answer is yes, I was told at a Sony School not to use Ampex Head cleaner because it attacked some of the materials in the Sony heads.  I know from personal experience that it will do nasty things to some audio (non Ampex) heads. Altogether, I think it's a substance to approach with caution . . . .
Bob 








Attached Message


From:
C. Park Seward <park at videopark.com>

To:
Quad List <quadlist at quadvideotapegroup.com>

Subject:
Re: [QuadList] WAS QuadList Digest, Vol 42,Issue 47 NOW head cleaner

Date:
Wed, 21 Dec 2011 08:13:32 -0800



Hi Bob,


No Freon. From an Ampex manual:



"The recommended solvent is Ampex Head Cleaner (Cat 087-007) which is composed of 98% Xylene, 2% Trichloretylene and a dash of "Kodaflow", which is a wetting agent intended to enhance the flow of the solvent in restricted areas."


The TCH as to speed up evaporation.


And from the Material Safety Data Sheet, a slight variation:



It contains 86% of XYLENES (O-,M-,P- ISOMERS and 14% of METHYL CHLOROFORM (1,1,1-TRICHLOROETHANE)





Best,
Park



C. Park Seward
Cell: 818-535-2747
Home: 541-476-6657
2" Quad and 1" "C" transfers
The Transfer Lab at Video Park
Visit us: http://www.videopark.com







On Dec 20, 2011, at 10:00 PM, rabruner at aol.com wrote:


The old Ampex head cleaner was a mixture of Xylene and freon.  At an Ampex maintenance school for D2 machines, they told us they used Xylene because it was the only thing effective at dissolving the tape binder that deposited on the machines.  Many years ago, I worked at an automated FM station where we used xylene to make clear windows in audio tape to allow optical cuing of the spot reel.  My guess would be you would not want to use xylene directly on tape because it will attack and soften, if not remove completely, the binder.
Bob Bruner
W9TAJ


From: C. Park Seward <park at videopark.com>
To: Quad List <quadlist at quadvideotapegroup.com> 
Sent: Tuesday, December 20, 2011 8:59 AM
Subject: Re: [QuadList] Sugestions on how to clean sappers.





Thanks for all the good information. 


I have to agree about Xylene. A little aggressive for my tastes for cleaning glue, unless I get to a really bad spot.  However, I do use it exclusively when cleaning transports. 


To clean off the glue, I use alcohol and a Q-tip. It takes some time but will get the glue off. I then clean the tape with multiple passes with Pellon cloth and clean the machine after each pass since the guides scrape off any remaining glue.


Goof Off and Goo Gone may work too. But I must try the Eucalyptus. Sounds like a great solution. I will have at least 20 more reels to clean. 




Best,
Park



C. Park Seward
Cell: 818-535-2747
Home: 541-476-6657
2" Quad and 1" "C" transfers
The Transfer Lab at Video Park
Visit us: http://www.videopark.com






On Dec 19, 2011, at 9:15 PM, Chill315 at aol.com wrote:

I would not use xzylene.  I have used it to remove oxide from tape.  You might do more damage then good.Chris Hill










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