In article <thv04l$hqek$
1@dont-email.me>, mcp6453 <
mcp6453@gmail.com> wrote: >I've always used denatured alcohol to clean tape heads. At the moment, I
have a head with some black gunk on it that I cannot get off. At times,
I've seen other chemicals recommended, but I don't remember what the
are, and I dare not try anything that has a chance of harming the head.
The two chemical names I remember are MEK and Naphtha.
If you have goo from sticky tapes, xylene will get it off. Naptha probably will too, but will be much less aggressive than xylene. MEK is a lot more aggressive and will almost certainly work, but is pretty toxic stuff.
Hardware store xylene will be fine, just follow it with a good cleaning with alcohol.
Do not be afraid to use some elbow grease! You won't damage the head with
your thumb, even putting some good force on it.
Also... 92% isopropanol is a more effective solvent than 92% denatured
alcohol, and it costs less. You can get high purity isopropanol at the drugstore for cheap... if it isn't next to the rubbing alcohol ask at
the counter. Not that there is anything wrong with denatured.
The generic "Ampex Head Cleaner" used to be xylene until it was replaced with Freon TF for safety. Now that you can't get TF anymore....
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
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