Tapes Versus Ultrasonic Record Cleaning Machines

[Ron Resnick]

Does one have to be mindful of where one places an ultrasonic record cleaning machine vis-à-vis magnetic tapes?

Obviously the tapes should not be stored right around the record cleaning machine, but is there a rule of thumb as to how far away the tapes should be from such machines?

 

[dminches]

Does one have to be mindful of where one places an ultrasonic record cleaning machine vis-à-vis magnetic tapes?

Obviously the tapes should not be stored right around the record cleaning machine, but is there a rule of thumb as to how far away the tapes should be from such machines?

You can get a magnetism meter so see if the record cleaning machine gives off a magnetic field. I would be surprised if it did.

 

[Tapetech]

Three feet separation will be fine.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Three feet separation will be fine.

Thank you!

 

[Ron Resnick]

I was thinking about getting the Furutech vinyl record demagnetizer, but I’m sure that sooner or later I would make a mistake and demagnetize a precious tape.

 

[dcc]

Why don’t you consider a CS Port Static Eliminator that also incorporates a vinyl demag function?

 

[Pacha]

I keep my ultrasonic cleaner in another room from my system. I use a VPI 17i for touch up in the audio room.

 

[PeterA]

I was thinking about getting the Furutech vinyl record demagnetizer, but I’m sure that sooner or later I would make a mistake and demagnetize a precious tape.

Ron, what does the Furutech purport to do? Do demagnetized LPs sound better?

 

[Audire]

I keep our Degritter in another room as well. But the difference our Degriiter makes is unbelievable.

 

[analogsa]

Three feet separation will be fine.

What would happen at one foot?

 

[Walter66]

It's good to store mangetic tapes as much unavailable from ANY external magnetic fields as it's possible.
Once I looked behind the curtains of german television during a technical study term.

Even the very small magnetic field of the earth is able to distort the mangetic tapes used for video recordings.
They have to be regularly copied every year or so to interrupt this effect, otherwise, the quality constantly degrades over the years.
The result will be a washed out like TV- picture, without any sharp contrasts and contours on the screen.

This happened to some tapes they forgot to copy in time and now they are literally lost.
Those time documents were only recorded by magnetic tapes, not parallel on film. It was done starting in the 1960's, when TV companies explored the great opportunities of magnetic recording instead of film recording (which always needs chemical process to deliver the pictures and has to be transferred physical to any destination in the country).

So try to shield your magnetic tapes from everything and never put electrical gear even in a location near them. It can hurt those tiny impulses and degrade them over time. I'm not talking about short periods here, but in the long run no professional archive will do it that way.
The magnetic master tapes of records are stored in a dry, humidity free, specific temperature and free of magnetic fields environment to stay fresh and healthy over decades.

 

[Zeotrope]

The magnetic master tapes of records are stored in a dry, humidity free, specific temperature and free of magnetic fields environment to stay fresh and healthy over decades.

Not dry and humidity free! That will dry and crack the tape. Ideal storage conditions: “Temperature and humidity in a storage environment should ideally not fluctuate and be within the ranges of 55-70 degrees Fahrenheit and 30-55% relative humidity (RH). Avoid storing home collections in places with unregulated climates such as an attic or garage”