Isopropanol, one last time

Sk106 · 18th November 2011

Still got all cassette tapes of the past stashed in a box – about 50 or so. Finally decided to get my thumb out and copy them to CD, before I sell off the tape deck too. Play back tape, record into wavelab, burn to CD.

Thought I might as well clean the tape heads too, get as a clean transfer as I can, it being irrevocable. Went to the pharmacy and one final time in life I would pick up a bottle of isopropanol and cotton swabs. The assistant could’ve been an ITB girl, 'cause she looked at me like I was Fred Flintstone’s cousin when I asked for it. She barely knew where to find it. :P

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...eke_heller.jpg

Man, the smell of it, carefully swabbing tape heads, though very small ones on a tape deck .. makes one remember things, makes one feel old, yet people are still doing it out there. A few even says it's the only way to go.

Anyone got some memories, or stories involving isopropanol? or maybe drink recipes? Maybe some opinions and comments on cleaning heads? First time I cleaned tape heads, not knowing what to do I used a strong blue detergent and a kitchen sponge (for real). I've heard about someone using sandpaper too.

Matti · 18th November 2011

I have bottle for cleaning circuit boards and faders. Otherwise I´m more to wine and beer.
Back in the day used for tape heads and video recorders drums with buff leather / chamois

Matti

AndyFromDenver · 18th November 2011

Haha. My friend ( a 4 track maestro) spilled an entire beer on his. He was told to buy as close to 100% alcohol and just dump it on there and give it a few days......results pending or it's still broken

cinealta · 18th November 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sk106

Anyone got some memories, or stories involving isopropanol?

Yup, swabbing the heads and tape guides. Getting ready to demag. Good times. Great music.

mjrippe · 18th November 2011

At the studio where I got my start, before I worked there, they used some crazy chemical tape head cleaner that probably had xylene or other nastiness in it. Some dude in a metal band grabbed a q-tip, put a drop on it and tried to clean his ears! Ended up in the emergency room screaming in pain. Isopropanol would have been MUCH better! (But really - don't drink it!)

guitarwolle · 18th November 2011

Isopropanol - OMG - reminds me of cleaning ALL the Switches of my ADT console - 2200 in total. And pressing each switch at least 20 times - 44000 times in total - recording hobby can be a pain sometimes.

The bad news is, a lot of them have to be disassembled to get rid of the grease inside (good quality switches with gold plated contacts but the grease causes alot of problems) - quite some work in the near furture.

Therefore - I HATE ISOPROPANOL ;-)

Sk106 · 18th November 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjrippe

Some dude in a metal band grabbed a q-tip, put a drop on it and tried to clean his ears! Ended up in the emergency room screaming in pain.

mjrippe · 18th November 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjrippe

Isopropanol would have been MUCH better! (But really - don't drink it!)

Quoting myself! But I forgot to add that you can also use high proof ethanol (like Everclear) as a head cleaner *AND* you can drink it! Just don't drink it straight.

MarkRB · 18th November 2011

I used to work with a pretty well known engineer who would without fail, dip the bud in isopropyl, clean a part of the machine, suck the cotton bud then stick it in his ear. Pretty funny to watch.

I've yet to convince anyone to drink some. Which is probably for the best.

Granny Gremlin · 18th November 2011

Yeah, still use it to clean tape heads and for cleaning sticker residue off of things. Once used it to get the custom logo off a bass drum head (also works for the Remo logo, if you want to get rid of that). For cleaning circuit boards I have some sort of acid that works better.

As for recipies, google "QWISO" (just not at work maybe) ;p

famousbass · 19th November 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Granny Gremlin

Yeah, still use it to clean tape heads and for cleaning sticker residue off of things. Once used it to get the custom logo off a bass drum head (also works for the Remo logo, if you want to get rid of that). For cleaning circuit boards I have some sort of acid that works better.

As for recipies, google "QWISO" (just not at work maybe) ;p

Yeah, always good to have a few vats of acid lying around...

Syncamorea · 19th November 2011

First off, don't equate rubbing alcohol and isopropanol. Rubbing alcohol typically contains lanolin or something else to keep skin from drying and that is not good for tape machine heads or any rubber parts in the tape path.

Alcohols are toxic to humans. Ethanol is the least toxic, then it goes downhill fast. Methanol causes blindness, etc.

Matti · 19th November 2011

I remember a story of a cinematographer in hangover breaking the leveller of the tripod to get some alcohol...

Matti

18th November 2011	#1
Sk106 Lives for gear Joined: Dec 2007 Location: Sweden Posts: 1,348 Thread Starter	Isopropanol, one last time Still got all cassette tapes of the past stashed in a box – about 50 or so. Finally decided to get my thumb out and copy them to CD, before I sell off the tape deck too. Play back tape, record into wavelab, burn to CD. Thought I might as well clean the tape heads too, get as a clean transfer as I can, it being irrevocable. Went to the pharmacy and one final time in life I would pick up a bottle of isopropanol and cotton swabs. The assistant could’ve been an ITB girl, 'cause she looked at me like I was Fred Flintstone’s cousin when I asked for it. She barely knew where to find it. :P http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...eke_heller.jpg Man, the smell of it, carefully swabbing tape heads, though very small ones on a tape deck .. makes one remember things, makes one feel old, yet people are still doing it out there. A few even says it's the only way to go. Anyone got some memories, or stories involving isopropanol? or maybe drink recipes? Maybe some opinions and comments on cleaning heads? First time I cleaned tape heads, not knowing what to do I used a strong blue detergent and a kitchen sponge (for real). I've heard about someone using sandpaper too. __________________ "Listen through the equipment, not to the equipment" - Bill Putnam

18th November 2011	#3
AndyFromDenver Lives for gear Joined: May 2010 Location: Athens, GA Posts: 756 1 Review written	Haha. My friend ( a 4 track maestro) spilled an entire beer on his. He was told to buy as close to 100% alcohol and just dump it on there and give it a few days......results pending or it's still broken __________________ Good credit, bad credit, no credit, what is credit, can't read or write... www.myspace.com/marshmallowcoast http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M_Coast

18th November 2011	#6
guitarwolle Gear addict Joined: Oct 2009 Location: Germany Posts: 337	Isopropanol - OMG - reminds me of cleaning ALL the Switches of my ADT console - 2200 in total. And pressing each switch at least 20 times - 44000 times in total - recording hobby can be a pain sometimes. The bad news is, a lot of them have to be disassembled to get rid of the grease inside (good quality switches with gold plated contacts but the grease causes alot of problems) - quite some work in the near furture. Therefore - I HATE ISOPROPANOL ;-) __________________ there are two things in the world that count - ROCK and ROLL

18th November 2011	#10
Granny Gremlin Gear addict Joined: Apr 2007 Location: Toronto Posts: 350	Yeah, still use it to clean tape heads and for cleaning sticker residue off of things. Once used it to get the custom logo off a bass drum head (also works for the Remo logo, if you want to get rid of that). For cleaning circuit boards I have some sort of acid that works better. As for recipies, google "QWISO" (just not at work maybe) ;p __________________ hear my latest record: Peeder and the band I was in before that: Pacific Trash Vortex

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18th November 2011	#2
Matti Lives for gear Joined: Dec 2004 Location: Finland Posts: 3,756	I have bottle for cleaning circuit boards and faders. Otherwise I´m more to wine and beer. Back in the day used for tape heads and video recorders drums with buff leather / chamois Matti

18th November 2011	#5
mjrippe Gear addict Joined: Mar 2010 Posts: 396	At the studio where I got my start, before I worked there, they used some crazy chemical tape head cleaner that probably had xylene or other nastiness in it. Some dude in a metal band grabbed a q-tip, put a drop on it and tried to clean his ears! Ended up in the emergency room screaming in pain. Isopropanol would have been MUCH better! (But really - don't drink it!)

18th November 2011	#9
MarkRB Banned Joined: Aug 2005 Location: London, UK Posts: 2,551	I used to work with a pretty well known engineer who would without fail, dip the bud in isopropyl, clean a part of the machine, suck the cotton bud then stick it in his ear. Pretty funny to watch. I've yet to convince anyone to drink some. Which is probably for the best.

19th November 2011	#12
Syncamorea Lives for gear Joined: May 2009 Posts: 1,627 3 Reviews written	First off, don't equate rubbing alcohol and isopropanol. Rubbing alcohol typically contains lanolin or something else to keep skin from drying and that is not good for tape machine heads or any rubber parts in the tape path. Alcohols are toxic to humans. Ethanol is the least toxic, then it goes downhill fast. Methanol causes blindness, etc.