Rewinding and tensioning are all single-speed operations - the tape moves in one direction, full speed, and never stops.
Reading and writing tapes causes a LOT of start/stop and forward/reverse motions, this will cause the bands to really get stretched to their limits, and plastibands are overly stretchy so that rapid forward/stop/reverse kind of motion will cause the bands to over-stretch, the tape to go slack, and then the tapes get all wound around the axle. Using another QIC tape band SHOULD help that. I've never baked a QIC tape. The only problem I've ever had with QIC tapes are bands. Joe > On Mar 30, 2026, at 3:15 PM, Alan Perry via cctalk <[email protected]> > wrote: > > What does a QIC drive do differently when it is reading vs. when it is > rewinding/retensioning? The drive that I have moved all of the good parts to > rewinds/retensions fine but when reading the tape will jam up. Sometimes it > is seizing at the posts. With long tapes it is laboring through and then > stops. Again, only when reading. > > Is there something I can put on the posts that would help? > > I heard QIC tapes don’t fail such that baking tapes will help. Is that right? > > alan > >> On Mar 30, 2026, at 07:25, Joe George <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> >> It's less than ideal but find some 'new' or still sealed QIC 1G tapes (or >> higher capacity) and sacrifice one for the band. 1G and higher density tapes >> aren't anywhere near as old, and the bands are the same, so I use them to >> reband older more critical tapes to read them. QIC-150 tape bands are almost >> all trash at this point, they are so old and dry. I like the idea of boiling >> them, I may try that on some of them, but here for archiving tapes, I have a >> couple of DC9120 carts that I've pulled the spools out of, saved the band >> and shell and everything, and I'll "swap in" any reels from a tape I need to >> archive, pop the band on, read it, and then pull the spools back out. Works >> well for me for a few dozen tapes so far. >> >> I've had some short-term success with Plastibands. You can't "leave them" in >> the cartridge for a long time, they stretch out and stay stretched, so they >> are not permanent replacements but in a pinch (install, read, replace) they >> work ok sometimes. They are not manufactured with any real quality control >> so the tension even from the same sizes is not enough to reliably use as QIC >> replacements. >> >> Joe >> >> >>> On Mar 28, 2026, at 10:05 PM, Alan Perry via cctalk <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>> Hi all, >>> >>> I am looking for advice on some problems that I am observing trying to read >>> QIC tapes using an Archive Viper. >>> >>> If you are unfamiliar with QIC tapes, tape transport is done through a >>> single roller that moves a plastic band in tension with the outside of a >>> portion of the tape on the reels. Over time, the band will break. >>> >>> A long time ago, I bought a bunch of the green plastibands to use as >>> replacement bands. Later I bought a bunch of the clear ones. I was able to >>> image some tapes with the plastiband replacement but not all (but rewind >>> and retension works almost every time). Until today, I don't think I ever >>> tried the clear ones after I bought a bag. >>> >>> I am preparing for a VCF and need the contents off of some of the tapes >>> that I have, so I got out the driver and tapes. However, I have been unable >>> to read anything from the them. The tape will jam up. It seems like what is >>> happening is that plastiband is not providing enough tension to move the >>> tape when reading. The tape loses tension and I see it gather instead of >>> moving along. Sometimes the tape feels stuck to the posts that turn the >>> tape to be parallel with the heads. >>> >>> I also tried a clear band for the first time and the tension with that >>> seems too tight. >>> >>> What am I doing wrong? >>> >>> alan >>> >>> >>
