Yup, Murphy’s Law. Or maybe, Dolby’s Law.

Glad to hear, Jay. Congrats on getting it fixed.

Fantastic! I wore out my cassette of The Wall when I was kid.

My pleasure. Sorry about the hit the video will have on your wallet, though ;-)

Thanks!

Glad it helped!

Thanks for watching!

Have fun. I’ve got piles waiting for my attention as well. You’re right, great project for lock-down!

I would add that half of them are older than I am! They include J.J. Cale 'Naturally' and Pink Floyd 'Wish You Were Here'.

@@dominicjames8559 You have good taste, young man ;-)

@@FluxCondenserthank you sir! I'll let you know if I have any success. 👍🏻👂🏻

Aaaaand... I'm sorry that you have piles!!! 💣💥👊🏻😅😆😂

Thanks, Jim. Glad you found the video helpful. As far as getting the cassette open again after using super glue, it won’t be a problem if you used glue on the outer edge of the shell if you repeat the step with the Xacto blade. That’ll cut through the glue. But yes, if you use a lot of glue on parts of the shell that you can’t get a blade into, it might make reopening the shell difficult. Replacement shells are absolutely still available. Check eBay.

Glad it helped, Unul! Nice hack with the sewing pin.

@@FluxCondenser thank you - nice job once again with this video than brings back to life vintage things

Well done, glad I could help.

Good luck. Let us know how it works out.

Joe Jackson is the man. I’m just a fan.

Yes, all tape recording media is relatively similar and can be repaired with splicing techniques. Even digital formats.

Me too. The 1880s ;-)

Kennynva, that’s a common method as well. I know many have good luck with prying and that’s great if it works for you. I always go for the blade method myself as I consider it less likely to mar or damage the shell.

@@FluxCondenser What do you think about using a soldering iron to make the holes in the top so it can auto read some these cassettes that read normal that are chrome.

Ouch! That sounds like a bad idea to me. It’s gonna smell horrible. It’s gonna leave an unsightly hole with deformed plastic that’ll have to be trimmed down. It might deform the shell permanently so it no longer fits in the machine. And, it may damage the tape inside. Open the shells, remove the tape and cut some nice clean slots with a blade or Dremel if you must. Or, transfer the tape to a suitable chrome shell.

I’ve had that Fleetwood Mac live album on vinyl since I was a kid and while it’s not one of their most popular albums I absolutely love it. Yeah, this tape probably ain’t worth $10, but I really wanted to listen to it ;-)

I'd wager that a repaired tape is worth more than a broken one. Granted I could be wrong, I'm new to cassettes, but that's my guess.

Ronaldo, is the scotch tape on the back of the magnetic tape (no music side) or the front (music side)? The tape should be on the back side. Is the magnetic tape cut at the seam or is there an flap of tape remaining? There should be no flap of tape. Is the scotch tape cut exactly to the width of the magnetic tape and perfectly lined up with it? If there’s any scotch tape extending beyond the magnetic tape or if the tape path isn’t completely straight at the splice, that could trigger the auto stop. Also, make sure there’s no sticky residue. If none of those things are present, then yes, I would conclude that the scotch tape is either too thick or rigid and that’s why the auto stop is getting triggered.

@@FluxCondenser Everything you described I've done correctly, and I did find out it was me splicing the tape on the music side! Oh well, I'll need to fix the other tapes. Thanks for your response! No clue about tape gap tolerance. also I'm using the normal brand of scotch tape from Walmart.

Not specifically, but generally this is an easy fix. In the hub there’s a small insert that can be removed. Remove the insert, align the leader with the hub and snap the insert back in to hold the leader in place.

Yes, indeed. But it pays off.

I don’t have a brand preference. Just get something that’s specifically designed for splicing the type of tape you’re repairing. Cassette splicing tape is frequently labeled as ⅛” and 8-track and reel-to-reel tape is usually specified as ¼”. Hope this helps.

Yes, it works really well. I believe I purchased that one from Splicit. Check them out here: www.splicit.com

@@FluxCondenser perfect!

Taping to the hub is unlikely to hold. There’s a clip or pin in the hub that’s used to attach the tape. Remove the pin or clip and lay the tape over the recessed area and then reinsert the pin or clip to hold it in place. You can attach the magnetic audio tape to the hub this way, but as magnetic tape is fragile (especially as it ages) it won’t like being bent and held to the hub this way and it’s likely to break again. For a long-term solution, get some leader tape and splice a 6-8” piece to the magnetic audio tape. Then, attach the leader to the hub. You may consider temporarily holding the shell together so you can fast forward the tape and do the same on the other hub. Good luck, hope this helps.

@@FluxCondenser yeah thank you it does. I was looking for the clip or pin in the hub but I could not find it. I was considering buying a repair kit that comes with the leader tape and splicing tape. Even though I allready bought a replacement copy , I am still curious to fix this one. Thanks

@@FluxCondenser I was able to actually figure out just now that some of the tape and leader was so tightly wound around the hub I couldn't see the clip or pin. I carefully removed it from the hub and now I see that all I need to do is splice the magnetic tape together.

Ah, fantastic! Yes, I was surprised to hear that there was no leader as most prerecorded cassettes have one (though not all).

@@FluxCondenser yeah I was considering buying a leader cassette for _2.75 on splic it.com along with the cassette splic kit. Will the leader cassette be usefull when reparing cassettes? I can link to product. Do you have promo code or anything with splicit.com?

Hi, Wendy. Sorry, no I don’t take in work. Why not give it a try yourself?

Kathy, I wish you luck getting the tape repaired. I don’t take in work as I do this for a hobby only. I’m not certain who could do the repair for you. I’m sure there’s someone out there if you decide to not continue with the repair yourself. Perhaps a Google search will bring something up. If you do continue with the repair, and carefully follow the instructions, you really shouldn’t have any issues. Additionally, if you’re not sentimentally attached to the cassette’s shell, once you get the tape opened and fixed, you could opt to transfer it to a replacement shell that uses screws to seal the case. That’ll make completing the repair easier and if it breaks again, you’ll have nice, easy access. You could sacrifice another tape to get such a shell, or buy a replacement shell which are available online. Good luck!

You don’t connect leader tape to the spool using tape. If you look closely, you’ll see there’s a tab on the hub which can be removed and then you can slip the tape in place and secure it with the tab. Good luck!

It sounds like yours may loop similarly to an 8-track. If so, you may want to watch a video showing how 8-tracks loop on the spool from the outside and leave the spool from the inside. If I find out more, I’ll let you know.

I did a quick search for “cassette tape loop” and it seems that there are a number of ways to accomplish this, but none seem to use a method similar to 8-track. They simply use various schemes to loop the tape inside the cartridge. I’d suggest doing the same search on Google and look at the images to see if you see a scheme that will work for your tape. To get 20 seconds with a simple loop, your tape player will have to work at a slower than standard speed. Or, the tape will have to take a more complicated path to allow for 20 seconds worth of tape. Good luck.

Reopening the case over and over is definitely problematic, as these shells weren’t designed to be opened at all once they were sealed. In the event that the case would need be reopened, repeating the procedure should work. And hopefully, any extra glue that was used internally would easily break once the outer shell was cut apart.

Do all cassettes play poorly in your machine or just one individual tape? If you’re having trouble with all cassettes, the machine may be at fault. You could have issues with belts slipping or a worn pinch roller. The pinch roller needs to be perfectly round, if not, playback speed will vary as you describe. Consider cleaning the pinch roller using a Q-tip and a liquid solution made specifically for that purpose. Pinch roller cleaners are available online. I don’t recommend alcohol for pinch rollers, but alcohol can be used on the tape heads. If you determine that the issue is the pinch roller, and cleaning doesn’t improve the situation, you’ll have to replace the roller. If that’s the case it’s a good idea to replace all the belts as well. If only one of your tapes is exhibiting this issue, first inspect the pressure pad and make sure it’s in good shape and secured properly. Check the shell and make sure it isn’t warped. If it is, you’ll need to transfer the tape to a replacement shell. Looking at the magnetic tape itself, make sure that it’s flat and not curled. If it is, or looks worn or distorted in any way, the tape will probably never play well again. If the tape seems fine externally, the shell will have to be opened to investigate what’s causing the problem. Tapes often have two slip-sheets between the tape spools and shell, so check that they aren’t worn or causing friction. Also check that the tape path is correct as shown in the video and that the wheels are spinning freely. Good luck!

Good tip, Toss. I often do the same when listening to these intolerable windbags ;-)

@@FluxCondenser each to their own :}}}} great content besides

Thanks, Toss. Appreciate that.

Markus, I believe I mentioned where I got the tools in the video. Search eBay and you’ll find lots of options. If your tape has separated from the reel, look for the plastic insert which clips into the reel and holds the tape in place. Slide it out and then use it to re-clip the tape to the reel. Make sure you use a leader tape to connect to the reel as the magnetic tape will eventually break if it’s attached this way. Then, splice the leader tape to the magnetic tape. Hope this helps.

@@FluxCondenser Thank you very much. Sorry, i watched the video without the audio last night while I was copying some cassette tapes and listening them at the same time, my bad.

@@FluxCondenser The following question is probably a dumb one but i am asking you just in case. It is a very valuable and very old tape, just in case the plastic insert was not there or was damaged, are there any spare parts for this particular piece of plastic? I have several other tapes with the same problem and never dared to open them as I did know how to fix them. Thank you very much in advance for your reply.

Markus, there’s usually a pin or tab insert. If you can’t locate one on your reel, you could consider buying some spare reels to replace the ones you have. Again, look on eBay for spare parts. You may consider taping the leader to the reel as well. Good luck!

There could be so many reasons for that. Can you describe in more detail what’s happening? Do other tapes play correctly in the Walkman?

Sure thing: www.ebay.com/itm/25-Brown-Pressure-Pads-Cassette-Tape-Repair-Peel-and-Stick-Felt-Free-Sleeves/392881992224?hash=item5b79977220:g:Q1EAAOSwP5JdH-~W

@@FluxCondenser Ty

It sounds like the tape may have been kept in damp conditions, and got mouldy.