Cleaning and Demagnetizing the Reel to Reel Deck

By request, a video of my cleaning and demagnetizing the Allied Radio TD1099 reel to reel tape deck's transport components and heads. I'll report on what, if any, improvements there were to the sound.

[@bernardf.6337]

Dear Sir, excellent video. You actually saved me money. I have 99% rubbing alcohol in my medicine cabinet that I could use instead of paying $16 for the same thing on eBay with a label that tells me it’s professional grade head cleaner.The world needs more people like you.

[@uxwbill]

Thank you for watching! I'm glad to hear you found the video useful, and that it saved you some money.

[@aleckent9610]

thanks for staying up late to help us Bill!

[@adamsfunnyfilms]

I have the same demagnetizer. I remember my sister and mom demagnetizations of the reel to reels. Nice vid. I think that it may be possible to tangle cotton from the cotton swabs into the heads if rubbing too hard, tho. I think it may be best to just wipe with isopropyl the direction of the tape and try not to get micro fivers of cotton stuck into the head. Thanks for the video. Thanks for illustrating slow demagnetizations is key. 👍

[@pierreduplan4927]

I like the joyful nature of this clip.

[@BertKrus]

Quite informative, and a pleasure listening to you sir.

[@theedrstrangelove]

In Craig Anderton's book, "Home Recording for Musicians", he does not recomend using a head demagnetizer. His method is to merely record onto a bulk erased quality tape for about 10 minutes. His theory is that by recording you are actually demagnetizing. I know taec says you can do either and there is no preferred method. But I am partial to manually demagnetizing.

[@Blazer2533]

I think it's safe to say that is one "reely" clean machine after uxwbille got after it and as always a "reely" awesome video of a "reely" neat machine

[@stevenlance5283]

This was awesome. I thought your jokes added so much levity to my project and made it fun. That’s why I subscribed to your channel and I don’t even know if you have other videos yet…You better!!! Ps I also don’t look like the kind of guy that would be harmed by missing a meal either!! 😅

[@uxwbill]

There are about a thousand videos to watch so far, give or take a bit.

[@stevenlance5283]

@@uxwbill I saw that! Great job. Are you lucky enough that you make a decent side or maybe even a main income from your hard word and your devotion to make videos and content for us?

[@uxwbill]

No. I make videos because I have fun doing so. This is, literally, my gift to the world. That said, the income from advertising has facilitated some upgrades in camera equipment over the years.

[@hgrunt100]

Such a cheerful video! And informative.

[@2dfx]

"these, that, this" very technical Bill :P

[@tough213]

Nice job and keep the videos coming they are all great all the best and thank you for all the past help and great ideas via your videos

[@g0fvt]

When stuck for a demagnetiser in the past I have used the solenoid out of a fish tank pump or even one of those nast weller soldering guns with the transformer in them..the field leakage is enough to do tape heads or even tv shadow masks....

[@canyoudigit6970]

Great video! Thanks for the wisdom.

[@Jellofayce]

don't clean your heads in an up and downward motion, horizontal only!!

[@robbecker1817]

That's what I was told too. But sometimes the gap needs a gentle swipe to get the crap out of the gap.

[@vwestlife]

What happens when you try to demagnetize a magnet?

[@ghsgtnayhmd4792]

it explodes

[@jagmanjohnthejag]

Another Great Video Bill, You are the Man!

[@TheCrazyFinn]

@uxwbill EDC refers to equipment, which is convenient to carry around for every day use. Term normally used by law enforcement officers, military, etc.

[@Musicradio77Network]

I want to get a demagnetizer, because I haven’t demagnetized the heads yet. I have two reel-to-reel decks including my Akai 1721W and my Concord 220. My Concord 220 is a half-track mono tape recorder, not a 4-track. I test the recording, and played back and it sound fine, but it gets hissy on the heads, and it needs to demagnetize it to make the heads a lot better.

[@raneilalonzo]

Thank you!

[@yamahonkawazuki]

well done bill. well done.

[@orion4565]

1, I only clean in the horizontal, 2 , I move even slower than that whilst demagnetizing. Otherwise, good vid

[@pietrosammarco6225]

Great video, thanks. I've read elsewhere that rubber shouldn't be cleaned with alcohol because it could dry up and crack... instead you should use some special rubber cleaner... not sure what this rubber cleaning fluid is made of... have you heard this? Any thought?

[@5amJones69]

methylated spirits I think.

[@V8Jagnut]

cool. i have not seen that done before.

[@Qwakkeddup]

Wish I had known some of this stuff when I was a teen, could have saved a few really nice stereos. A friend of mine had a demagnetizer, he used it on his boom box two or three times a day. Could that be why he replaced his speakers every 30 days on average? Thanks for another great video, so can you share with us if you won your ebay? Has the Zenith Allegro got any promising contacts for a new home?

[@clubcar98]

Very interesting! Looks like a lot of crap was on those parts. Won't the alcohol dry out the rubber on the pinch roller? I am a fan of eBay myself, it gets me into trouble constantly. I like sniping at the last ten seconds or so myself. And sometimes I may do a victory dance...sometimes...maybe.

[@twerk182]

Use Denatured alcohol instead of isopropyl, too.

[@EddieJazzFan]

Nice video. A hexane type mixture (like the American Recorder Technology fluid) is better for rubber parts because if will not dry out the rubber nearly as much. I hope you got your ebay item after you made this vid.....

[@larryshaver3568]

you could try de-natured alcohol or nail polish remover on the heads but not as much as rubbing alcohol

[@angusmcnaughton]

good video thanks, keep the Iso off the rubber though, it will perish it

[@g0fvt]

@uxwbill Hi, yes the aquarium air-pumps are what I had in mind..though of course ours are only 50hz in the UK! Regarding the pinch roller...you will not believe this...I know I didn't... 3in1 oil on the rubber then dry it off thoroughly with cloth.... magically takes the glaze off. As for setting the azimuth.... get a tape recorded on a decent machine...then while playing it adjust the playback head for best treble..

[@oscarfelix7685]

Thank you!!

[@MsJinkerson]

I have a Realistic bulk eraser and it works

[@JackKirkpatrickVideos]

At 6:32 I Saw Your JC Penny Stereo System

[@rsanchez7111]

Hi there can you tell me how often do you have to demagnetize this decks?? Thanks

[@The8TrackChap]

How does that particular demagnetizer differ to the ones with the hook shaped probe on the end? Don't you have to hold it close to each head and move it back and forth across each separate head instead of doing one back and forth continual sweep?

[@The8TrackChap]

What difference do the various wattages make? I've seen many that were 3 or 5 Watts, but some were 20 Watts. What difference or effect does that have?

[@digitalblasphemy1100]

***** I have a question. I just purchased a reel to reel player and I'm not sure about something. When I load the tape and play it, how does the machine know what speed to play/take up the tape to keep tension on the tape?

[@fordmavericksosx3569]

Cool profile pic! I have one of those Panasonic 8 track players.

[@user-gt9wb1lw1v]

Hi, is it possible to use methanol to clean the heads? Thanks.

[@uxwbill]

Probably, but I wouldn't. That's nasty stuff.

[@redneckbryon]

Good video, so did you win the eBay item?

[@SkyNines]

What does demagnetizing do exactly?

[@klyted2454]

Some say it makes the audio sound better.

[@andrewdupuis1151]

I clean my heads on my Sony tc-270 it works much better now

[@Jerkwad152]

Everclear might work really well for that. :D

[@luisideias2011]

How to tune the heads of the sony tc377?

[@SDsailor7]

Hi uxbill, I wanted to ask you if you could tell me how to know if the heads on a R2R are worn by visually inspecting them. I got an Akai 1722w that a friend gave me and I was wondering what to look for as far as condition of the heads. It is a two head reel. I did the same thing you are doing (cleaning the heads) I need to buy a demagnetizer now. Exellent video and very informative like always. Best regards Rob

[@SDsailor7]

Thank you uxwbill, I opened the r2r today and cleaned it i inspected the heads and they look ok to me. no gaps but i did find out that the cam that operates the fast forward mechanism is just about to fall apart, it is made of pot metal. so it looks like i need to find another cam. I might be hard due to the scarcety of these model another thing i found bad ( spliting apart)was a rubber bushing that acts as a stoper for one of the levers of the mechanism. but that's a fairly easy repair. The cam is the one that is going to be difficult to find. Thank you for your help Rob

[@fanboy9669]

Plz i need help,i have pioneer t6600 reel to reel and when i pushing play button down and rec left don t stay and cannot record,you know what is it? Thanks

[@uxwbill]

Get a copy of the original Pioneer service manual and start troubleshooting.

[@fanboy9669]

@@uxwbill i have a copy but i didn't know from that stuffs,,it s belt,head,buttom need clean i don t know

[@uxwbill]

I could really only recommend taking your R2R machine to a professional service technician, if you are unsure of how to proceed. I've never worked on any Pioneer R2R equipment.

[@fanboy9669]

I live in Greece and here they havent a good techicians,they don't know about reels for that i m asking there

[@leroypodunk8571]

Could a magnetized head erase your tapes or just cause playback distortion

[@uxwbill]

The primary problem is one of audio quality being poor. Though I suppose it's possible to erase a tape with a magnetized head, the magnetic field (which comes from the tape moving over the had) is very weak. It'd take many, many plays to do damage.

[@leroypodunk8571]

@@uxwbill thanks I was quite concerned about that didnt wanna erase my rare hank Williams reel to reel

[@uxwbill]

The thing to do in that case would be to digitize the tape. Repeated plays will wear it out eventually.

[@leroypodunk8571]

@@uxwbill I dont know how to do that to be honest

[@uxwbill]

You can find a lot of good tutorials and free software online. Find a friend who might know how (but be sure they do). Or consider a paid service; just be cautious if you do, because it has been proven that some of them are pretty bad. Legacybox is so bad as to be worthless. Your computer is almost certainly ready for the job, unless it's a laptop or tablet. Audacity is a great (and free!) program that can record almost anything.

[@CoolDudeClem]

I ALLWAYS get sniped on eBay auctions, allways. In the end I just decided to give up on actions all together and only go for "buy it now" items.

[@alcameron6071]

CoolDudeClem The key to winning a auction is this. Whatever the highest bid is, let’s say it’s $50. Whatever you can afford that’s at least $20 more then the highest bidder, enter that in your maximum amount. Let’s enter $75. But do not submit your bid until the last seven seconds. When there is seven seconds left, hit the button! By the time anybody realizes it, it will be too late for them to raise the bid because time will be running out and they will panic and make a mistake or fumble because they are rushed. The longer you can wait to let the shot clock run down, the better off you are. With a little experience, and you know how fast it will take for your amount to register, the better off you will be. I have done it for so many years I can pull the trigger with four seconds left.BOOM!! they never know what hit them, LOL

[@howa6743]

@uxwbill Look up Videos on you tube called EDC or EDC update

[@Tamazon19]

@vwestlife you magnetize your demagnetizer and demagnetize your magnet. Wait what? :P

[@alistairstuart2009]

did you win whatever you were bidding on?

[@howa6743]

uxwbill,Can you make a every day carry (EDC) Video?

[@JackKirkpatrickVideos]

@uxwbill Can You Make A Video If Its Something Cool?

[@howa6743]

@uxwbill ok, I will be sure to check him out, Thanks - howa6743

[@rafaldanielski1694]

wrong bad side cleaning...:(

[@jacobcorr2293]

Hey Bill! I know this is going to make me sound like a fool.. now i know you need 99% alcohol because you want to avoid water getting on the tape heads. why is this?

[@EllenJoyceAuthor]

please--- you should not use alco on a rubber pinch roller use rubber renewhol

[@yamahonkawazuki]

@matty12345a1 ever notice they say nothing other than first?, surprised he/she didnt ask for thumbs lol

[@Moonlightshadow-lq4fr]

People are crazy thinking you need to do that silly procedure with the demagnetizer. The thing is only a very small coil of wire connected to the mains. The transformer inside the machine will give off more magnetic distorting than those silly demagnetisers. As for having to be so many feet away from the unit and slowly bringing it close to the heads is totally unnecessary and having worked with and used reel to reel tape decks on a daily basis for over 50 years I can categorically state they are a waste of time. They do not improve the sound, all they will do is demagnetise any iron object they come into close proximity and that's it.

[@uxwbill]

No.

[@Moonlightshadow-lq4fr]

@@uxwbill Yes or prove me wrong!

[@michaellorenzo2500]

brrr cleaning up and down, the tape never made that movement.

[@bhstone1]

FIRST!!!