Fixing a twisted VHS tape | DIY Media Preservation

This VHS tape plays nothing up to the point the tape twists 180 degrees. Here's how I take apart the videocassette shell and fix the problem, and hopefully recover precious family videos from this unplayable tape.

[@marshalleq]

Touching a magnetic tape with a metal screwdriver that usually has some kind of magnetism? Brave man.

[@jimmjimms]

not all screwdrivers are magnetic. this one doednt seem to be, no black tip.

[@marshalleq]

@@jimmjimms Yes obviously they're not,, but they are often magnetised by just sitting around, in the shop, in your toolbox, whatever - even just a little bit. If you demagnetised your screwdriver first I might do it. Nope, actually I wouldn't. just wouldn't trust it.

[@StudioSmith]

Thank you so much for making this video, it helped me save a copy of Star Wars Episode 1. I bought the tape 8 years ago second hand but it was wrinkled and stuck right at the beginning so the entire movie is watchable now. Thanks again!

[@comedyshotgun7976]

20 Year Archivist here. Especially if there were particles coming off the tape, but more and more by default, after reassembly, get the folded portions flat under a good amount of spool (as in fast forwarding so there are plenty of tight tape layers holding the folded sections flat), then bake the tape. You will increase the longevity of the tape, and relax the base layer getting rid of the folds, preventing reoccurrence, vastly improving the transfer quality, and of course saving your heads from sticky shed Slough.

[@tylerprince6184]

When you say bake the tape, what does that mean? I'm trying to restore some old VHS tapes for a friend. They're from her early military career, and I want to make sure I can rescue all the footage.

[@Sol-Cutta]

I chewed a 500 £ tape myself , I succesfully cleaned mould by hand by spooling the tape by hand with alcohol swab one end on the plastic level piece before the dip at one end and a folded piece of napkin the other and changed both regular and did the entire tape nicely cleaned of mould...then I spool it back the other way as I'm now at the end of the tape..so I think I'll clean it with napking as spool it so put this napkin so it entire length of tape and begin spooling ...a little way thru I stop to change cloth and find the tape has folded and crinkled tight over one side of itself , so I begin streaming tape out by hand to see it spooled crinkled and bent upon. Itself crinkling as it had gone. So I spooled it all out til the crease had stopped and tape back to normal ..I then slowly teased the crease out with finger against tape back n forth then tightly pulled it over the metal spin at end , very slowly I spooled tape back again very slowly removing the crease by the act of teasing the back part and pulling it tight across the metal and thus round upon itself on spool..very gently very slowly..then I slowly spooled tape back opposite way again until past all crinkled onto.the other side..now I'm about to take her back again..this time I'll go.all the way..the tight crease crinkle on the edge has smoothed out just leaving a middle crease along a length of about 48inch worth. Hopefully this should drop out...but what's the oven thing ??? How hot ?? And is it safe with a tape worth over £500 .???

[@Sol-Cutta]

I chewed a 500 £ tape myself , I succesfully cleaned mould by hand by spooling the tape by hand with alcohol swab one end on the plastic level piece before the dip at one end and a folded piece of napkin the other and changed both regular and did the entire tape nicely cleaned of mould...then I spool it back the other way as I'm now at the end of the tape..so I think I'll clean it with napking as spool it so put this napkin so it entire length of tape and begin spooling ...a little way thru I stop to change cloth and find the tape has folded and crinkled tight over one side of itself , so I begin streaming tape out by hand to see it spooled crinkled and bent upon. Itself crinkling as it had gone. So I spooled it all out til the crease had stopped and tape back to normal ..I then slowly teased the crease out with finger against tape back n forth then tightly pulled it over the metal spin at end , very slowly I spooled tape back again very slowly removing the crease by the act of teasing the back part and pulling it tight across the metal and thus round upon itself on spool..very gently very slowly..then I slowly spooled tape back opposite way again until past all crinkled onto.the other side..now I'm about to take her back again..this time I'll go.all the way..the tight crease crinkle on the edge has smoothed out just leaving a middle crease along a length of about 48inch worth. Hopefully this should drop out...but what's the oven thing ??? How hot ?? And is it safe with a tape worth over £500 .???

[@cheesemonger2668]

Thanks for the video! I was able to watch my moms first wedding video from 1993 that was all twisted up, you’re a lifesaver😊

[@terrafirma9328]

You could've done a better job getting the wrinkles out. I've flattened many a vhs and cassete tapes with butter knives, pens, and fork handles with no additional damage caused. The owner should have their machine checked so it doesn't eat anymore, something might be loose. Good job for the most part.

[@mrnmrn1]

For realigning the tape on the hubs with FF and REW, I suggest not to use a precious and expensive VCR like that SVHS JVC. I use a separate VCR for that purpose, which does FF and REW while leaving the tape fully inside the cassette, so it does not touch the drum and the tape path. It helps to prevent clogging (or breaking!) the video heads by not letting them meet a wrinkled tape at x400 speed rewind, and also prevents creating more droputs on the tape than it already has. There are very few modern-ish VCRs that do FF and REW without lacing up the tape on the full tape path, generally very old VCRs from up until the early '80s do that, but those are winding way too slow, and not very reliable due to their age. Some ORION VCRs from the late '80s-early '90s do it like that, plus they are fast enough and super reliable after replacing two belts. A tape rewinder is also an option, but I suggest not to use them as they often tear the tape apart at the beginning or the end due to the lack of tape end sensors. Also when a tape has sections with missing magnetic layer, the transparent base layer triggers the tape end sensor and stops the playback. The easiest solution is to disable the tape end sensors by covering the sensor holes with black tape on the sides of the cassette under the protective lid.

[@scottthemediahoarder]

I usually use the least-luxury deck in the pile for rewinding. Yes, using the JVC for that is like taking the limo to buy smokes.

[@hughbrackett343]

The first VCR I had was a Magnavox. The end of tape sensor was so sensitive that it wouldn't play with the cover off unless I turned off all the lights in the room. I bought it used in 1982. It was built like a tank.

[@mrnmrn1]

@@hughbrackett343 It probably used a light bulb as the light source for the tape end sensors, so the sensors were sensitive to ambient light. The later ones use an IR LED, and the sensors (should) have IR filters on them, so they are not sensitive to amibient light. But some manufacturers used phototransistors without IR filter to save 2 cents per VCR, and those are also sensitive to ambient light, although they started using IR light to prevent exactly that. An other reason for using IR LEDs might be that those were the brightest LEDs in the early '80s.

[@hughbrackett343]

@@mrnmrn1 It definitely used visible light.

[@TravLeeD]

I am just surprised you are able to touch the tape with your fingers and bump against screws and tape housing on top of it being twisted and bent....and it still played jeesh. Appreciate the video it will help to try and salvage tapes in the future!

[@artcowboy]

Thank you! I’m doing some archiving of some old tapes and I had one get pinched, and I tried to fix it but I flipped it!!! So I used this as a guide to help fix it and it’s great! Thank you for this

[@philexile2954]

Well done! I have this same VCR - unfortunately it doesn’t have the best playback. It artificially brightens and sharpens the image. I’d instead recommend a Sony SVO-1520.

[@begest_poliois_]

I have A BUNCH of winkled vhs so I'm using this tutorial

[@atomicdummy]

Great video! same thing works perfectly for cassette tapes too!

[@scottthemediahoarder]

Good point! Reel to reel as well. It just feels nice to see the ridges fall into less chaos.

[@Sol-Cutta]

Fortunately most of us around video in the 80s and now all ages around 50 ish know how to unscrew tape and remove spools as most of our home vid tapes spools were inserted into rental copys all over librarys of our countries ,buying them back off ebay 30yrs later from each other..😂😂😂

[@kenspeedbicycle]

I had this happen with my tape of Shrek. I wound up clipping some of the wrinkle because it was tearing and scotch tapes it back together. I still have about an inch that's not fully flat but I'm hoping it smooths out but I'll probably just pull that part out and wind it back in a couple time every now and then

[@James-qo7uz]

Great video. I liked and subscribed. I recently took on a client to digitize their VHS collection. I hadn’t used my VHS player in a while so I played a family tape. But it messed up while rewinding it to the very beginning. The beginning got wrinkled and maybe twisted. So I wondered if there would be a way to just by pass the beginning of the tape if thats all thats wrong with it. I had previously digitized my family’s vhs movies, my wife’s and her grandmother home movies. So Ive done quite a few. First time that a tape messed up on a home movie. In hindsight, I probably should have cleaned the VHS heads first before playing any tape.

[@Tomsonic41]

I'm surprised you got nothing at all when the tape was twisted round. There should have been SOME hint of a signal if it was recorded; maybe a loud buzzing as the control track pulses get read by the audio head. But maybe your VCR has some special circuitry that mutes the picture if there is no control track; one of mine does that.

[@stephendevore9926]

Memories of doing 1000s of tapes over the decades before it was a normal KZbin self help videos and then I saw one the Last VCR I owned the same model you used.Memories.Sweat Wrinkley Memories 😅😅😅Good Video 😎

[@crappyvegan]

8:00 “Cuz I care” 😂 great content!!

[@Capturing-Memories]

I've had my fare share of those, Nice job.

[@andreasbartel3449]

Why do you touch the tape without cotton gloves? I always concerned when I see people working on VCRs, touching tape guides, head drum with fingers etc. I‘m an amateur have never done this, and if cleaned the parts after doing so

[@scottthemediahoarder]

If I can't see cheese dust on my fingers, I'm ok. But seriously, in a world where a human hair could crash a hard drive, I may appear reckless with my handling. Time may prove me wrong, but I try to be careful where it counts, and fearless where it's necessary.

[@R3troZone]

Is there any way to "iron" out the wrinkles in a tape when this happens so that section is viewable again?

[@osidedodger213]

Do you you know where I could have a TBC corrector serviced? Thanks.

[@scottthemediahoarder]

I don't! I have one that needs work myself! My old TBC1000 needs a new input block. Too much plugging-unplugging over the years wore mine out!

[@Capturing-Memories]

Get a cheap VCR, take a lid off and use it just for rewinding and cleaning tapes.

[@PersepolisBand]

Hey Scott ! Thanks a lot for your super insightful videos. I just have a question for when you record the tape : do you get audio drifting ? It's my case and it's a nightmare. COuld you share how you avoid that or what software you use ? Thank you !

[@paolacervoni367]

If you skipped to see the part that was not wrinkled, after the video is over if you reversed the whole tape, would the wrinkled part affect the VCR player or get stuck?

[@ASMRMark]

I wanted to ask if you knew how to do something cuz I saw your videos on your channel on KZbin where your repairing VHS tapes. Cliche position sound, my dog got a hold of a VHS tape of mine and really did a number on it. She destroyed the case and cracked the spools and ate part of the spools, however, the tape is just fine. I know how to disassemble the case and I understand how to thread the tape through the rollers and I understand the entire way the tape operates. However, what I cannot figure out is how to transfer the role of tape from the spool it's on to an empty spool, short of manually unrolling all of the tape off of the damaged spool and then manually rolling it all back on to the new spool. There's got to be a way to disassemble the spool that the tape is on and just remove the tape roll from it. But I sure cannot figure it out. If you can help me with this I would appreciate it.

[@penso_logo_desisto]

My VHS camcorder suddenly started twisting tapes. Do you have any idea what could be happening?

[@seasonstudios]

Hmmmmm very interesting. I used to find that this wrinkled tape syndrome used to happen a lot when people used the on screen fast forward and/or rewind.

[@James-qo7uz]

I looked through your available videos. Do you have one on maintaining or cleaning your VHS player and/or heads? I have a cassette cleaning kit. The bottle solution is empty or dried up. I’m assuming it’s just rubbing alcohol. Any advice would be appreciated

[@scottthemediahoarder]

I don't! My maintenance routines aren't really routine and I have never DIY-cleaned heads. I have head cleaning cassettes for each format I use, and when I see some crackliness that looks like head noise, I give 'em a run with the cleaner. Audio tape heads are big blocks of metal that can endure a good scrubbing. Helical scan video heads are teeny tiny, and likely to snag a Q-Tip. I've heard people using paper and alcohol and a gentle touch, or a special chamois, but the nitpickiness of the folks suggesting obscure solutions overwhelms my curiosity to try them. Good luck!

[@James-qo7uz]

@@scottthemediahoarder thanks for responding 👍

[@jonathandrewstefancin5924]

Scott, I just cleaned a moldy tape and I noticed there's a part of the physical tape that looks wavy spooled up inside the little cassette window. What happened here?

[@nztigernrltipping6697]

Hi. What's your set up for capturing VHS to Digital?

[@CreeBreej]

Is it possible to know which side is the magnetic side from looking at it ? I have a tape which has been spliced up wrong in multiple sections.

[@ivok9846]

sure: one side is shinier: that side is in contact with video heads, ie that side is up....

[@scottthemediahoarder]

There absolutely is a way. I just can't ever remember it when I need it. I'm paranoid about running the splice over the heads by putting tape on the wrong side. So my usual workaround it to wind the tape past the playback point, so it's on the take-up reel side. That reminds me - I've got an 8mm to splice this afternoon! TINY.

[@michaelhembree4167]

i use to do this all the time.. whats the best way to get the static out of a tape when putting it on dvd.i got a jvc vcr into a sony dvd burner

[@scottthemediahoarder]

Clean heads, clean source!

[@CosmicCreationsDIY]

Is it possible to flip it backwards when changing tape cases . i had a family tape that was moldy so i cleaned it and shitched cases but now all it plays is staic . 😢😢 other tapes play and i can rw and ff fine but my family tape just plays static please help . no sound except staic and no picture except static

[@ScottSimpson]

Oh, it's so possible that half of my confusion when working with tape in those cases is about which side is where. I should find an editing block to make it easier - like we had for cutting audio tape. Maybe someone 3D prints them now!

[@CosmicCreationsDIY]

@@ScottSimpson thanks scott .what do you think would be the problem ? .. I tried your trick of rewinding full and ff it full and at the beginning now i have about 20sec of clear video and audio but then jumps back into complete static

[@lillithjones993]

What do you do when the tape is twisted at the very beginning at the connection of the reel?

[@ivok9846]

push out the tab in the reel that holds the tape, clip off(cut it off) wrinkly part, assemble....

[@gabygabs10]

I have a vhs that keeps getting tangled whenever I put it in a vcr. 😩 if it’s opened up can it be inspected and fixed and then be played normally??

[@scottthemediahoarder]

For sure! Find the twisted spot - or one end of it - and open 'er up and unwind it until you find the first and last spot it folded. Smooth it all out and wind it onto the take-up reel so your VCR won't have to play the crumpled section!

[@searchiemusic]

that is absolutely a new one lmfao wow what happened here

[@eddyboy5872]

I do this on daily basis .

[@RapCityShadyJ1]

Can u help me ? Please

[@thesmithfamily7916]

If I mail you a VHS tape will you repair it and fix it for me? What’s your fee?

[@churochkin]

shit

[@luizalbertorodrigues4560]

Crazy very bad

[@dv_vid]

OMG is that the HR-S4600u? Same as my machine. I hate that it is made in Malaysia, a Sha'ria country that has a dual track justice system for Muslims and Kafirs. It is fully Allah-compatibe, a picture so clear you see Allah in it.

[@Capturing-Memories]

You're sick man, What has Islam got to do with it sicko.