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“Bake until ready”: who saves rare tape recordings in such an unusual way

Employees of the Library of Congress use “baking” to stop the degradation of the film until digitization, and enthusiasts save not only records, but also old-school games.


Photo Michal Balog / Unsplash

Why does it work


Over time, the magnetic tape - in coils, cassettes and cartridges - degrades , its playback speed slows down. One of the causes of degradation is the so-called stickiness-shedding syndrome . In this case, the binder that holds the magnetic powder is destroyed. Particles of powder fall on the heads of the tape recorder, interfering with playback, and the tape itself begins to stick to adjacent turns.

Reheating of the film in an oven (at a temperature of about 54 ° C) allows to eliminate the signs of destruction. When the damaged tape is heated, the binder melts, ceases to crumble , and the coil becomes suitable for reproduction again.

Who uses this method


The curators of the US Library of Congress bake bobbins to digitize an extensive collection of audio recordings. Among them are NBC and Voice of America news broadcasts , as well as the work of virtuoso guitarist Les Paul , who is considered one of the inventors of the electric guitar.

Coils in the collection of the Library - approximately 200 thousand pieces. The films themselves after processing are stored unwound. As such, they remain usable for longer.


Photo Ingo Schulz / Unsplash

(Dave Lee), (Joey Negro), «» . - -. — «Remixed With Love».

Using high temperatures, films are restored not only with audio recordings, but also with computer programs. Engineers at Strand Games baked an old TK50 cartridge to extract the source code for the old-school game The Guild of Thieves.

It was released by Magnetic Scrolls in the late 80s. Now developers are working on its remaster - they add new locations, objects, puzzles and optimize them for working on modern computers.

Electronics Repair


The warm-up method not only helps stop the degradation of the magnetic tape, but also in some cases bring the electronics back to life. One of the editors of Gizmodo magazine said that he was able to restore the laptop's motherboard by placing it in a red-hot oven. One of the residents of Hacker News in a thematic thread noted that he was similarly restoring the Nvidia 8400M GS video card.

Instructions for "baking" iron can be found on Habré . The approach is applicable only if the malfunction occurs due to microcracks between the contact and the solder holding the chips on the board. In the furnace, the solder melts and again touches the contact pad, revitalizing the electronic component. Although this approach is at your own peril and risk.


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