Transfer:
While attempting to convert VHS to digital, I have encountered countless ways that they no longer play. They deteriorate over time. Playing them wears them out a little bit each time. Dogs eat them, kids step on them, floods submerge them, and Cokes spill on them. Whatever the reason, there is hope! I have seen a handful of tapes out of 10’s of thousands that just would not play at all. Most tapes convert well.
The Most Common Source of Damage: Playing It
The most common damage that I encounter before I digitize VHS is from a customer who finds an old tape that “they haven’t played in years”, and they check it out on their old VHS player. Invariably, the player “eats” the tape, often breaking it. The player loses its ability to cleanly handle tapes by just sitting around for a decade or two, so the tape catches somewhere inside the player and pulls yards of tape with it. Even simple repairs double the cost of conversion.
Resist the temptation to play tapes and check them out, especially if the player has been idle for a long time. At your option, I will stop the tape and not count it if, in the first 2 minutes:
- The tape is blank or won’t play.
- The tape has TV recordings that you don’t want.
Damage to the VHS Case
When converting VHS to digital or to DVD, sometimes the tape cassette is doesn’t work. I literally had a tape where a dog ate the case and the only thing left was the reels of tape themselves.
If the reels from inside a VHS case are still usable, then disassemble the old case and remove the reels. Place the reels into another VHS cassette after removing its reels. Requiring two cassettes, this repair is more time-intensive. Both of these repairs include splicing the tape if needed.
Occasionally, a foreign object gets into the case, causing damage to internal parts, requiring the same type of repair.
Other Types of Damage
Life damages tapes in a few more ways that inhibit VHS to DVD or other digital formats.
Flood damage is particularly tricky because mold often grows on the tape, destroying the magnetic video in that area. Some success playing the victims of a flood is possible. If the tapes sit unused for long periods of time before drying out, the tape can adhere to itself, becoming more like a hockey puck than a reel of tape. Recovering from this kind of damage has a low probability.
I have seen “Coke” damage to VHS tapes from time to time. After playing the tape in the late 1990s for the last time, a soda or something else spilled near the tape and got inside the case. The tape won’t play because the reels adhere to the case, or the case is just too sticky for the reel to rotate.
There are two places where stickiness can be a problem: between the bottom of the reel and the case below it, or between the bottom of the reel and the tape above it. Clean the tape reel and its tape case, which is often enough to play it one more time for the VHS to digital conversion. If the coke got between the tape and the reel, it gets trickier. If you can unwind the tape without breaking it, rewind the tape onto another reel that you scavenge from another tape cassette. Sometimes, the liquid has seeped up between layers of the tape and crystallized. The seepage usually covers many layers of the reel, causing it to break on every revolution, making this damage beyond repair.
Sticky Shed Syndrome
There is also a type of damage common to all magnetic tapes called sticky shed syndrome. This syndrome happens when a tape is stored in high-humidity environments and often makes digitizing VHS impossible. Air-conditioned basements, the Midwest, and other humid situations can be the cause. The tape actually sticks together, as with a flood, where the tape wasn’t immediately dried out. The coating on the tape where the video resides pulls off of the tape when played, destroying the tape and filling the player with magnetic “confetti”.
Some success is possible by “baking” the tapes in a dehydrating oven (like for beef jerky) at moderate temperatures for 8 hours. In most cases, however, the tape is considered unplayable.
Tips When Converting Damaged VHS Tapes Before Digital Conversion
- Refrain from playing old tapes on old VHS Players
- If recently flooded, lay them out (not stacked) and dry them out for at least a week with a fan blowing on them.
- Refrain from splicing any tape yourself. I usually have to redo it.
Damaged VHS Tapes to Digital? Get Started
- Call or text Jamey: 720 204-5464
- Set an appointment (every project receives my individual attention)
- Drop off your tapes (and records, cassettes, slides, or negatives, too)
- In a week or less, pick up your new digitized video.
