RE: ancient tape squeak

[Michael Peters <MPeters@compuserve.com>]

I'd never have thought to get such a wealth of replies to my problem.
Great!

>The sticky tape/powder problem can be temporarily relieved by baking the
>tape for at least 8 hours at 550C (1300F) and an extreme case may require
>18-24 hours. 

My simple non-scientist brain has problems believing this. It says, tapes
are made of coated plastic, and plastic is known to lose its shape and
eventually burn when being heated, as everyone knows who has left a vinyl
recording in the car on a hot summer's day and found it turned into some
sort of sculpture after some hours. Why does excessive heat (and I'd call 8
hours of 550C excessive heat) not turn the tape into an unusable lump of
stinking plastic?

Michael Peters   
mpeters@compuserve.com
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/mpeters

HOP - Fractals in Motion ..."the only screen saver you'll ever want"
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/mpeters/hop.htm