Cleaning a videocassette may enable you to play the tape once more and experience cherished memories buried inside the cassette. Because of the many moving parts inside a VHS cassette, the cassette can become worn and the spools with the wound tape can become stuck or move more slowly during playback, rewinding and fast-forwarding.
Instructions
1. Press the tape gate release button on the short edge of the cassette. This is on the right-hand side as you look down on the cassette placed on a flat surface right-side up. The button is beside the gate that covers the videotape when it is not in your VCR.
2. Lift the gate while depressing the release button to prevent it from locking again. Hold the gate open in one hand.
3. Use the compressed air with the straw attachment to blast air on either side of the openings the tape feeds through. Also blast air in the hole on the underside of the cassette tape. This will dislodge dust and dirt that may have accumulated through the years. Test the cassette in your VCR to see if playback has improved.
4. Turn the cassette face down on a flat surface and unscrew the back cover, removing the five small screws that hold it in place.
5. Turn the cassette right-side up, taking care to keep the two halves from separating. Lift the top cover off the cassette.
6. Place your thumb and pinky finger on the left and right tape spools to hold them in place ands prevent the videotape from unspooling, then use your free hand to blast short bursts of compressed air around the inside of the cassette.
7. Spray the end of a Q-tip with WD-40 lubricant, then gently swab the plastic and steel rollers that guide the tape, taking care not to touch the tape itself. Also swab the wire springs on either side of the cassette with a bit of lubricant. Allow the lubricant to evaporate completely.
8. Reattach the back cover of the cassette with the five screws and test playback.
Tags: inside cassette, back cover, cassette with, cover cassette, either side