Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Video Cassette Shell Repairs


How To Repair Broken Video Cassette Shells and Save Your Memories

Memories trapped in old video formats such as video cassettes are prone to being lost forever. Learn how to repair broken video cassette shells and save your precious memories. 

For those of us who were born when digital media was still in its invention stage, there’s a chance that you have home videos still in the video cassette format. These cassettes have been exposed to repeated use, and with time, age and the effect of the elements, video cassettes often crack, endangering the precious memories that they hold. There are ways to repair a cassette shell without harming the film through the steps explained here.

To begin the repair, you will need to gather the following materials: An expendable video cassette with the shell intact, adhesive tape, a Philips screwdriver, and a razor blade.
First, remove the screws of the video cassette shell with the screwdriver. Keep the cassette level by placing it on a flat surface. Using the screwdriver, remove all the screws from both the damaged shell and the spare shell.

After all the screws have been removed, separate the shells, using the razor blade to cut through any stickers or adhesives binding them together. Take care not to damage the film tape beneath. Work slowly, as a slipup might cause the film tape to fall out and unravel.

Lay the opened cassette on your work surface. By this time, the video cassette’s film reels will be in full view. Take note of how the film is fastened through the tape’s various parts. While you need to save all the parts and shells of your spare video cassette, you can dispose all of the film in it, to save you from confusion.
Carefully lift the film tape from the damaged video cassette shell and resettle it as it should be through all the grooves into the undamaged shell. With adhesive tape, attach the film into the reel of the receiving shell. Do the same with the other end of the film reel.
As soon as you’ve successfully transferred the tape into the undamaged video cassette shell, re-align the top and bottom shells and return the screws. Test your saved video on your video player. Once you’ve determined that the film is undamaged, transfer the material into a brand new video cassette.

Try saving your old damaged video cassette shells this way before stooping to cutting up the film, which usually damages the film further. For even further safekeeping of your video memories, have your videos transferred to a digital format media, such as VCD, DVD, or as a video format file on your computer.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/66214-REG/Sony_D2M64M_D2M_64M_Digital_D2_Video.html

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