VHS Head Cleaner?

[jeffersuk]

Hello- I'm about to transfer my (quite large) VHS collection onto DVD using a new Panasonic SVHS VCR. That means running quite a few old, and probably dusty, tapes through the machine. Does anyone know whether the dry or wet head cleaners are better to use? Roughly how long should it be between uses? I don't want to degrade the heads on my new machine- it might be very difficult to find an SVHS VCR in a few years time! (And I'll be keeping a few tapes, just incase.)

[LV426]

Dry ones are abrasive (wear the heads). Wet ones generally aren't, but they are a bit trickier to use.

I have had 2 Betamax, and 5 VHS machines. And I've only ever had the need to clean heads on one of them - a Panasonic SVHS machine as it happens. It's my suspicion that this particular machine has a microscopic flaw in one of its heads, which collected tape residue. The more I cleaned it (with a dry/abrasive tape) the less often it needed it, which supports my theory. And picture noise was only ever visible on SP, never LP so that also supports my theory (different heads are used for LP).

As for the others - none of them has ever required cleaning nor shown any symptoms to suggest the need. (S)VHS tape is very slightly abrasive anyway so it should be self-polishing.

So - get one by all means. But only use it if/when you have to. Not as a matter of routine.

[GaryB]

There's no substitute for a proper manual clean but that should only be done by someone who knows exactly what to do.

Failing that, the Allsop wet cleaner was the best available but you will probably have trouble finding one now.

[jeffersuk]

Originally Posted by LV426

So - get one by all means. But only use it if/when you have to. Not as a matter of routine.

Thats great, good to know. There will be a few SVHS tapes running through the machine so they'll probably clean up any mess left around! (Theres nothing too ancient or in too poor a condition going to be run through it.)