4 Sep
2026
4 Sep
'26
4:16 a.m.
The sound a TK50 makes when running is quite complex and wouldn’t be
surprised if it had been used in some kind of sci fi sound effect.
Mark
M5TEA <https://www.qrz.com/db/M5TEA> ADIF Processor
<https://bit.ly/adifproc>
On Fri, 4 Sep 2026 at 03:22, Chris Zach via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
wrote:
Hm, that's honestly not a bad idea. The encoder
wheel is pretty far down
the axle on the rear one so as long as you're careful that will probably
re-melt and re-combine the oil/clay/whatever that grease is.
Always several ways to solve a problem. And listening to the TK70
merrily streaming along and backing up the ESDI disk is kind of nice.
Chris
On 9/3/26 19:29, Jacob Ritorto wrote:
Good stuff Chris, thank you.
I should chime in that, due partly to fear and partly to laziness, I
have sidestepped Chri’s much better “take apart and re lubricate” method by
very carefully heating the axles of the capstans using an RF soldering
station and spinning the capstans by hand (while quite warm) until they
“feel” smooth again. Effective Relube without the risk of disassembly. No
new chemicals.
This has worked on all three tk50s I’ve tried it on and they continue to
work after, I think, nearly two years. I try to use them often so they
don’t sludge up again.
—Jake
> On Sep 3, 2026, at 19:04, Chris Zach via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
wrote:
>
> TK50's and TK70's have a bad rap for this. The key problem is twofold:
>
> 1) Tapes stored in dungeons tend to be crap and shed stuff
>
> 2) The capstans on the TK50 are very important and need to be lubricated
>
> For the first, I go with good quality tapes and before I put a tape
into my collection I clean the heads, then run the tape through a backup or
two then check the heads. If dirty I pitch the tape and clean. If clean I
clean the heads again and put it in service. Same process you should go
through with any new magnetic media (RL02, RX01, etc....)
>
> For the second you really need to take the drive apart, remove the
bolts on the front and rear capstans (marking the bolt's orientation and
how many turns to take off) and lubricate the bearings with fine watch oil.
They should spin easily the whole problem is the oil dries out and since
they use tape friction to turn and the rear one is connected to a
tachometer having them drag will drive the tape unit insane and lead to
unspooled tapes, read problems, all sorts of insanity.
>
> Remember they don't have tension arms, the capstans are how they figure
everything out.
>
> Aside from that, fine. I use mine as backups with no issues. Just never
introduce a new tape without checking the heads, otherwise the crap will
get on your good tapes like an STD.
>
> C
>
>> On 9/3/26 17:55, Rob Jarratt via cctalk wrote:
>> Be very careful when reading them, they will shed and stick to the
rollers. You may need to bake the tapes. See this account:
https://www.magneticscrolls.com/blog/tk50-tape-baking
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> Rpb
>>
>>> On 03/09/2026 10:05, hlep via cctalk wrote:
>>> Hi Rod,
>>>
>>>
>>> Do you have any external TK 50 or TK 70 tape drives?
>>>
>>> I'm working at an archive in Germany and we've got some TK-50 tapes
and we've been looking for some hardware to access them with.
>>>
>>>
>>> Best,
>>>
>>>
>>> Josh
>>>
>>> On 2026-09-03 08:37, Rod Smallwood via cctalk wrote:
>>>> Hi Guys
>>>>
>>>> My DEC Collection needs downsizing.
>>>>
>>>> Im in the UK so for the US only the small stuff would be worth
shipping
>>>>
>>>> If you need anything PDP8, PDP11 or VAX please indicate item
you might want
>>>>
>>>> Rod
>>>>
>>>>