Tips for Your Cassette Tapes

YOU push the play button, sit back, and prepare to be entertained. But suddenly, the clear, distinct sound speeds up to a high-pitched whine. You leap up, but too late. The cassette tape that was giving you such pleasure is now hopelessly tangled in a horrible mishmash. Your recording is ruined.

Incidents like this happen quite often, but there is something you can do that might avert them. At the same time, it will enable you to get the most out of your recordings. Here are a few tips for your cassette tapes:

◼ Store your cassettes in their own boxes or albums. These will keep dust out and lock the reels of the cassette so that the tape does not loosen. This reduces the risk of the tape’s tangling up in the mechanism of the recorder.

◼ Never leave cassettes near a heat source or in the sun, such as the ledge in front of the rear window of your car.

◼ Do not leave your cassettes near a loudspeaker, on a television, close to a telephone, or next to some other item having a magnetic field. They may be partially or even totally erased.

◼ Regularly clean the magnetic heads, pinch rollers, capstans, and all the metallic parts in the path of the tape. You can usually reach these parts quite easily by opening the door of the tape compartment. Unless the instruction manual states otherwise, you may do this cleaning job with cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol. Avoid pressing on the heads, since their position has been carefully adjusted. Of course, you should not leave any cotton in the machine.

◼ A demagnetizer is very useful in eliminating the residual magnetism that is detrimental to the performance of the recorder. But be sure to switch off the tape deck and place the cassettes a good distance away from the path of the demagnetizer. And be careful not to bump or scratch the heads. To make the job easier, there are ready-made cleaning or demagnetizing cassettes that you can purchase.

If these maintenance procedures seem too complicated to you, ask someone to help you. Cassette tapes and recorders are so common nowadays that it is not difficult to find a friend who can show you what to do. But remember, cleaning and demagnetizing your equipment regularly and storing your cassettes properly will enable you to enjoy your recordings for a long time.

Currently, the Watchtower Society produces about 500,000 cassettes each month. These include recordings of Bible books, dramas with Bible themes, and musical arrangements of songs used by Jehovah’s Witnesses all over the world. This modern means of communication has an important role in spreading the good news of the Kingdom earth wide.​—Matthew 24:14.

[Pictures on page 17]

Cleaning and demagnetizing: two easy operations to get the most out of your cassettes