Quote:
Originally Posted by NeonKnite
The farther we get from the VHS era, the harder and more expensive it becomes to do this stuff as hardware becomes rare and the VHS tapes themselves have a finite lifespan (maybe 25 years).
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I'm still converting VHS tapes (usually concert recordings) from the early 1980's and suffering very few breakages. What I would say is if anyone is winding a VHS back to the beginning try not to go the whole way in one go. The only place i have had breakage is at the start of tapes and it is actually easy to repair in order to at least play the tape once. You'll need the smallest screwdrivers you can find to undo the casing on the tape and a glue stick (pritt stick works fine) top the rejoin off with a tiny piece of sticky tape, get the casing back together and you're good to go.
On a similar note I'd also be cautious rewinding old audio cassettes if like me you're digitizing some of those. Sony ones are very prone to snapping and they are a pain in the ass to rejoin if it's at all possible.