Siue:
The principles are the same for audio and video tape as long as they are
made of the same materials. There is a substantial difference in the damage
done in relatively clean and contaminated water (chlorine, salt and sewage
being the most common contaminants that accelerate damage).
The average person can probably get away with rinsing, drying and wiping 2"
Quad video or 2" 24 track audio and get it to play (Of course, most average
people don't have 2" video or audio playback machines). For some tips about
how to do damage control on magnetic tapes, check out the info on our web
site www.specsbros.com under "Hurricane..". Unfortunately, even after doing
damage control, the average person is not likely to be able to get most MP
or ME tapes into a condition where they are safe to copy. Damage control
will slow down or stop additional damage from happening but, eventually,
someone with experience and specialized equipment is going to have to do the
final decontamination, cleaning and testing- if you want to play the tapes
without a substantial risk of destroying them.
Peter Brothers
President
SPECS BROS., LLC
(201) 440-6589
www.specsbros.com
Restoration and Disaster Recovery Service Since 1983
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Siue Moffat
> Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2005 1:59 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] water damaged media
>
>
> This is great info! Thanks everyone...
> What about video tapes... Are the principles the same for audio and
> video tape? (Peter I'm reading your DISASTER RECOVERY AND DAMAGE
> MITIGATION post from the AMIA listserv on Sept 7. Amazing, to the point
> info!) Difference in relatively clean or contaminated water? How can the
> average person get them to the stage of being able to copy them?
> I hope some one posts about the hard drives...
>
> Siue
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Tuesday, October 4, 2005 9:34 am
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] water damaged cds
>
> > This is just hearsay, as I haven't seen the discs, but I have been
> > gettingreports of DVD's damaged by the flood waters of Hurricane
> > Katrina. We are
> > getting tapes in for restoration on a regular basis and, thus, are in
> > contact with a substantial number of people with wet media in the
> > area. In
> > discussing the situation and the restoration potential of their tape
> > materials with some of the hurricane victims, a number of
> > individuals have
> > told me of DVD material they have retrieved that are showing severe
> > discoloration between the layers and exhibiting playback failure.
> > While I
> > have not examined any of these discs, it appears that submersion in
> > contaminated water at elevated temperatures can damage some DVD's.
> >
> > FYI: so far, recovery of tape materials is consistent with results
> > fromother flood scenarios: ferric oxide tapes exhibit the greatest
> > recoveryrates (90% +), MP tapes show somewhat lesser recovery rates
> > (approx. 75%)
> > and ME tapes are a 50/50 proposition. We are already seeing some
> > ME tapes
> > that have no (and I do mean virtually zero) recording surface left
> > on large
> > portions of the tape. As we are continuing to receive materials,
> > it should
> > be interesting (but, likely, unfortunate) to see the results of longer
> > submersion/exposure times on MP and ME tapes.
> >
> > We don't work with the recovery of hard drives and I was wondering
> > if anyone
> > on the list has been seeing any drives recovered from the
> > hurricane. I'd be
> > interested to hear (even if it is just hearsay) how well high
> > density drives
> > or removable hard drives are surviving a few weeks submersion in
> > contaminated flood waters. Also, if someone is experiencing
> > success with
> > these materials, it would be helpful to have a contact to forward
> > inquiriesto.
> >
> >
> > Peter Brothers
> > President
> > SPECS BROS., LLC
> > (201) 440-6589
> > www.specsbros.com
> >
> > Restoration and Disaster Recovery Service Since 1983
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
> > > [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of [log in to unmask]
> > > Sent: Monday, October 03, 2005 4:08 PM
> > > To: [log in to unmask]
> > > Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] water damaged cds
> > >
> > >
> > > I did some research on soaking CDs and DVDs of various formats a
> > few years
> > > ago. Basically, for CDs/CD-Rs, etc, it comes down to disc
> > quality. A good
> > > top protective layer leaves discs in great shape even after
> > soaking in
> > > clean tap water at room temperature for one month. Discs of
> > poorer quality
> > > can suffer large increases in error rates after only a couple of
> > days of
> > > similar soaking. Fortunately, cool water soaking halts the
> > increase in
> > > error rate significantly for the poor quality discs. Therefore,
> > if discs
> > > cannot be recovered immediately, they can be left wet in cool
> > > (refrigerator
> > > temperature) water for a couple of weeks without any problems.
> > >
> > > For DVDs, no problems with extensive soaking in clean room
> > temperature tap
> > > water were encountered (likely because that sensitive metal
> > reflective> layer is sandwiched between thick polycarbonate).
> > >
> > > Discs with adhesive labels on them did not like getting wet and
> > > error rates
> > > rose significantly, unless the label was removed without damaging
> > > the disc.
> > >
> > > Joe Iraci
> > > Senior Conservation Scientist
> > > Canadian Conservation Institute
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Siue Moffat
> > >
> > > <[log in to unmask]
> > >
> > > rleton.ca>
> > > To
> > > Sent by: [log in to unmask]
> > >
> > > Association for
> > > cc
> > > Recorded Sound
> > >
> > > Discussion List
> > > Subject
> > > <[log in to unmask] [ARSCLIST] water damaged
> > > cds
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > 03/10/2005 03:35
> > >
> > > PM
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Please respond to
> > >
> > > [log in to unmask]
> > >
> > > leton.ca
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Hello,
> > >
> > > I've been getting some excellent info on water damaged records and
> > > cassette tapes off this listserv - thanks! What do you experts
> > have to
> > > say about CDs and DVDs?
> > >
> > > thanks
> > >
> > > Siue
> > >
> > >
> >
>
>
