Advice for tape drive repair / maintenance

"Joachim Thiemann" wrote: I don't think it melted. I would guess it suffered a fate oft spoken of on this list - it "turned to goo". My primitive understanding is that things like ozone and sunlight cause the long carbon chains in the material to "relax". And, from the discussions with a few chemists there is no way to reverse the process. (keeping them in small plastic bags might help, but I am not qualified to say, and only before the damage is done, not after) I have found that various industrial tubing like neoprene, especially those for food and medical uses, can be used to replace the old rubber. I've done it with some success as have others here. But I have not tried it with a dc600 viper. I do have a gummy viper roller on my desk - I'd like to restore it at some point so if you do let us know what worked. The trick is getting the diameter right... -brad