There was a report on a NYC audiotape archive just now. Mentioned was a common problem of tape flaking and one last ditch solution was to bake the tape in a convection oven for 24 hours, presumably to re-seat the oxide into the plastic. Sounds like the temperature has to be exactly right. == Google "Sticky Shed Syndrome" Common problem with hydroscopic decomposition of the tape binder. A temporary solution is to dry the tape out by baking.