In article <4434B125.2080805 at msm.umr.edu>, jim stephens <jwstephens at msm.umr.edu> writes: I have wondered if storing some items in ziploc bags might not be a bad idea. In my case, I am worried about NOS printer ribbons going dry from the lack of humidity here. I think for rubber it might keep it from drying out as fast as well, perhaps it might be a good way to isolate the inner bands of your QIC cartridges from the corrosive LA fumes? You can always take a sacrificial tape and bake it (a little hotter than you'd expect you'd need on a data tape) to see how well it fares. -- "The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline"-- code samples, sample chapter, FAQ: <http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/> Pilgrimage: Utah's annual demoparty <http://pilgrimage.scene.org>

"John Allain" wrote: Ugg. I would *never* use a kitchen oven for baking tapes under any circumstances. It's just too uncontrolled. You get wild fluxuations of temperature. You really don't want to get much over 140F unless you want the plastic to start to deform. I'd stay right around 130F. Also, you want very low humidity. Very low. -brad

Richard wrote: I recently bought a sealed (MIL spec, as they were surplus) lead set, at the TRW swap meet. The date code showed that it was sealed in 1982, or 24 years ago. The two rubber bands, were still in "as new" condition with whatever they sealed it with. Two observations on using baggies, such as ziploc. the seal isnt so good for gases, it is for liquids, and moderately okay for gas, but not for what you are talking about. The plastic on the ones that are not "freezer" grade would be damaged and loose seal integrity unless packed in something to protect it. Also I have seen better. There are catalogs for stockroom supplies that have resuable bags that would probably be a better choice for long term storage. I suspect, but could not prove that the lead set mentioned above probably was sealed in a purged nitrogen atmosphere. It had a metalized looking type paper material that I had to cut open (would not tear) so was probably a specialized material for such sealing. Mil spec sealing pretty much means you can run it thru the jungle, put it in the engine compartment, spray it with hydraulic fluid, rinse it off, and open it and have a good component in the end, so is far and above what you would find from commerical products, which only have to maintain integrity for maybe a year, and is mostly to be sure you don't have to do recounts, not protect the stuff from water, etc while on the shelf. The testing would definitely be indicated, but beware that the tapes you test are of the same material. The most important beside the media would be the rubberband, the rollers, and the lubricant that is used. there are seldom (only saw one time) any bearings, so the plastic on a post lube job is meant to last a lifetime, and heating outside commercial temp ranges probably risk sweating out the lube and shortening the lifetime of the cartridge to 0 as well.