Tapes sometimes get a layer of mould on them when you look at the tape through the clear plastic window. This is normally because they have been stored somewhere damp.
The tape in the picture above is bad but not the worst we have seen. Usually we find that the mould is in small spots over the tape.
If your tape is as bad as the tape in the picture there is not much we can do to recover the information on the tape.
Small spots of mould are normally ok with VHS tapes and we can copy them successfully.
Any mould on video8, Hi8 or miniDV tapes normally makes the tape unplayable. Due to the narrow width of the tape the mould makes the tape stick together causing the tape to tear when trying to play.
Please check your tapes before bringing them in and if you have any worries about mould don’t hesitate to get in touch
Can we recover mouldy Tapes?
We can attempt to recover your valuable recordings. We will remove the spools and do the best we can to remove the mould without damaging the tape. We will hand wind the tape to check if it is stuck together. Assuming the tape winds OK we will transfer the contents to DVD or mp4 files for you. We cannot guarantee to that we will be able to recover your recordings.
A recovered recording might not be perfect due to the mould eating into the tape face. This is a time consuming process. Trying to recover video8, hi8 or minidv tapes is probably not cost effective.
