Professional Audio & Film Division
SPRAGUE MAGNETICS is the premier tape head and recorder repair service and parts supplier that Professional Audio, Film and Video industries have relied upon for over 25 years.
WE OFFER:
Repair Services
Parts and Head Sales
ATM/Mag Stripe/Card Reader Heads
Magnetic Developer
Technical Support
REPAIRS
- TECCON film heads — AUTHORIZED Refurbishment Center
- Repair of Audio DAT Recorders (Panasonic, Sony, Tascam)
- Refurbishment of TAPE HEADS and Head Assemblies
- Special Modifications available to enhance performance
- Optical alignment of Head Assemblies is standard.
- Same day turnaround is standard.
- Recorder repair — Reel to Reel or DAT
- Authorized Warranty Repair Center for Ampex, Fostex, Otari, Teac/Tascam & Sony
- Factory Trained Service for the Tascam DA-88 multi-track DAT recorder
- HEAD WHEEL Repairs offered on all DAT recorders, including the DA-88
SALES
- Sole source for original AMPEX qualified parts
- Authorized Distributor of New TECCON Film Heads (Still available — all models — Brand New)
- Parts distributor for Denon, Fostex, Otari, Panasonic, Sony, Studer/Revox & Teac/Tascam
- Tape head Distributor for every major tape head manufacturer, including AM Belgium, DRS, Flux Magnetics, IEM, Lipps, Nortronics, Teccon and others
- Professional Quality Cleaning and Maintenance Equipment
- Hand held and table top DEGAUSSERS
- Design and development assistance is available for special application heads, such as DTS digital movie sound system tape heads, Mag Stripe Heads, video head wheels, and others
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ATM/MAG STRIPE/CARD READER HEADS
ATM heads, Mag Stripe heads and Card Reader heads all can and will fail early due to the relatively stiff/inflexible nature of the material run over the heads, and the relatively high abrasiveness of those items. This results in wear on the face of the head changing the contour, which means that the contact with the gap of the head is no longer optimal, causing problems with reading and/or writing.
The good news is that frequently these heads can be refurbished by restoring the original optimal contour to the head. Even when a head is completely worn out, we can often obtain a replacement for you directly from many of the world's largest tape head manufacturers, usually for far less money that the machine's OEM would charge. Our own internal engineering expertise, coupled with our relationships with tape head manufacturers also means that we can assist you in the design and manufacture of any new (or very old) heads for your application.
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MAGNETIC DEVELOPER
Sprague-Mag is a magnetic developer which permits the visual examination of the magnetically recorded data on such items as the mag-stripe on an ATM card, hotel card keys, Driver's licenses, currency, or credit cards. A data sheet for our Sprague-Mag Magnetic Developer is available for download on our Technical Library page.
Uses include manufacturing quality inspections, field service troubleshooting, anti-fraud/security checks, and as an engineering prototyping tool. This developer is so versatile that if you are involved with any product associated in any fashion with magnetic recording, then the potential applications for this developer is limited solely by your imagination.
As with many virtually indispensable tools, the concept of this developer is simplicity itself. The formulation contains iron particles suspended in a fluid with a high and rapid evaporation rate. When the developer is placed onto a magnetic surface, the liquid evaporates and the magnetic particles orient themselves in accordance with the magnetic pattern on the surface of the material. It is available with two different sizes of iron particles; regular, and extra. The choice of particle size is determined by your application and the density of the magnetic fields/information.
Sprague-Mag is rated Environmentally Safe. There used to be a number of similar products available, but all of them used ozone-depleting CFCs to insure quick liquid evaporation. With the advent of US Federal regulations restricting the use of such chemicals, these other magnetic developers have disappeared from the marketplace. Sprague-Mag does not contain CFCs, and fully complies with all US regulations on the use of ozone-depleting chemicals.
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