Why wont old tapes play back on my new camcorder?

Question

I've just used my camcorder to play back a recent tape taken no more than a year ago. After switching to an older 8mm tape, taken about 10 years ago, nothing but the blue screen is showing. The tapes do not seem to be broken or damaged in any visible way so why is this happening?

Answer 1

Normally, dust & dirt (& moisture) accumulates on an archived tape as time goes by. As the tape runs thru the heads, dirt sticks to them covering the critical part.

Clean the recording/playback/erasing heads by cleaning cassette.

When using an old or new tape for 1st time (in years) fast forward and rewind before recording or playback...helps minimize dirt accumulating on the heads.