Cleaning mini dv tapes/cameras?

[Puritan]

Does anyone know how any tips for cleaning a mini dv tape or camera? I have tried to rip some recordings off my mini dv tapes but am getting periodic audio/video glitches/dropouts/etc. I have tried cleaning the camera with a head cleaner, but that hasn't been able to fix the problem. Does anyone have any other tips?

 

[JustAFriend]

Are they old tapes or used many times??? Or are they cheap tapes?

Chances are the tapes themselves are just worn out.

3-5 uses and I trash 'em. Many pro videographers will only use a tape for critical projects ONCE.

(If it is dropouts in the tape, there's nothing you can do...)

 

[Puritan]

The tapes were only used once and should have been new when used.

I tried reading them in one camera and got a lot of dropouts, and tried reading them in another camera and got much fewer, so I think at least some of it is a problem with the camera, not the tapes. Not sure how to get the read from that second camera down from fewer dropouts to no dropouts, however...