apple 40sc tape rubber wheel replacement?

["brad" <mrbrad(remove)@ll.net>]

i have like 4-6 apple ii 40sc tape (dc2000 tapes) 40mb scsi external
boxes...

the problem is the little rubber wheel inside these tape units (and others i
suspect) after say 20plus years of sitting around are hard and brittle etc

so i'm asking the tech types here..anyone know of some kinda kludge fix or
replacement part? ..vcr's seem to have similar types of hard rubber/plastic
wheels...?

so for those who have one of these units if you just look inside you can see
the usually pink wheel i'm talking about centered in the middle of the slot
for the apple 40sc tape insert as you look in

i HAD 2 units mint..ie..never used...i tried to fire one up again never
used..put a backup tape in from the old tpro bbs days (1984) and
viola....the rubber wheel promptly disentigrated while trying to read
...also shot the tape *chunky chunks* but i used one of 2 with that info

i have a lot of apple // backup stuff on these tapes from back in the day so
figured i'd try to get it off and backed up somehow...(as most of my
projects eventually) but if the wheels are old and brittle on NEVER USED
units..well...duh you see my problem

anyway..if someone looks inside and can point me to a replacement wheel
deally from parts catalog and or has done such a repair i'd appreciate it
..and of course post it on here

anyway thanks for the help
brad
former sysop lost-gonzo.com