3.4.1 Mechanical carriers

Fragile carriers (cylinders, shellac discs) must be given special attention when handled and transported. Extreme care should be given when mounting of cylinders on replay machines equipped with mandrels. Invisible cracks may lead to the bursting of such cylinders when mounted with too high a pressure. Additionally, keeping cylinders in mobile shelves is inadvisable. Best transport protection is achieved by tight packing within shock absorbing containers.

All mechanical carriers are prone to surface damages, which will cause audible artefacts (clicks, crackle, etc.). Additionally, the information carried by the grooves is specifically threatened by maladjusted mechanical pick-up systems and wrongly chosen styli. Both may cause considerable damage (IASA-TC 04, 5.2 and 5.3).

Because of the susceptibility of all mechanical carriers to physical damage, their handling requires staff with manual skills and special training.