3M is a wide-ranging materials supplier that makes a little bit of most everything. Among their offerings is their 971 series, which comes in carrier rolls at many lengths. Sometimes these rolls will show up with their core shifted, pushed up out of the roll of tape to one side or the other. We’ve gotten a few questions recently on whether this counts as, or causes, defective product. Is this shifting of the carrier core a problem for this tape?
In this case, movement of the plastic carrier core doesn’t really have any impact on the tape itself. Even if it comes entirely loose - which it shouldn’t - you can simply tap it back into place and move on. The carrier core is mostly there as a convenience and to ease production of the rolls, its position or potential absence has no impact on the quality or performance of the tape material.