Maintenance and Troubleshooting
Cleaning tape drives
Use the guidelines in the following sections to clean your tape drives.
Cleaning SDLT tape drives
Be aware of the following:
■Under normal conditions, the cleaning cartridge is effective for about 20 cleanings.
■SDLT tape drives typically do not need regular cleaning, as their design allows for minimal head contamination.
■Use the cleaning tape only if the library indicates that the drive needs cleaning.
■Use the cleaning tape more than once if a tape has severely contaminated the drive heads. If the problem persists after two cleanings, and the cleaning tape has not expired, contact your authorized service provider.
Note: Do not use a DLT, DLT1, or VS cleaning tape (almond in color) in an SDLT drive. SDLT cleaning tapes are gray and use a 7- or
To clean the tape heads:
1.Move a cleaning cartridge into the drive using your application software. The tape drive automatically loads the cartridge and cleans the heads.
During the cleaning cycle the drive’s green Ready LED flashes. At the end of the cleaning cycle, the drive ejects the cartridge.
2.Remove the cleaning cartridge from the drive.
Cleaning Ultrium tape drives
Be aware of the following:
■Ultrium tape drives have been developed to have a minimal cleaning requirement.
■An HP Ultrium Universal Cleaning Cartridge can be used up to 50 times. If you are using an older HP Ultrium cleaning cartridge, check the documentation that came with your media.
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