HP Surestore DLT 80 Tape Drive - Manual (Page 21)

Care of the Drive and Tape Cartridges
Cleaning the Tape Heads
3-2
Cleaning the Tape Heads
When to Clean the Heads
When the yellow “Use Cleaning Tape” light is lit,
use a cleaning cartridge to clean the tape heads.
Using a Cleaning Cartridge
Note Each cleaning cartridge can only be used about 20 times. If the “Use
Cleaning Tape” light remains lit after you have finished a cleaning cycle,
this means the cartridge has reached the end of its life and the heads have
not been cleaned.
Discard the expired cleaning cartridge and use a new one.
To clean the heads:
1 If there is a tape cartridge in the drive, unload and remove it.
2 Insert a cleaning cartridge.
Follow the normal procedure for inserting a cartridge—see “To load a tape
cartridge” on page 2-5.
3 The drive automatically cleans the heads.
The more the cleaning cartridge has been used, the longer this will take,
because the drive has to wind farther to a new portion of tape.
4 When cleaning is complete:
• The “Use Cleaning Tape” light goes off.
• The “Operate Handle” light is lit.
If the “Use Cleaning Tape” light remains lit, the
cartridge has reached the end of its life and the
heads were not cleaned. Discard the cleaning cartridge and repeat the
cleaning cycle with a new one.
5 Remove the cleaning cartridge.
6 Write a cross in a box on the cleaning cartridge label.
This records how many times you have used the cartridge. Discard it after
20 uses.
dlt-m.book Page 2 Thursday, May 4, 2000 3:52 PM