How to Clean the Tape Drive

Before You Begin

Observe these rules about when to clean a tape drive:

1. Clean the drive after the first four hours of use with a new tape.

2. After that, clean the tape drive after every 25 hours of use to maintain reliable operation.

3. Clean the drive twice as often if you use it in a dusty environment or operate it infrequently.

What to Do

1. Insert a cleaning cartridge into the drive.

   The tape should play for a short while, and then eject automatically.

   Figure 11-9  

   
   

Do not use any cartridge other than a DDS-approved cleaning tape cartridge to clean your tape drive.