Certified International DAStape - Manual (Page 38)

Chapter 5. DAStape 200 Tape Drives and Media
38
Cleaning the SDLT Tape Drive Head
The SDLT cleaning tape is housed in a plastic case, and is light gray in color. Use only
approved SDLT cleaning cartridges. To order these cartridges from Spectra Logic, see
Purchasing Media and Cleaning Cartridges on page 16.
A yellow LED located on the front bezel of the tape drive indicates when cleaning is
needed (the location of this LED is shown in Figure 5-3 on page 36).
Clean the DAStape as follows:
1. Power on the DAStape.
2. Carefully insert the cleaning tape into the drive with the window facing the top
of the drive.
3. The cleaning tape performs automatic cleaning and ejects the cartridge when
complete.
Note: Do not use the cleaning cartridge more than 20 times. Mark the
cleaning cartridge each time you use it or use backup software to
track cleaning cartridge usage.
Load Time for Cleaning Cartridge
Load (cycle) times for SDLT cleaning cartridges are as follows; these times are accurate
to ±20 seconds:
• Shortest load time (first pass of cleaning cartridge): 2 minutes 55 seconds
• Longest load time (20th pass of cleaning cartridge): 10 minutes 20 seconds
• Expired load time (expired cleaning tape): 4 minutes 30 seconds
On the last pass, the cleaning process stops, the tape is rewound, but the cartridge is
not ejected. If the tape is loaded again after the 20th pass, it winds all the way to the
end of the cartridge and back again without performing the cleaning sequence; the
tape does not eject.
Caution: Never use a DLT cleaning tape in an SDLT drive; DLT cleaning
tapes are incompatible with the SDLT heads.