Specifications

Dell DDS/DAT Media Handbook Page 11
3.3 Cleaning Cycles
Regularly cleaning DDS/DAT drives helps in long-term reliability and should be conducted on a scheduled cycle
as well as when requested by the drive. The recommended cleaning interval for the drive is 50 tape motion hours
which is indicated when the cleaning LED comes on solid. Dell does not recommend cleaning outside of the
normal cleaning requests from the tape drive unless you are performing Read/Write troubleshooting steps.
Note: If the Cleaning LED remains on after using a valid cleaning tape, this would indicate the use of an expired
cleaning tape. See table 3 and table 5 for additional characteristics.
3.4 Cleaning media usage and drive cleaning lights
Figure 12 - Universal Cleaning Tapes
Physical Description Black tape labeled with “DG-12CL or DG-15CL are the current recommended
clean cartridge to use.”
Part Number 310-5053
Characteristics Appearance almost identical to DDS/DAT Data cartridge. Only difference is the
labeling and cleaning cartridge has no write protect tab.
NOTE: Do not use any cleaning cartridge that has cloth like material. Material for
valid drive should resemble magnetic tape.
Life Expectancy 40 cleanings
Table 4 -Cleaning Characteristics per Drive
* If excessive dust or debris from the tape media collects at one or more of the tape heads, your drive may not be
able to read from or write to tape. To avoid this situation, it is recommended that you maintain the above clean
schedule on your DDS/DAT tape drive.