Manual

Chapter Six – Maintenance
Tandem 5142-xSE Rackmount Tape Subsystems User Guide 33
6.1 5142-xSE Subsystem Tape Path Cleaning
The Media Caution LED is located on the front panel of the tape drive. When it flashes amber, the
tape heads are already dirty.
DRIVE B DRIVE A
Tape Drive
LEDs
Mode
Switch
Eject
Button
Display
Unit
Display
LEDs
LCD
Figure 46 5142-xSE Media Caution LED
Warning!!! The tape heads must be cleaned regularly. Different tape cartridges (60m,
90m, 120 and 125m) required different cleaning intervals. Use the
recommended cleaning schedule as specified per cartridge type. See the
Tables 9 and 10.
Recommended Cleaning Schedule for 60m, 90m and
120m Tape Cartridges (DDS-1 and DDS-2)
DDS cartridges used
each day
≤12 – 34≥
Recommended Cleaning
Frequency
weekly twice a week daily
Table 8 5142-xSE's cleaning schedule when using DDS-1 and DDS-2 tape cartridges
Recommended Cleaning Schedules for
125m Tape Cartridge (DDS-3)
Number of DDS
cartridges used
each day
1 2 3 4 or more
Recommended
Cleaning
Frequency
8 weeks 4 weeks 3 weeks weekly
Table 9 5142-xSE's cleaning schedules when using DDS-3 tape cartridges
If you regularly use DDS-1 and DDS-2 tape cartridges along with DDS-3 tape cartridges, more
frequent cleaning is required.