Technical information

9871 Tenth Edition A-15
Maintaining Cartridges
■ Maintaining Cartridges
The following pages describe how to store and clean cartridges, use cleaning
cartridges, and repair a detached leader block.
Storing Cartridges
When you store a cartridge:
• Keep a cartridge in its protective wrapping until you are ready to use it. Use
the tear string, not a sharp instrument, to remove the wrapping.
• Store cartridges in a clean environment duplicating the conditions of the
room in which they will be used.
• Before using a cartridge, make sure that it has been in its operating
environment for at least 24 hours.
Cleaning the Cartridge Exterior
CAUTION:
CARTRIDGE DAMAGE. Certain solvents can damage the cartridge. DO
NOT REMOVE LABELS OR CLEAN CARTRIDGES USING ACETONE,
TRICHLOROETHANE, TOLUENE, XYLENE, BENZENE, KETONE,
METHYLETHYL KETONE, METHYLENE CHLORIDE, ETHYLDICHLORIDE,
ESTERS, ETHYL ACETATE, OR SIMILAR CHEMICALS.
Wipe all dust, dirt, and moisture from the cartridge with a lint-free cloth.
Use StorageTek Tape Cleaner Wipes, PN 404628901 (or higher) to clean the
cartridges. These wipes are saturated with isopropyl alcohol. Do not let any
solution touch the tape or get inside the cartridge.
Using Cleaning Cartridges
Cleaning cartridges have a unique 3-character alphanumeric prefix in their
VOLSER (default is “CLN”). Cleaning cartridges can not be used as scratch
cartridges or initialized by software utilities.
When a transport requires cleaning, the software tells the hand to remove a
cleaning cartridge from its cell and insert it into a transport. Figure 3-17 on
page 3-25 shows where the cartridges are stored in the LSM.
Note: If the LSM has no cleaning cartridges, you are prompted to enter a
cleaning cartridge into the CAP.
CAUTION:
UNPREDICTABLE RESULTS. When you enter a cleaning cartridge, the
software considers it to be new and sets the usage counter to zero. DO