Is head cleaning required for a DLT drive?
No periodic head cleaning is required. The Use Cleaning Tape indicator on the front panel of the drive will light when the drive needs cleaning. A cleaning is completed simply by loading a special cleaning cartridge into the drive. The tape path and head is cleaned as the media on cleaning tape is taken into the drive. The cleaning process takes a little more than a minute, and when complete will both turn off the Use Cleaning Tape indicator and light the Operate Handle indicator. Then the cartridge can be removed. No other cleaning methods should be used with the DLT drive mechanism. Since the head and tape media have been carefully designed to be “self-cleaning”, it is possible that the Use Cleaning Tape indicator will never light and a cleaning cartridge will not be needed. If dust, heavy usage, or contaminants create the need for a cleaning, the Use Cleaning Tape indicator will light. If the use of a particular data cartridge repeatedly lights the Use Cleaning Tape indicator, the c
