3592 Cleaning Cartridge - IBM TS3500 Introduction And Planning Manual

3592 cleaning cartridge

This section gives information about the appearance and usage of the IBM
TotalStorage 3592 Enterprise Cleaning Cartridge.
To help prevent errors caused by debris, it is important to clean the tape path of
the 3592 tape drives and to manually clean the outside of its data cartridges, when
needed. For each TS3500 Tape Library, IBM supplies a specially labeled IBM
TotalStorage 3592 Enterprise Cleaning Cartridge with the first 3592 tape drive in
the library. This cleaning cartridge may be used in all 3592 tape drives.
The cleaning of the tape path in the drive is an automatic procedure initiated by
the drive when changes in drive performance generate a request for cleaning. This
occurs when more than 5000 mounts have occurred, when more than 20 full file
passes of data have been processed, or when the drive detects a degraded head or
channel condition. If you load an expired cleaning cartridge, the drive will eject the
cartridge and post a status message to indicate that cleaning was not performed.
Failure to clean a drive can result in buildup of debris on the read/write head and
drive malfunction. If no cleaning cartridges are installed in the library, or if the
available cleaning cartridges have reached the maximum number of 50 uses,
cleaning cannot be completed. For information about different cleaning methods
(automatic, host, or manual), see "Methods of cleaning drives" on page 69. Also
refer to the sections about cleaning drives, enabling or disabling automatic
cleaning, and enabling automatic eject of expired cleaning cartridges in the IBM
System Storage TS3500 Tape Library with ALMS Operator Guide.
Note: It is the operator's responsibility to monitor the use of all cleaning cartridges
and to remove and replace expired cartridges as necessary. In order to determine
cleaning cartridge usage, learn to use SNMP traps to receive notification about
expired cartridges. For steps to remove a cleaning cartridge or to enable automatic
eject of expired cleaning cartridges, refer to the appropriate sections in the IBM
System Storage TS3500 Tape Library with ALMS Operator Guide.
Before you insert a cartridge into a drive or storage cell, inspect the cartridge for
damage or debris. Damaged or dirty cartridges can reduce system reliability and
cause the loss of recorded data. If debris appears on the cartridge, wipe the
outside surfaces with a lint-free cloth lightly moistened with water. No visible
water residue or droplets should be observable on the cartridge during or after the
wiping effort.
Attention: Do not allow any liquid to contact the tape itself. Special care should
be made to never allow liquid water to enter the cartridge which can potentially
wick into the layers of the tape and cause them to adhere to each other. This
creates the risk that the coatings may pull out during unwind.
Attention: Insert only clean and undamaged cleaning cartridges into a
tape system. Before you insert a cartridge into a drive or storage slot,
inspect the cartridge for damage or debris. Damaged or dirty cartridges
can reduce system reliability and cause the loss of recorded data. If
debris appears on the cartridge, wipe the outside surfaces with a
lint-free cloth lightly moistened with water. Do not allow any liquid to
contact the tape. Ensure that all cartridge surfaces are dry and that the
leader pin is in place (see 1 in Figure 51 on page 182) before you load
the cartridge.
Chapter 5. Using 3592 tape drive media
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