Provide Proper Acclimation And Environmental Conditions; Perform A Thorough Inspection; Double-Boxing Tape Cartridges For Shipping - IBM TS2900 Setup, Operator, And Service Manual

Figure 118. Double-boxing tape cartridges for shipping

Provide proper acclimation and environmental conditions

About this task
v Before you use a tape cartridge, acclimate it to the operating environment for 24 hours or the time
necessary to prevent condensation in the drive (the time will vary, depending on the environmental
extremes to which the cartridge was exposed).
v Ensure that all surfaces of a cartridge are dry before inserting it.
v Do not expose the cartridge to moisture or direct sunlight.
v Do not expose recorded or blank cartridges to stray magnetic fields of greater than 100 oersteds (for
example, terminals, motors, video equipment, X-ray equipment, or fields that exist near high-current
cables or power supplies). Such exposure can cause the loss of recorded data or make the blank
cartridge unusable.
v Maintain the conditions that are described in "Environmental and shipping specifications for tape
cartridges" on page 123.

Perform a thorough inspection

About this task
After you purchase a cartridge and before you use it, complete the following steps:
v Inspect the cartridge's packaging to determine potential rough handling.
v When a cartridge is inspected, open only the cartridge door. Do not open any other part of the
cartridge case. The upper and lower parts of the case are held together with screws. Separating them
destroys the usefulness of the cartridge.
v Inspect the cartridge for damage before you use or store it.
v Inspect the rear of the cartridge (the part that loads first into the tape load compartment) and ensure
that there are no gaps in the seam of the cartridge case (see 1 in Figure 119 on page 117 and 4
inFigure 120 on page 119 ). If there are gaps in the seam (see Figure 119 on page 117), the leader pin
might be dislodged. Go to "Repositioning or reattaching a leader pin" on page 118.
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IBM TS2900 Tape Autoloader: Setup, Operator, and Service Guide Machine Type 3572