<Thus far he has discovered a problem with tape drives in two
<terminals. His description of the problem is that, when used, the
<motor capstan in the tape drive "melts". In one case he has not
<been able to get all the ex-capstan goo off of the belt capstan
<in the cartridge; fortunately that was a blank tape.
this is also common to DEC TU58 tape system (also a dc100 cart).
The solution I've used to date is to first strip the goo off the alumninum
ferrule that is on the drive. Then I found a peice of tygon(vinal) clear
tubing that had the required ID for a tight fit. I cut a ring the width of
the original(cut squarely and clean) and proceded to glue it on using
superglue (cyanoacrylic). then I run it up on a spare motor and grind it
using a emery board. The last step it insure roundness. I've done this
for 6 tu58 drives and it seems to work fine. It's noisier as it's harder
but seems to have enough friction to drive the tape well.
The material is not the best possible choice (polyurethane might be better)
but I had it handy and it's easy to find. Between uses I pull the tape to
avoid dents that seem to cause no problems other then making the drive
very noisy. It's been in use for about a year, so the tygon hardening
from age was a concern. However it works and it's easy enough to do again
if needed.
<And an observation: the HP 9815A desktop calculator I have sitting here
<seems to use a similar drive (at least the capstan looks similar when I
<peer in the slot), and I think the HP 85 does too.
I'd guess.
Allison
Received on Sun Nov 23 1997 - 13:14:01 GMT