QIC DC600A tapes with broken drive belts

[smbaker]

Trying to get an old tape drive going, bought a few new sealed tapes from eBay only to find the drive belts are broken. These were 3M branded tapes.

Does anyone have an idea on where to get reliable NOS DC600A tapes? Is there another size that is compatible but considered more reliable (I came across a thread here that mentioned 150MB tapes as having better belts than the 600A tapes).

Thanks,
Scott

[Chuck(G)]

Enough time has gone by since the DC600/DC6150 tapes have been produced that it's a craps shoot as to whether the bands will be any good. There's always Plastibands...

[smbaker]

Enough time has gone by since the DC600/DC6150 tapes have been produced that it's a craps shoot as to whether the bands will be any good. There's always Plastibands...

Tell me more about these... I read about them in some of the other threads, 4.25" plastibands to be specific, but I was assuming those are for the smaller mini-QIC tapes? Just eyeballing a tape measure onto the belt path of the DC600A, I'm getting an estimate of 15 inches or so (I haven't actually pulled them apart yet; waiting to see if the eBay seller wants them back first)

What about 3D printing a band out of TPU? Would that be a reasonable idea?

[Chuck(G)]

I don't know how you'd get a nice even smooth thin band of TPU.

The 6" plastibands work well in DC-300/600 size carts. They may be hard to find, but a Japanese vendor sells them online

The way 3M made them was to punch rings out of sheet TPU, then "flip" the ring onto the cartridge. A die to do this should be pretty simple to construct.

[smbaker]

The 6" plastibands work well in DC-300/600 size carts. They may be hard to find, but a Japanese vendor sells them online

Another thread has a link to them at misumi, but they're listed as "temporarily unavailable". Perhaps a covid-related supply problem.

The plastiband assortment at Amazon, one reviewer claims it contains five 6" bands, but that would mean buying a whole lot of what I don't want in order to get a tiny amount of what I do want.

[smbaker]

Okay, I completed my plastiband rebuild of one tape. Being the first time, and the tape being a little unspooled already, I may have crinkled it up a bit as I figured out what I was doing.

Can someone tell me how loud these drives were back in the day? This thing is LOUD. Kind of a buzzing noise as the motor spins.

I was able to retension a tape, and I was able to erase a tape. I haven't been able to write one yet. Either I messed it up too badly during the attemped repair, or there are other problems.

[Chuck(G)]

Should be fairly quiet. Check the capstan on your drive--make sure that it hasn't degraded. Also make sure that the drive wheel on the cartridge hasn't had bits gouged out of it by a spinning capstan.

Hint: when you replace a band, it's easiest to keep the reels stationary using a couple of thin pieces of masking tape--one end on the reel (not the tape!) and the other end secured to the base plate.

[smbaker]

The rubber roller on the capstan had turned to black goo -- I've already replaced that with a 3D printed part made out of TPU. I'm not quite sure whether my 3D printed replacement is round enough or rubbery enough. Testing the replacement was when I ran into the broken tapes.

From the sound of things, I'm worried that perhaps there's a bearing out.

[Chuck(G)]

I replaced my capstan roller with a short piece of 4mm silicone vacuum tubing. It's quite round and stretches over the shaft quite securely.

[smbaker]

I replaced my capstan roller with a short piece of 4mm silicone vacuum tubing. It's quite round and stretches over the shaft quite securely.

This one here was fairly thick -- 1/4" ID, 1/2" OD. I'm assuming yours was thinner than that?

Is a tape supposed to be parked at the EOT marks on the tape? The drive seems to be in a funk this morning, it kinda seeks back and forth rapidly for a second or two, but then refuses to retension. I need to pull it again and have a look -- could be that there's an RPM/movement sensor that's not working and it's refusing to spin up.