A Progress Report

About a year ago I posted to the list about the rubber coating on the 7974
capstan getting sticky, then coming off, etc.  I then posted back to the
list that a Navy chief had come up with a fix, or at least a temporary fix.
 The fix was to put two well cleaned "Red Devil" vacuum cleaner belts over
the aluminum capstan.

Well, last spring my 7974s capstan suffered the same fate.  It "went
sticky".  I tried the vacuum cleaner belt fix on it and had great success.
The 7974 with the vacuum cleaner belts on the capstan writes tapes that the
7980 reads without error, and the 7974 reads tapes that the 7980 writes.
I've also traded tapes written with the 7974 with others and no problems
have be reported.

I've been using the 7974 with the belts on it for about seven months now,
and in that time there has been only one tape that I've had a problem with.
 The problem was that about 2/3 of the way through the tape the tape would
lose tension, and always in the same spot.  I haven't had any problems
reading tapes written on other drives, and there haven't been any problems
reading tapes this drive writes.

So, if you have a 7974 with the sticky capstan problem, you may want to try
the Red Devil vacuum cleaner belt fix.

John
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John Korb                            email: [log in to unmask]
Innovative Software Solutions, Inc.

The thoughts, comments, and opinions expressed herein are mine
and do not reflect those of my employer(s), or anyone else.