Subject:   -36- When and how should I clean my tape drive?
Date: 20 Feb 1994 00:00:01 EST

  9-track and QIC drives should be cleaned every 8 hours of use, or
  more often when using many new tapes, and certainly when the number
  of "recoverable errors" gets uncomfortably high. See the Nov/Dec 91
  Pipeline or the "IRIS Software Installation Guide" for a detailed
  cleaning procedure. Briefly, shut the drive down and swab the head
  with isopropanol and a lintless cloth.

  8mm and DAT drives need to be cleaned every 30 hours of use, using a
  commercial cleaning tape according to the instructions.