[rescue] VS80 DLT tape drive question

[Dan Sikorski]

Curtis H. Wilbar Jr. wrote:
> I was given an external VS80 (Dell branded) tape drive.
>
> The 'door' where tape goes, flaps freely in... I'm used to my
> DLT4000 where the door is locked closed when a tape is out.
>
>   
The VS80's are just spring loaded flaps, they don't lock closed like the 
larger drives do.
> I've opened it up, and I don't see any evidence of an interlock
> mechanism or even a spring to hold it closed.
>
>   
> When the external drive is powered on, the fan in the case
> causes the flap to pull partway in (pulling dust/etc into the
> drive).  Is this really how these drives are ?
>
> If not, where would the door spring go ????
>
>   
When you're looking at the front end of the drive, the left side of the 
door should have a spring on it.  If you take the drive out of the case, 
you should be able to see the (lack of) spring if you look at the top of 
the drive on the hinge of the flap.
> How are these drives ?  Seems like a very compact drive.
> Specs show a slower transfer rate vs the full size DLT8000.
>   
Not too bad, we have probably a dozen of them in service, and have had 
some failures, but i think i can probably attribute all of the failures 
to dirty air (dust, smoke, etc.).  I've also taken two of those drives 
apart to fix them in the past.  (I'm not expert though, i only have a 
50% success rate. :) )

    -Dan Sikorski