Tape won't eject 1

[tviman]

We've got a DI30 tape drive that won't eject the tape - either progromatically or manually. Other than that, the drive works flawlessly. Any ideas on how to fix this or is it hopeless?

There's always a better way. The fun is trying to find it!

 

[stegosaurus]

When you hit the Eject button: does the LED on the button flash? Does it even Attempt to eject the tape at all? when you hit the button, it should draw in the tape, rewind a bit, then (Attempt to) Eject, all while the LED flashes.

it Could be that the mechanical rails may just need a lube job. If worse comes to worse, carefully open it up and see if the eject motor is even trying to turn.

 

[tviman]

The eject button seems to be stuck in the "in" position. Consequently, there's no noise because there's nothing to "push". Could the eject motor be burned out?

(According to the instructions, I should be able to manually eject the tape by manually opening the drive door and inserting a stratightened paper clip into the small hole at the side of the tape bay. This used to work but hasn't for quite some time.)

Thanks for any replying and for any other ideas you may have.

There's always a better way. The fun is trying to find it!

 

[stegosaurus]

You may want to take the drive out, and underneath the center-front of the drive you will see a slightly-curved slot with a bit of metal on the inside: Use a thin, stiff, pointy object (such as a nail) and push that metal bit towards the back of the unit: This will force the mechanism to partially eject the tape, you can then pull the tape out from there.

With the tape out and the drive powered up, see if you can push the tray back in, and push the eject button and see what happens.

I took one of my drives apart today to re-lube it as it was having a problem pulling the tape in. It's Interesting how many points that are in the drive that really Should be lubed up! (like the sides of the tape sled, and the gears underneath the sled)

 

[tviman]

Stegosaurus...

We live in a VERY dusty area so I'll follow your suggestions and keep my fingers crosed. Thanks for the heads up on the lube job info!

There's always a better way. The fun is trying to find it!

 

[mattjurado]

Also, if you are going to clean it out, don't use compressed air, it will just blow dirt/dust into areas of the drive that might make things worse. Always use a vaccuum to remove dust.

Matt J.

Please always take the time to backup any and all data before performing any actions suggested for ANY problem, regardless of how minor a change it might seem. Also test the backup to make sure it is intact.