Replace roller rubber on HP 9825 tape drive

[Richard Lynch]

on 6/17/05 6:32 AM, Vintage Computer Festival at vcf at siconic.com wrote:

> 
> I'm trying to repair the tape drive in an HP 9825.  The roller has melted
> (no surprise there).  It seems like I could just get a bit of silicon
> tubing or something that has the same diameter and guage as the existing
> roller.
> 
> I know this has been discussed before but I can't find any specific
> messages (by the way, the CC archive search is broken, Jay).  Can anyone
> provide any tips or guidance so I don't have to re-learn mistakes already
> made?
> 
> Any tips for cleaning off the existing material?  Isopropyl alcohol?  Any
> thoughts of using heatshrink tubing and applying multiple layers until it
> has the same thickness as the original roller?
> 
> Thanks for any help.  This will be a candidate for adding to the knowledge
> base once I've successfully replaced the roller.

I have an old Altos tape drive that uses DC300 tapes.  I went to the local
hardware store and bought a rubber grommet with an inside diameter just
slightly smaller than the capstan on the drive, so it would fit nice and
tight.  I then used fine sandpaper to reduce the outer diameter until it
matched the original.  Slipped it on the capstan and successfully backed up
the hard drive on my ACS8000.