40sc apple scsi tape drives

[<sysop@lost-gonzo.com>]

i have two (actually 3 one works thats how i can tell of probs with the
other two) 40sc apple scsi tape drives....they don't take the tapes well
and come up error...even though all 3 come up ok on my ramfast
card...and of course the 1 out of the 3 works fine...but the other
two..act like they work fine but once the dc2000 tape is installed the
old blinking lite goes on......same tape in the unit that works..no
problemo....

i suspect that the other 2 apple 40sc scsi tape drives are simply dirty
etc....and was wondering if i just swab the heads like i would do a vcr
or what....or if any of u guru's out there have a sugesstion on what to
look for or check on such units....i again have the one that seems to
work ok with my ramfast and 1 other one had worked with it in the past
...and as i stated the ramfast finds all 3 when put on one at a time so
i don't think it is a scsi problem ...prob mechanical...

anyway the current plan is to clean it with vcr fluid and see what
happens....i'm looking for you guys for a couple things..

1) is there a former apple // tech out there or whomever that are
familar with these units 40 meg dc2000 tape units 3m made them last i
heard....can they get 'out of alignment or something'....care/feeding of
the beasts, other info appreciated

2) if they are fried..or broke does anyone know of a source for 80meg
tape units or larger..that are standard and can fit in the standard tape
box with button underneath....looks just like the build your own scsi
tape case units..but i need to know a good surplus place for the
units...

3) i have 4gig jetstore(also called surestore) 2000 gig scsi tape
unit....the ramfast tried...to figure out what it was...but failed...the
dat tapes for such unit 4gig is 15 bucks...so any ramfast techs out ther
e wanna challenge...the damn dc2000 tapes for 40meg cost the same..it is
time to move on...(someone gave us the jetstore 2000 as
non-working..works fine with my adaptec card with my 486/66...i was dumb
and lucky but i think my other tape drives are jealous and guit out of
spite...

anyway....replacement with a larger tape unit in the 40 sc scsi external
cases is an option...but i'm using p8 on the gs's with the tape units so
it an't really necessary with the 32meg limit on that..so...

anyway...any alignment hints/cleaning with alcohol hints, or whatever on
tape units, scsi tape units or whatever is appreciated...

brad
sysop@lost-gonzo.com
telnet: lost-gonzo.com

ps i'm runing a ramfast rev d 3.01e i think...but it seems to work ok
with all 3 connection wise and again works perfectly with the 1 that
works... well....whatever
thanks