prima854
asked on
Travan Tape drive belt
Hi There,
I have a client that uses an old Travan 10/20 GB tape drive, and the belt inside the drives keeps falling off every few days or so.
So my question is, does anyone know if there are replacement belts that can be found? Or is there some way to "recondition" that belt? It looks to me like since it's gotten older, the elasticity of the belt has gone down making it fall off more, and it seems silly to replace the entire drive just for a small belt. I was thining of replacing the belt with rubber bands, anyone ever tried that?
Anyway, if I have to I'll just tell them to get a new drive, but I was wondering if there's any way I can be the hero and save them a few bucks. Thanks!
I have a client that uses an old Travan 10/20 GB tape drive, and the belt inside the drives keeps falling off every few days or so.
So my question is, does anyone know if there are replacement belts that can be found? Or is there some way to "recondition" that belt? It looks to me like since it's gotten older, the elasticity of the belt has gone down making it fall off more, and it seems silly to replace the entire drive just for a small belt. I was thining of replacing the belt with rubber bands, anyone ever tried that?
Anyway, if I have to I'll just tell them to get a new drive, but I was wondering if there's any way I can be the hero and save them a few bucks. Thanks!
I've never seen the belt or drive but is there a chance that it is actually an O-ring?
ASKER
My understanding of an o ring (and my understanding could be wrong) is that the rubber is round and shaped like an o, where this is more like a band where the rubber is flat and shaped like an o. If I flatten it out length-wise it's about an inch long, but I could always try an o-ring. Would I just pick one up at the hardware store?
Thanks!
Thanks!
Hi
The Travan drives have a belt, it's black and flat, you definately can't use an O-Ring. As for using an Elastic, no, the tension on the drive belt is to high for an elastic. As of this point, I know of no place that sells just the belt either.
The Travan drives have a belt, it's black and flat, you definately can't use an O-Ring. As for using an Elastic, no, the tension on the drive belt is to high for an elastic. As of this point, I know of no place that sells just the belt either.
Check with some electronics repair shops. A lot of tape decks still use belts. They may have one that fits.
It might be cheaper to switch then to CD or even DVD backup...
It might be cheaper to switch then to CD or even DVD backup...
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ASKER
Sweeet! I'm going to try that and let you know how it goes. Thanks!
I had another thought, sometimes one tends to answer the question rather than addressing the problem which is this case is "the belt is coming off"
Quite often belts are thrown because the pully and bearing have become worn which causes a misalignment. Do check that aspect of the problem as well. If the drive shafts are loose or pulleys wobble then thats a tough one to overcome short of a rebuild.
Quite often belts are thrown because the pully and bearing have become worn which causes a misalignment. Do check that aspect of the problem as well. If the drive shafts are loose or pulleys wobble then thats a tough one to overcome short of a rebuild.
ASKER
Well I've put the contact cement on the belt and so far things seem to be working, though I don't know how long it will last. It's working so far though.
As for the pully and bearing it could be that too, the drive is definitely old, however if the cement proves not to work I don't think it's worth it to dig that deep into the drive, or try to rebuild it.
If the cement doesn't keep working, I'm going to recommend they scrap the drive for something more stable, like a dds drive or Rev drive, as I've seen a bunch of those belts fall off all the time.
Anyways, thanks very much to everyone. If this doesn't work at least I know I've tried every avenue.
As for the pully and bearing it could be that too, the drive is definitely old, however if the cement proves not to work I don't think it's worth it to dig that deep into the drive, or try to rebuild it.
If the cement doesn't keep working, I'm going to recommend they scrap the drive for something more stable, like a dds drive or Rev drive, as I've seen a bunch of those belts fall off all the time.
Anyways, thanks very much to everyone. If this doesn't work at least I know I've tried every avenue.
Glad it worked, how about posting back when/if the belt falls off again, I'd like to know how long it lasts?
Regards,
Bill (aka: Shade Tree Mechanic)
Regards,
Bill (aka: Shade Tree Mechanic)