9-Track 18-Track 36-Track Tape Drive Repair Specialists
Large Format - Tandem, MP Tapes, Overland Data, Fujitsu, DEC, IBM HP Cipher
Midwest Technical Sales started repairing 9-track tape drives in the late 1980s with Control Data’s 92181 1600BPI then on to the introduction of the 92185 6250 BPI models. As the market transitioned to the 3490 and 490 tape drive formats we followed by offering repair services. After Control Data left the marketplace many other manufactures picked up the large format tape drives, some are listed below.
Tandem - MP Tapes: MP8418 MP8436 / Fujitsu: 2485, 2488 / M4 Data: M490E / Philips: TD3610, TD3620 / Overland Data: L490E, T490 / DEC TZ 61 / IBM: 3490E, F00, F01, F11, F1A / IBM: 3590B, E, H / HP: 88780 / Cipher: F880, M990 and many other large format tape drives and libraries.
Although this technology is dated, we understand this “Old School” technology and repair a sizable number of these tape drive on a yearly basis. Our technicians have been in this business for a better part of their professional careers. We have former Field Engineers in-house who realize how a tape drive needs to operate out of the box the first time. Also how time consuming after a 2-hr drive to customer site to have a field replacement unit fail.
Repair services are quoted on a per drive basis starting at $275 for basic Preventive Maintenance procedure which includes; re-seating circuit board and scrubbing contacts clean, cleaning the interior of the drive, scrubbing the head and tape pathway, cleaning the sensors: BOT and EOT sensors. We have developed sophisticated cleaning techniques for heads which include specially formulated cleaning solutions as well as ultra-sonic cleaning. We are able to salvage many heads that were previously associated with not reading or writing properly.
A basic evaluation for the large format tape drives and libraries is $175. If you choose to repair the unit the evaluation fee is waived.
If you have any questions about 9-Track, 18-Track or 36-Track tape drive or library repair, call us at 1 (888) 822-TAPE(8273) or complete RMA Repair Request form. Thanks for visiting Midwest Technical, the GO TO PEOPLE, in the tape drive repair marketplace. We are the most versatile data storage specialists in the industry.