18 Jan
2016
18 Jan
'16
9:39 a.m.
On 01/18/2016 10:56 AM, js at cimmeri.com wrote:
On 1/18/2016 11:33 AM, Jon Elson wrote:
There was a tape sold by a few manufacturers (I
think
3M's was called Black Watch) that had a coarse black
matte finish on the back side. A problem with some
drives which had fast rewind speeds was that air was
trapped in the tape wind, and then once a bunch more
layers of tape was wound on the reel, the tape wrap would
cinch and fold over a piece of tape. This matte finish
was supposed to cure that, and I think it did. But, that
finish was not as durable as the magnetic coating, and
would start to shed all over the drive, leaving stuff on
the data surface. I think about 5 years after the stuff
came out, most data centers searched out and trashed all
these tapes.
Jon
Interesting. I just happen to have a 3M Black Watch tape
right here next to me that I'm using to test a Mark 300
tape cleaning machine. The tape so far is fine, not
shedding anything front or back.
- J.