Nine track tape BOT sensing foil

The drive(s) I am working with is a Cipher F880. I have two, neither of which work properly at the moment, and I have been tinkering with trying to fix one, or at least get it to run well enough to boot the system. I was able to get my test boot tape repaired well enough that it should be able to load (BTW: the 'synthetics' setting on my iron seems to work pretty well on magtape). The drive won't load the tape properly, and I think it has to do with the control voltages for the takeup reel motor. Since the blower motor isn't working, I have to thread the tape in manually, and wrap it around the takeup. Then, on a load cycle, the tape winds onto the takeup, then as it's trying to get tension on the tape, it hits a snag and stops, and if the tape is wrapped a slight bit crooked on the takeup at this point, it flys off and gets tangled (hence my problem in the first place). I have the service manual for the drive (thanks bitsavers!) and I am going to go about getting it working again. I should have some time this weekend to work on it. I think I have a better handle on what's going on with the drive, and I should be able to fix it - I'll post again about it when I know more. Thanks for the help! -Ian