Mounting HP7970e 9-Trk 1/2" Tape Drive

[Chuck Guzis]

On 2/5/19 12:19 PM, Jack Harper via cctalk wrote:
> 
> 
> Greetings to the List -
> 
> My very sincere THANKS for the enlightening responses from Chuck Guzis,
> Brent Hilpert and Jay West on mounting the HP 7970 tape drive Beasts.
> 
> I am out of town on business for a couple days and will inspect things
> when I return.
> 
> 
> Chuck is, of course, 100% correct on the Tipping Factor.
> 
> I learned that very quickly - If you open the front of the Drive and
> swing out the door with the electronics, drive motors etc, it is
> definitely heavy enough to tip a rack.
> 
> I bolted the destination 19" rack down to the concrete floor with 3/8"
> bolts.  It will not, I hope, soon go anywhere.

After struggling years earlier with getting a Fujitsu drive into a rack
by my lonesome, I was determined not to repeat the process. The rack,
VTW, is from an old HP Storage Array, which has a nice anti-tip pullout
on the bottom.

I constructed a dolly for the HP drive that allows me to roll it around
where I need it. It's low enough that it can slip under a table.

I should have done the same for the Fuji drive, now that i think about it.

I leave the heavy lifting to the young bucks like yourself.

When you break one of the retention levers (they get brittle with age),
drop me a line.  I have some 3D printed up from nylon that work just fine.

--Chuck