Mounting HP7970e 9-Trk 1/2" Tape Drive

[Jack Harper]

At 11:09 AM 2/6/2019, Jay West wrote:
>Chuck's retension levers.... any chance this is on thingiverse or would you
>be willing to send me the .stl file so I can 3dprint my own? :)
>
>I have not looked at my 7970's in quite some time, but I had thought the
>previous discussion was for mounting the 7970's in an HP rack. Not all later
>HP racks, but the 2 or 3 series that were predominant around the time of the
>7970's, had a very specific build related to positioning of the holes (which
>were actually a few sliding metal bars with tapped holes, not just holes all
>up and down the rack). The 7970 mounting bracket was designed for that 'odd'
>HP-way the racks were built at that time (they changed later). I do not
>think that an HP rack called a "storage array" (obviously much later
>production) would have the same hole (and more importantly, the channels
>around the bars) pattern. Long story short, I am not positive that mounting
>the 7970 in a non-HP  or HP but non-period rack would work 100% as
>originally intended. It may stay in the rack, but there could be some
>positional/operational issues.
>
>Specifically what I'm wondering, without the bracket and in a "non-hp" hp
>rack ;)... how did you bolt it on the left hand side? And are you sure that
>with it mounted that way, the speed bolt on the front right inside the door
>allows you to swing the unit all the way open without hitting the flush
>surface on the left of the casting?
>
>I need to go look at mine and see if I'm just remembering this all wrong...
>lol
>
>J




Hello Jay and Greetings to the List -

I mounted the two HP7970 Drives in a non-HP rack - just a standard 
six-foot 19" rack that I found a few years ago.

I installed two heavy aluminum rails (1/8" thick and perhaps 2" on 
the two sides - angle stock) for each Drive to support the 130-pound 
weight of each.

I checked carefully and both Drives are, in fact, resting on the 
rails 100% from front to back - those rails are supporting almost all 
it not all of the weight of each Drive.


Yes, I got the three #10 (I think) screws through the holes on the 
right side of each Drive into the mating threaded holes on the right 
side of the 19" rack without difficulty.

However, there is no obvious place for the screws to go through the 
Drive on the left side.


I am still traveling on business and have not yet had a chance to 
read in detail the e-mail traffic on this - and will do so this 
weekend to see what's what.

The Drives are not going to go anywhere, however I did notice that I 
could push the left side of the Drive from the rear out perhaps a 
quarter of an inch - and I need to correct that somehow.


...and Yes, the Drive fronts swing open to the left fine with no 
clearance issues.

I was, of course, concerned about that and finally convinced myself 
that the fronts would swing open before I mounted the Beasts.


See http://frobenius.com/190203%20Tape%20Drive4.jpg for exciting 
photo of one of the support rails.

You can also see in the photo at the bottom of the rack on the floor 
part of the 3/4" thick plywood base that I built and anchored to the 
concrete floor to prevent rack tipping.

The 19" rack is, of course, bolted to the plywood base.


Best,

Jack in the Rocky Mountains.




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