Mounting HP7970e 9-Trk 1/2" Tape Drive

[Brent Hilpert]

On 2019-Feb-04, at 3:40 PM, Jack Harper via cctalk wrote:
> 
> I am mounting a couple of heavy (130-pounds each) HP7970e tape drives to a 19" rack.
> 
> The screw holes that mate to the standard spaced holes on the right side of the drive after you open the case are visible and obvious.
> 
> However, the holes on the left are hidden under the heavy die-cast(?) frame of the drive.
> 
> Anyone know how to get to those three screw holes with a horrible disassembly.
> 
> There has to be a trick to this that I don't see (so what else is new? :)


If, or presuming, it's the same as the 7970A:

The left-side mount is actually a vertical right-angle bracket screwed to the drive proper.

	1. Open the drive and unscrew that bracket from the inside.
	2. Mount the bracket to the left side of the rack.
	3. Lift the drive into place. The mounted bracket has a short right angle bend at the bottom (and top)
		 that provides a lip on which to rest some of the weight of the drive and guide it in.
	4. Screw the right side of the drive to the rack.
	5. Replace the screws removed in step 1, reattaching the drive to the bracket.

The right side of the drive (should) have little pieces of 1/8" thick aluminum glued at the back of the rack-mount holes to match
the thickness of the left-side bracket, to make the drive seat parallel to the face of the rack.
In my (limited) experience those can have a tendency to fall off and may be lost when the drive is unmounted due to dried glue.