Proper acclimation and environmental conditions

Acclimate a tape cartridge to the operating environment before you use it.

About this task

• Before you use a tape cartridge, acclimate it to the operating environment for 24 hours or the time necessary to prevent condensation in the drive. The time varies, depending on the environmental extremes to which the cartridge was exposed.
• Ensure that all surfaces of a cartridge are dry before it is inserted.
• Do not expose the cartridge to moisture or direct sunlight.
• Do not expose recorded or blank cartridges to stray magnetic fields of greater than 100 oersteds (for example, terminals, motors, video equipment, X-ray equipment, or fields that exist near high-current cables or power supplies). Such exposure causes the loss of recorded data or makes the blank cartridge unusable.
• Maintain the conditions that are described in Environmental and shipping specifications for tape cartridges.