I've got an HP 7970 tape drive here that's a little dicey on its reading (haven't tried writing yet). One thing that I noticed today was that the surface of the capstan is a bit powdery--wipe it with an alcohol swab and you get a lot of black schmutz.
It wasn't very soft and it occurred to me that it might be slipping, so I cleaned it off and treated it with some methyl salicylate (oil of wintergreen). It's a bit softer now, but I'm wondering, for those of you who still have functioning drives, how soft or "sticky/grippy" is right. Any ideas? Thanks, Chuck
