Cleaning FAQ

Do AIT drives require cleaning like other tape mechanisms?

Under extreme environmental or high duty-cycle conditions a cleaning cycle is needed using a special AIT cleaning tape.

How often should I clean my DLT tape drives?

Use the cleaning light as a guide. Since it's impossible to predict your individual environment or drive the light is a good indicator.

Can I use a Digital Betacam cleaning tape in an analouge (Betacam SP/Betacam) deck?

Sony strongly recommends not using the Digital Beta head cleaner in the standard Beta deck. The particle size of the DigiBeta is about half that of the Analogue Beta. As a safety precaution, most Beta decks won't accept a DigiBeta tape. For this reason Sony makes different head cleaners for each format.