DDS-3 maintenance

[Borgbilly]

I have a Glyph Trip Rack with a Sony DDS-3 tape backup system and Retrospect. I have Retrospect set up to tell me to clean the DDS-3 every 16 hours of use. Since Glyph didn't see fit to send me any original manuals for the DDS, I have been on my own as far as proper procedure for cleaning and maintenance. I have been using a standard DAT cleaning tape and telling Retrospect to backup to the cleaning tape. After 15 or 20 seconds I tell Retrospect to abort the backup. Is this the accepted procedure for cleanig DDS-3 drives? One problem I see with this system is that when you insert or eject a tape to/from the DDS-3 mechanism, it rewinds the tape. DAT cleaning tapes direct the user to run them without rewinding and to "chunk" them after you reach the end of the tape. Am I missing something here?

I've sent this question to Glyph, but apparently they are unwilling to tell me a better way to deal with it. I've been backing up data often for the last two years with this system and haven't had a hiccup yet, but I know that as these drives and tape backups age, the chances of me finding one has "crapped the bed" are increasing daily.