Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler CD/DVD Repair Devices. Do they work?

I am getting tired of my kids' movies being all scratched and then having to listen to them say "Dad, can you get this to work?" "No, sweetie. Those scratches are too bad."

Anyway, do those disc repair devices really work? I have some plastic cleaning products for my pinball machine called Novus that I have used in the past to "fix" some discs, but it takes a little while and uses a bit of elbow grease to get 1 disc done...

Even if I can get them working enough to make backup copies, that would be good as I am sure that they will just get scratched again anyway.

Let me know if you have had any luck here.

Nick, it really depends on the depth of the scratch.
A superficial scratch can often be 'buffed' out by the polishing materials to the point where a deflection by the laser will be less probable and hence make the dvd readable again. Some superficial scratches are oversampled and the errors by-passed.
If a scratch is really deep, you will have errors with deflection of the laser light and secondly, possible damage to the data layer itself. This damage is irreversible.
The only thing one can do is estimate the depth of the scratch and determine if that data layer has been compromised. If so, toss it. If not, give the polishing materials a go. I recommend using polishing materials made specifically for the polycarbonate cd medium. Anything else and you chance a little experimental failure in chemistry.

I suggest you make backups before the remaining disks get destroyed and give the copies to the kids. Keep the originals for future backup copies.

I've got a disc cleaning device and they work up to a certain point. Lately I've taken Alan's advice that he has posted, using car wax to clean up the discs that the kids have messed up. It seems to work just as well as the cleaning device, unless the disc are beyond repair.

One answer could be a "Kids Only" carrossel similar to, but much smaller, than our Sony 400 disc unit, maybe 50 disc, that could be manually indexed and loaded with a child-proof way of containing the discs in the loaded storage ring so the discs aren't smacking into each other during exuberant play-time.

It would have to be pretty tough, and perhaps even somewhat portable.

Are ya listenin' Axi....umm,...Mattel?

Nick, if you hit the Disney website, they do have a replacement program for $6.95.

Also, some CD stores in our area offer a resurfacing service. Not sure how reliable or cost, but it could be an option.

Thanks everyone for the ideas. chesseroo, I understand the CD/DVD medium from a technically functional point of view with the multiple layers and such, and none of the discs are scratched down to the actual data layer, but your additional info may help out someone else who may read or search this thread. Thank you my friend!

HomeDad, I will search for the car wax option to see if people have better results with one brand over another, etc. Thank you.

F107plus5, the discs get scratched mainly when we take the movies on the road. We have one of those 24 disc, zip shut carrying cases that we use, but I think that a lot of the scratched came before we started enforcing its use. I know of the storage device that you are talking about, and as you mentioned, portability isn't there, but that is a great idea for home.

real80sman. For the really bad discs, I may have to call around to see if someone does a resurfacing. Interesting idea, but also seems like, depending on the application method, a hit or miss type of thing. Could end up ruining the disc, and then you would here, of course, "Well, the disc was too badly scratched to fix." or something. Still worth the look.

Thanks guys.

I use original Turtle Wax. Works great. One bottle will last forever.

Is there a certain direction when using wax? I was always told to wipe from the center straight out to the edge...

Yep. DO NOT buff the wax in a circle. When cleaning, de-scratching, or making any sort of dragging contact with a CD, always wipe directly across the CD, not around it. From edge to center or from center to edge doesn't really matter.

What about DVD's?