Repairing scratched CDs Options

[Emanuel]

Does anybody have experience from repairing scratched cd:s? There are a few repair-kits available, but are they really doing their job? The cd:s I would be happy to play/copy are not very badly scratched, but some scratches are deep enough to make EAC (with accurate stream/c2) lose the sync.

Emanuel

[kennedyb4]

Hi. I have repaired probably over 100 cd's by now. I started with a " disc doctor " product and it worked very well for lightly scratched discs.

But I was still having trouble with heavier " yard sale " cd's. So I adapted the disc doctor system as follows.

Go to an automotive refinishing store and get some 1500, 2000, and 2500 grit emery paper. If they have 3000 or 3500 this will help with the final polishing.

Make a little sanding block from styrofoam or stiff rubber. Something like 5cm by 3cm is good. Cut the emery paper into strips that fit the block.

Place the disc on a flat hard surface and wet the clear side with clean tap water or distilled water. Sand crossways with light pressure, 1500 first, then 2000 etc.

The cd will now have a milky appearance on the reading surface. To finish, buff hard with a small piece of felt.

The whole process takes about 5 min per cd.

Generally, tracks go from being unreadable to near 100% quality, as read by EAC. If you can find 3500 grit paper, the final buffing can be done with a soft kleenex with near perfect results.

[fewtch]

You can also do a search for Novus plastic polish, which is rumored to work well with CD's (they have 3 types, try #1 for cleaning & light scratch removal, #2 for serious scratches). I bought some recently to take the scratches of my turntable's dust cover, works quite well . Haven't tried it with CD's yet.

[Emanuel]

For my lightly scratched cd:s, I ran down to a local store and bought DiscRestore for about US$15 (conversted from Swedish Krona). It has worked excellent for 5 cd:s.
kennedyb64: I'll save that one for the future!

Thanks, both of you.

Emanuel

[mijj]

I've seen a reference to these on a different messageboard site (Guardian Unlimited), but I don't know how good the products are tho ..

http://www.cdrepair.com/

http://www.onecybersquare.com/cdindex.htm

[n68]

yup...


i have had good experience with toth paste...
(no bull..) i have found the paste with a sander effect to be good..
(it contains teflon)

[john33]

In the UK, we have an automotive product called 'T-Cut', removes the 'dead' outer paint layer, seems to work pretty well on scratched CDs.

[frozenspeed]

There's this store by where I live in Vermont, Downtown Discs, in Burlington that built their own homemade buffer and it works great- they charge a buck per cd to use it and I've never had anything but the best results with it. Every cd that I get errors from EAC with, I take it there and the errors are gone when I take it. It works great w/ DVDs and the like (Duh!) too. One time, I had a copy of total recall dvd and it turned out that it was a data error on the cd rather than a scratch so I had to call the manufacturer on that one. I should ask them how to build it `cos that thing is awesome.

-Jeff:D

[asral]

Hi,

I repair them with a hadheld small butane torch,

adjust the lenght of the the flame to about 4 cm.
(You may have to close one or two air intake holes if necessary)

place the cd on a flat surface

light the torch and wait until the flame lenght stabilizes

hold the torch horizatally and apply the tip of the flame to the scratch for a very short time

polycarbonate fuses and the scratch is gone....

try on a discardable cd first!!!!

If you hold the flame longer than necessary the cd warps

I haven't tried this on a cdr yet and don't know if the dye gets harmed.


regards,
Asral

[Halcyon]

See this thread at EAC forum for my test results:

http://www.digital-inn.de/showthread.php?threadid=10699

cheers,
Halcyon

[asral]

Hi,

How do you polish a CDR without getting the data side wet?????

you should see my coasters used as a cupholder in two weeks time.

regards,
asral

[Cygnus X1]

Another suggestion would be to try ~1500-grit rubbing compound (used for touching-up surface imperfections on automobiles). The 2 or 3 discs that I own that were scratched responded well to this method, since I happen to have the stuff laying around anyhow.

[Pio2001]

Hi, Halcyon !
Nice to see you, I was just wondering if you gave up the CDR test, or just lost my adress

[KAMiKAZOW]

Use a polishing machine. If you know an optician, let her/him do it - the edges of looking glasses a polished with such a device and it works very well with CDs too (I know it, 'cause I did it in the past).

A polishing machine used for shoes or a drilling machine with a polishing add-on (connected to a table with a bench vice) should also work.

No matter which of the solutions posted here you choose, scratch some AOL CDs and practice! Don't risk to trash your CDs forever!

[Oge_user]

Maybe you can try to extract the tracks from a cd-writer,
at 4x or less, and then backup.
cd-writer is better than a normal cd-rom...

[fireballuk2001]

In the UK, we have an automotive product called 'T-Cut', removes the 'dead' outer paint layer, seems to work pretty well on scratched CDs.

Are you serious about this method? I could see how it works but does T-Cut work well for plastic? Must try me thinks! God bless T-Cut!

[ChS]

I've been using several different things for CD repair. First thing I try is a CD/DVD repair cloth (available at most music stores and electronics places) with a French product called "Scratch Remover GS27" from Gaultier SA. I bought that from Rightaid I think in the automotive section for about $10. If there are serious scratches I use 2000 grit sandpaper from Walmart (per kennedyb4's suggestion) and polish it up with the GA27 and repair cloth. I also use brasso, but I prefer GA27 since it doesn't have such a strong odor but seems to work just as well.

[Personne]

Automotive liquid buffing compound works real nice. Just dab the end of a mild rag and rub lightly for superficial scratches, more heavily for deeper ones. Get the finishing polish type or, in case of serious damages, do a first pass with the paste (coarse) type followed by a finish buffing. Go easy with the paste though, it eats up more material..

Easy to find, cheap to buy, odourless, safe for all surfaces.

I also heard good things about the torch method, but I think it would require a certain dexterity plus a lot of practice to achieve good results, would it not ? The buffing takes a little longer but affords more control...

[afreeman]

Been storing your CDs in a box of rocks?

First, examine the CD. If there is a scratch on the top of the CD (the label side), you are out of luck; this side is actually much thinner and more easily damaged than the bottom, and is almost impossible to fix.

Assuming its the bottom that is scratched, however, I have had good luck with Brasso brass polisher, which is available at any hardware store in the States. Just wet the CD, and buff the scratch out. CDs are encased in polycarbonate, so water won't harm them, but make sure you get all the brasso off before you try to read it in your CD-Rom drive.

When you buff, make sure you buff from the hole outward in a relatively straight line; don't use a concentric motion. Focus your efforts on the scratch, and it should disappear in a minute or two of concentrated rubbing.

When you are done, your cd will look like it has a million tiny scratches instead of one big scratch, but it should read fine; I have done this with about 15-20 of my cds and it has salvaged many of them.

[mtkversion]

I've read that Brasso metal polish works well so I tried it out today with a few CDs that when ripped in EAC would give me read or sync errors.

Using 2 different discs with varying levels of scuffs scratches and dirt I was able to extract tracks with no errors at all.

Works very well and is very fast. I recommend it highly.

[Canar]

Hi. I have repaired probably over 100 cd's by now. I started with a " disc doctor " product and it worked very well for lightly scratched discs.

But I was still having trouble with heavier " yard sale " cd's. So I adapted the disc doctor system as follows.

Go to an automotive refinishing store and get some 1500, 2000, and 2500 grit emery paper. If they have 3000 or 3500 this will help with the final polishing.

Make a little sanding block from styrofoam or stiff rubber. Something like 5cm by 3cm is good. Cut the emery paper into strips that fit the block.

Place the disc on a flat hard surface and wet the clear side with clean tap water or distilled water. Sand crossways with light pressure, 1500 first, then 2000 etc.

The cd will now have  a milky appearance on the reading surface. To finish, buff hard with a small piece of felt.

The whole process takes about 5 min per cd.

Generally, tracks go from being unreadable to near 100% quality, as read by EAC. If you can find 3500 grit paper, the final buffing can be done with a soft kleenex with near perfect results.

Might you be able to explain the buffing process more? I'm not entirely sure what you mean. I'm really interested in this, because all my CDs managed to get this weird encrusted dust on them after keeping them in a CD binder for a while, and it stops EAC from getting an accurate rip.

[CRasch]

We have a Industrial CD Repair Unit here at Fresno City College. The thing has 3 Sanders and a polisher. Of corse it cost the department close to $5K 2 years ago, but it comes in handy when a teacher comes in and ask what if we can save a CD. We even got out about 90% of the deep scratches. We even got a CD that was scratch up by someone sliding it on asfault repaired so they could make a back up of it.

[boojum]

Going back eons, I remember that the German metal polish Simichromepoli was a great polisher of anything, even watch crystals. It is an extremely fine grit, as fine or finer than jewelers rouge. Has anyone tried it? Or must I track down a tube and let you folks know?

L8R

[nbv4]

I just rub some turtle wax on the play side, let it sit for a few minutes, and rub off. Works fairly well. I not do this to brand new CDs I get so they are protected.

[gooned]

If I get a CD that has a read or sync errors using EAC, I do the following:

1. Wipe the CD from the center to the outside with a soft cloth. Try ripping again.

2. Wash with mild dishwashing soap, again wiping and drying from inside out. Try ripping again.

3. If this fails, I have had some success with toothpaste. I've only resorted to this 5 times out of about 300 CDs. 3 CD's were recovered. It does work!