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#1
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Do unburnt CD-R discs have a shelf life ?
Hi,
I have been noticing the following strange problem with my stack of unburnt CD-R disc over the past couple of years. If I leave a stack of CD-R discs on my desk in my room, in its spindle with the cover on, after a couple of weeks the top few CD-R are not recognised by the CD burner, as being valid blank discs. This problems occurs for almost any brand. Sometimes I get a spindle in which every alternate disc is not recognised by the CD burner. I have had this across different CD burners both branded such as Yamaha 4416s , and generic types. I have used two different computers during this period and have the problem with both. Could some one explain what may be the probable cause or point me to some documentation that discusses such issues. regards bt |
#2
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Do unburnt CD-R discs have a shelf life ?
What kind of light is getting to the CD-Rs? While CDs may not be suceptible
to electromagnetic problems, they are prone to light and heat damage. Also, what brand are they? Generic brands will have a higher failure rate than "premium" brands. "B Thomas" wrote in message ... Hi, I have been noticing the following strange problem with my stack of unburnt CD-R disc over the past couple of years. If I leave a stack of CD-R discs on my desk in my room, in its spindle with the cover on, after a couple of weeks the top few CD-R are not recognised by the CD burner, as being valid blank discs. This problems occurs for almost any brand. Sometimes I get a spindle in which every alternate disc is not recognised by the CD burner. I have had this across different CD burners both branded such as Yamaha 4416s , and generic types. I have used two different computers during this period and have the problem with both. Could some one explain what may be the probable cause or point me to some documentation that discusses such issues. regards bt |
#3
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Do unburnt CD-R discs have a shelf life ?
On Wed, 11 Jan 2006 06:05:15 GMT, Erick wrote:
What kind of light is getting to the CD-Rs? While CDs may not be suceptible to electromagnetic problems, they are prone to light and heat damage. Mostly indirect (reflect), halogen (I think sodium vapour, yellow) light from my table lamp. The spindle is not under the lamp directly. Also, what brand are they? Generic brands will have a higher failure rate than "premium" brands. Yes I do have more problems with generics. Having experienced these problems I have been purchasing branded CDs such as Sony or Immation etc. All have the problem. I wonder if it has some thing to do with the fact I some times smoke at my computer. This may explain, some clouding of the CD burner lense but I do clean it regularly, using the brush type cd. Can light effect CDs in a spindle, lying with their metalic side face up. I mean not just the top most CD but the top few (3-5). The problem is pretty bad 1 in 2 CDs I have to throw. regards bt |
#4
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Do unburnt CD-R discs have a shelf life ?
Smoking nearby could be the problem, and for that matter, could cause
serious problems for the PC down the road (I'm a smoker too, but never around the PC). Nicotene tar craps up more than just our lungs. In all honesty, you've ruled out light and generic disks. Besides smoke, I'd be looking at the drive as the culprit, and the fact it's the top disks you're having trouble with as a mere coincidence. "B Thomas" wrote in message .. . On Wed, 11 Jan 2006 06:05:15 GMT, Erick wrote: What kind of light is getting to the CD-Rs? While CDs may not be suceptible to electromagnetic problems, they are prone to light and heat damage. Mostly indirect (reflect), halogen (I think sodium vapour, yellow) light from my table lamp. The spindle is not under the lamp directly. Also, what brand are they? Generic brands will have a higher failure rate than "premium" brands. Yes I do have more problems with generics. Having experienced these problems I have been purchasing branded CDs such as Sony or Immation etc. All have the problem. I wonder if it has some thing to do with the fact I some times smoke at my computer. This may explain, some clouding of the CD burner lense but I do clean it regularly, using the brush type cd. Can light effect CDs in a spindle, lying with their metalic side face up. I mean not just the top most CD but the top few (3-5). The problem is pretty bad 1 in 2 CDs I have to throw. regards bt |
#5
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Do unburnt CD-R discs have a shelf life ?
To do a good lens cleaning you have to open up the drive and use a cotton swab with some glass cleaner. Erick wrote: Smoking nearby could be the problem, and for that matter, could cause serious problems for the PC down the road (I'm a smoker too, but never around the PC). Nicotene tar craps up more than just our lungs. In all honesty, you've ruled out light and generic disks. Besides smoke, I'd be looking at the drive as the culprit, and the fact it's the top disks you're having trouble with as a mere coincidence. -- Mike Walsh West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.A. |
#6
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Do unburnt CD-R discs have a shelf life ?
On Wed, 11 Jan 2006 13:44:01 GMT, "Erick"
wrote: Smoking nearby could be the problem, and for that matter, could cause serious problems for the PC down the road (I'm a smoker too, but never around the PC). Nicotene tar craps up more than just our lungs. In all honesty, you've ruled out light and generic disks. Besides smoke, I'd be looking at the drive as the culprit, and the fact it's the top disks you're having trouble with as a mere coincidence. "B Thomas" wrote in message . .. On Wed, 11 Jan 2006 06:05:15 GMT, Erick wrote: What kind of light is getting to the CD-Rs? While CDs may not be suceptible to electromagnetic problems, they are prone to light and heat damage. Mostly indirect (reflect), halogen (I think sodium vapour, yellow) light from my table lamp. The spindle is not under the lamp directly. Also, what brand are they? Generic brands will have a higher failure rate than "premium" brands. Yes I do have more problems with generics. Having experienced these problems I have been purchasing branded CDs such as Sony or Immation etc. All have the problem. I wonder if it has some thing to do with the fact I some times smoke at my computer. This may explain, some clouding of the CD burner lense but I do clean it regularly, using the brush type cd. Can light effect CDs in a spindle, lying with their metalic side face up. I mean not just the top most CD but the top few (3-5). The problem is pretty bad 1 in 2 CDs I have to throw. regards bt You'll notice on the unbranded discs that you can actually see right through the disc. That means that there's some light leakage through the foil. Whether this is in the spectrum range that can affect the dye, I don't know. I still kind of suspect it's the smoke. I store my discs near a similar lightsource and never had a problem. With optical discs, there's two surfaces you have to worry about the most. The lens, which you say you clean on a regular basis, and the polycarbonate on the write surface. Some CDs are designed to rest on their hub in the stack, allowing a small airspace between discs to keep them from scratching. If you're like most people, and buy the spindleless stacks in shrink wrap, you probably unwrap the top few for access and leave the rest of the shrink wrap in place to keep the stack secure. That allow the smoke to contaminate the write surface with cigarette tar on the exposed discs. You can test this by running a isopropyl alcohol soaked paper towel over one of the discs that you find has failed. You can either clean the discs prior to use with this method, or you can put your blanks in an old CD "cakebox". They're not airtight, but having the cover on will probably help. Caveat: Don't smoke, so this is all speculation. --------------------------------------------- Thanks. MCheu |
#7
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Do unburnt CD-R discs have a shelf life ?
Paper towels, alcohol, and ammonia should not be used on plastic optical devices. It is better to use a glass cleaner that does not contain ammonia, e.g. Glass Plus, and a cotton cloth. MCheu wrote: You can test this by running a isopropyl alcohol soaked paper towel over one of the discs that you find has failed. -- Mike Walsh West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.A. |
#8
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Do unburnt CD-R discs have a shelf life ?
On Wed, 11 Jan 2006 07:58:48 GMT, B Thomas
wrote: I wonder if it has some thing to do with the fact I some times smoke at my computer. This may explain, some clouding of the CD burner lense but I do clean it regularly, using the brush type cd. The smoke may be a problem, as may the cleaning with the brush CD. Those brush cleaners are generally only a temporary fix as they may degrade the lens if they're effective at cleaning it at all. Can light effect CDs in a spindle, lying with their metalic side face up. I mean not just the top most CD but the top few (3-5). The problem is pretty bad 1 in 2 CDs I have to throw. yes if you put a stack of CDs were light shines on them you'll see the light shine through the sides. It's not supposed to degrade them fast enough to matter, but theory about ideal discs and reality of those on a store shelf may differ. You need some controls in place to isolate this, like getting another drive and trying the disc the current drive rejects, and getting a new spindle and storing half out in the open room light and the other half covered from all light. It may well be that each degrades the discs some and the combination effect is the worst. Then again, maybe it's just that yours had a bad dye batch or something, it'd take a lot of discs to find out and you might not even be using the best disc for your burner regardless of the other factors. |
#9
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Do unburnt CD-R discs have a shelf life ?
Yes I do have more problems with generics. Having experienced these
problems I have been purchasing branded CDs such as Sony or Immation etc. All have the problem. General rule of thumb is "Made in Japan" means decent quality disks. I got tired of all the CD's that would work for about a month and then fail, so I decided to stop being cheap and picked up Kodak disks figuring a company like that would have some quality behind them. I check the manufacture code on the disk and they were exactly the same as the no-names I had been buying previously. That's when I learned to look for "Made in Japan" as a starting point. I wonder if it has some thing to do with the fact I some times smoke at my computer. Depending on how much you smoke. Definately something you should consider quitting anyhow. : ) This may explain, some clouding of the CD burner lense but I do clean it regularly, using the brush type cd. Bad news. That little brush slapping against the lens can knock it out of alignment. *IF* you are going to use one of these you shouldn't need it more than once a year. Can light effect CDs in a spindle, lying with their metalic side face up. I mean not just the top most CD but the top few (3-5). It can, but in reality I doubt it unless you're talking about direct sunlight for days, etc. I'd consider faulty software (uninstall/reinstall your burning program), then consider getting a new drive. DVD writers are cheap and a blank DVD is the same price as a blank CD these days. |
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