CD (Disc) Repairs

[pwiles1968]

Received a second hand disc tonight was annoyed because it was covered in small scratches so had polish them out, I have a skip doctor little machine with a wheel on that does the smaller scratches but leaves a sheen on the disc I then usea slightly abrasive polish I usually ise Auto Glym Paint Remover a car polish with a very fine cutting agent in (Aluminium Oxide), this can also be used to bring out larger scratches.

I have heard you can use tooth paste not sure if it is particular brands or not, never tried, anyone else have any tricks for removing scratches, are there any kits out there that are particularly good, have seen re-surfacing fluids but never tried not sure if they are any good.

 

[SteveR750]

Lapping compound as used in any good materials lab. It's available in differing grades so you can use for polish out deeper scratches and finish off to a mirror finish. Not sure what effect reducing the disc thickness has on readability / disc reading errors etc.

 

[chebby]

Unless rare/expensive/impossible to replace, then why bother? Just return the scratched one (if not described as such by the seller) for a refund and buy a better condition version.

 

[John Duncan]

Or rip it to lossless with error correction on

 

[Anonymous]

I've used toothpaste to make scratched up second hand Playstation 2 games readable again: although this makes quite a mess of the disc visually, it has the desired effect.

I tried a couple of commercial solutions for audio CDs more recently and found that they were absolutely useless.

 

[kena]

I'm in the process of FLAC copying my CD's and currently using a JML disk restorer which I'm surprised to say is fixing about 90% of problems , but then again most are in good nick since they are mine from purchase..

 

[pwiles1968]

chebby:Unless rare/expensive/impossible to replace, then why bother? Just return the scratched one (if not described as such by the seller) for a refund and buy a better condition version.

I normally would but really could not be bothered, I sent a mail to say how disappointed I was at the condition of the disc and for the sake of 10 minutes of my time polished the disc, I really wanted to have a listen to it. I Had to do one or the children's Story Discs anyway my Son had managed to scratch it so It would not play.

 

[SteveR750]

JohnDuncan:Or rip it to lossless with error correction on

Thought for the day: how much error correction is acceptable - at what point could you argue that it replaces the original recording?

Second thoughts let's discuss cable burning in.........

 

[sometimesuk]

Using error correction is no substitute for cleaning the CD properly in the first place. If you clean the CD, there will be less reading errors and hence correction required and the rip should sound better for it.

Personally I do not recommend using any abrasive to remove scratches, as these products work by creating smaller scratches / rubbing down the surface area, to appear that it is smooth and the scratches are gone.

Any scratches are only on the on the surface of the protective layer. I would recommend that you rinse the CD under a hot tap to remove any grease etc and then use a bottle of ROR (Residual Oil Remover) with a micro fibre cloth.

ROR is a camera lens cleaner and I can 100% recommend it. It is far better than any glass cleaner you can buy from the opticians ( I know as I've used it on my glasses) it works by completely removing any microscopic grease particles.

It's also worth using it on brand new CD's as despite looking clean and shiny, they do have grease / oil on the surface as part of the manufacturing process, and they too benefit from being cleaned with ROR.

 

[d_a_n1979]

One thing I have found that WORKS is hairspray!

Sounds atrange I know but the silicone in hair spray fills in the scrathes quite well. It doesnt make them perfect but it's better to skip half a second rather than it just sticking!

Spray it on liberally (use in a well vented area of course); let it dry for a few minutes and then polish off using a non-scratch cloth and make sure you wipe outwards, away from the centre, NOT in circles following the line of the disc!

 

[halba]

I found Brasso seems to work well