Disc rot - Especially for Electro

[MajorFubar]

Especially for Electro who said in my Music Magpie thread that he hadn't seen a CD with disc rot. In this case it would be more accurate to call it bronzing, but it's still a form of disc rot.

Left hand disc was pressed at Philips and Dupont Optical (aka PDO) in Blackburn, Lancashire. Right hand disc was pressed at Disctronics in Southwater, West Sussex:

PDO acknowledged the problem was due to a manufacturing error on its part. Discs affected were made between 1989 and 1992. PDO and its successor (Entertainment Distribution Company) offered free exchanges to customers with faulty discs from as long ago as 1994 (when the problem was first discovered and acknowledged) to as recently as 2005. The snag was, you needed to provide proof of purchase. 'Cos we all keep our receipts for our CDs for 16 years don't we.

 

[Electro]

Wow !

That is very obvious indeed, I have never seen that before.

I can only think that I have no PDO manufactured Cd's.

I off to check mine ..... It may take some time. *smile*

 

[MajorFubar]

I off to check mine ..... It may take some time. *smile*

lol! Am I right in remembering you're not based in the UK? I'm not sure how far and wide discs pressed in Blackburn were distributed. Quite possibly only in the UK.

 

[chebby]

Crappy British workmanship strikes again!

 

[MajorFubar]

Crappy British workmanship strikes again!

If it's any consolation the discs manufacturered by Opti Mes in Italy were similarly affected. Though to be fair to both plants, it was less a case of poor workmanship (e.g. wilful negligence, didn't follow the correct procedures) and more a case of whoopsy we didn't realise the coatings we used would cause that to happen. Knowing how various different coatings would age and degrade over time was something they would only find out for certain after said time had elapsed.

 

[insider9]

I prefer the sunset orange one 🙂

 

[MajorFubar]

Yeah, shame a third of it doesn't play. However don't forget there are a few CDs out there which are naturally bronze to start with, some are even gold, such as those from Mobile Fidelity. Some CDRs are even black - recorded side too - to look a bit like a mini record 🙂

 

[bigfish786]

cos, I've got around 500 CDs which I’ve been collecting since 1988 and not one disc has any issue at all.

 

[MajorFubar]

cos, I've got around 500 CDs which I’ve been collecting since 1988 and not one disc has any issue at all.

Sort of, but not really because of any maltreatment by the user. An excerpt from wiki on the subject states "Bronzing is due to a fault in the manufacturing process and can therefore neither be prevented nor be stopped once it has begun. The lacquer used to coat the discs was not resistant to the sulfur content of the paper in the booklets, which led to the corrosion of the aluminium layer of the disc." PDO also trialed the use of silver for the reflective layer instead of aluminium, and this too would react with sulfur compounds in the sleeves, forming silver sulfate.

CDs stored in paper sleeves were deteriorating sooner and faster than CDs stored in jewel cases. It is likely that storing CDs in an acid-free environment might slow down the bronzing effect, but once it's started it's irreversible.

 

[nopiano]

I’ve had just one that did this, an early release on the Hyperion label. I’ve kept it for the novelty, though it got a lot of publicity at the time.

 

[MajorFubar]

I’ve had just one that did this, an early release on the Hyperion label. I’ve kept it for the novelty, though it got a lot of publicity at the time.

This is my second, but for the life of me I can't remember what the other is. I remember ripping it 2012/2013 during that mammoth session over winter when I ripped all my CDs. I hadn't played it for a while, and I remember thinking, sh-t looks like I've ripped this one just in time. But I can't remember which one it is, mainly cos I barely go near the actual CDs now. Just ripped and stored away.

This is my first 'used' dud one. I did have to pester Music Magpie twice to get a refund, but got one in the end, earlier today actually.