ahh! CD just exploded in my burner!!

MrDudeMan

Lifer
Jan 15, 2001
15,069
94
91
i was trying to make a CD so i got my songs together, stuck in a new CD, and.....


when it started spinning up, everything was fine, and then i heard a really LOUD crack! and a few short seconds after a really LOUD pop!

after a few seconds again, it just exploded. i heard it just shatter and it was throwing pieces of it everywhere. i cant get the drive open but it is still "working"

what the hell happened? did i just fry my brand new 40x lite-on?
 

WetWilly

Golden Member
Oct 13, 1999
1,126
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I've heard this one before. I'd read somewhere that Plextor found that certain CDs (I'd suspect unbalanced ones) could shatter at 48X. Plextor forced their new CD-RW drive's default read speed down from 48X to 40X. To read at 48X you have to actively set it by pressing the Eject button for a certain period of time or something like that to override the default.
 

WetWilly

Golden Member
Oct 13, 1999
1,126
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did this kill my cd burner?

Only way to know is try it. See if you can get the tray open with the emergency eject. If not, you'll probably have to remove the front faceplate to get the CD pieces out of the drive.
 

DeschutesCore

Senior member
Jul 20, 2002
360
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Unless chunks of the disc actually hit the lense, it should be fine. CD's which are unbalnced or cracked have been exploding since 32X.

DC
 

WyteWatt

Banned
Jun 8, 2001
6,255
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Get a Plextor 48x 24x 48x which is coming out very soon. It will have < 60 ms access times, etc. < 60 ms access time is the fastest access time for any cd-rw in the world!
 

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
126
Originally posted by: MrDudeMan
ahhhh this sucks!!!! if i take it apart do you guys think it could hurt it more?
Instead of asking our opinions, why not talk to the people who control your warranty, lite-on?

 

MrDudeMan

Lifer
Jan 15, 2001
15,069
94
91
why post random crap like that? of course i called lite-on but they are reading from a manual. plus, im on hold for eternity.
 

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
34,890
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alienbabeltech.com
Originally posted by: MrDudeMan
ahhhh this sucks!!!! if i take it apart do you guys think it could hurt it more?


Yes. If you take it apart you may void your warranty. I may have been jesting in my last post - but you should contact your burner mfg's tech support. Then you are covered.

EDIT: Ah, you are calling . . . let us know what happens after you get off "hold". :)
 

WyteWatt

Banned
Jun 8, 2001
6,255
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oh my god you are using tech support. I hate all tech support. Why? Well because i am my own tech support. Inless i have to call tech support. I would just RMA it to whereever you brought it. Newegg is really easy about RMAs if you brought it there. Then i would wait and get the plextor 48x 24x 48x.

 

Dreadogg

Golden Member
Mar 1, 2001
1,780
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you all are not being very helpful to this fellow member! wish I could help you but I have never had a cd explode on me.
 

Operandi

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
5,508
0
0
ahhhh this sucks!!!! if i take it apart do you guys think it could hurt it more?

Ouch man, that sux.....

I would at least attempt to take the drive apart and see if you can save it. Many CD-RW's/DVD-ROOM's come apart and go back together pretty easy, if you?re careful you shouldn?t do anymore damage. With a little luck you'll be able to fix it and be good as new, otherwise you?re back at square-one and you'll have to RMA it, so you don't have much to lose.
 

glugglug

Diamond Member
Jun 9, 2002
5,340
1
81
Anyone else notice that CD readers were 1x/2x/4x for a few years and then kind of zoomed up to 20+x?

Theres a simple reason for this. A normal CD spin rate (even 1x) is extremely high RPM. Back when CDs first arrived, a plastic disc could not take the centripetal force from the spin rate, and would actually stretch if you put it in the CD drive, with the uneven stretching causing it to bend into a bowl-like shape.

For this reason, really old CDs are made out of glass, not plastic, and can shatter (especially in a high speed drive).

After they were out a year or 2 someone developed a new kind of plastic, think it was Sony, which could survive the higher spin rate, and the new plastic CDs won't shatter like that.

Your best bet on getting the CD bits out of the drive is take it out of your computer case and try to shake them out.

If the drive tray is stuck closed there is a tiny hole under the tray on almost every drive where you can force the eject mechanism manually with an ultrathin screwdriver (like one for adjusting eyeglasses). I'd be really hesitant to do this though because with all the CD bits floating around in there you could force them through some vital parts...
 

MrDudeMan

Lifer
Jan 15, 2001
15,069
94
91
if i had a camera id supply you guys with plenty of pics, heh


i got the drive door open eventually and there is a huge piece in there that is stuck

guess im SOL and need to RMA it :(
 

zephyrprime

Diamond Member
Feb 18, 2001
7,512
2
81
A normal CD spin rate (even 1x) is extremely high RPM.
1X is 580 rpm max. I would not call this extremely high.

CD's are made of polycarbonate. I really doubt that CD's were ever made of glass. CD masters are made of glass. There have been cd's reinforced with kevlar made to withstand higher RPM but I doubt this technique will ever catch on.
 

mithrandir2001

Diamond Member
May 1, 2001
6,545
1
0
It's a $65 burner, not a $300 CPU or something. You can call tech support but I'd try to disassemble the thing first.
 

Operandi

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
5,508
0
0
i got the drive door open eventually and there is a huge piece in there that is stuck

Try physically taking the drive apart?, usually from screws located on the bottom. Like I said in my earlier post they usually aren?t too complicated, so taking it apart piece by piece should be too bad. Plus it?s not like Lite-On is gona dust for your finger prints on the inside of the drive to see if you?ve been messing around inside it, so I wouldn?t worry about voiding your warranty. I've done it 2 or 3 times before myself, never was able to fix anything myself, but it was fun ;). I'd give it a try and see if you can fix it yourself rather then waiting on Lite-On's RMA process.
 

Soulkeeper

Diamond Member
Nov 23, 2001
6,739
156
106
See if you can use the emergency eject button
use a paper clip and shake it around to dislodge all the parts of cd
if you can open it definately RMA it
if yur cd's are cheap i wouldn't get them again
the cd drive might never work right again just cause of the fact that there are a bunch of little peices of plastic in it
 

aswedc

Diamond Member
Oct 25, 2000
3,543
0
76
hehe reminds me of a maximum pc from a while ago, they had pics from some guy and I think offered a video card to anyone who could come up with a video...