Can you break a CD drive if you put two CDs on the tray?

[AnitaPeterson]

Hi there,

I need to know if a CD-ROM (or DVD-ROM or CD-RW unit) can be damaged if you put two CDs in the tray, one on top of the other.

You will ask why...

Well, here's the deal:

A MORON friend of mine had decided to put plastic stickers on his CDs (to "protect them", he says...) You know, those CD labels that are usually made of paper and you can print on them? Well, he got some plastic ones, that are transparent, and he applied them to the label side of the CDs...

I think that the plastic label has a different expansion/contraction coeficient than the polycarbonate that the Cds are made of...
And guess what, the CDs are warped!

Instead of being flat, they are now slightly parabolical, when seen edge-on... and of course, they have started to skip on some cheap players (two boomboxes). I guess that if the process continues (there's no reason why it would stop...) the CDs will eventually become unplayable.

Of course, the labels cannot be removed, I suspect, without damaging the CDs...

I tried to copy one of them and all the CD ripping software packages (including EAC !!!) have serious errors beyond Track 4 (as the disc's distorsion is more and more pronounced)

So, I remembered that some of the best CD players on the market ( I mean audiophile quality, not consumer! ) have a sort of metal platter that you can put on top of the CD you are trying to play, to keep it perfectly flat.

Maybe putting another CD on top of the warped one would flatten it back, at least for the time needed to rip it?

But I need to make sure first that this won't break the drive.

So... Any ideas? Has anyone here ever tried to do this "sandwich" thing? Even by accident?

 

[crip11]

Bump

 

[mechBgon]

My supervisor was working on a PC under a desk. It has a black Sony CD-ROM drive, and there was a dark-blue CD in it already, and he put another one in on top. It made scraping noises and didn't work, so he called me over to look at it (you built this, what's wrong with it). After taking out the unnoticed CD, it worked again.

Bottom line, throw those warped CDs out and don't let him do that again. I guess.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

I really wonder about his IQ...

 

[Paulson]

I've had 2 dvd's in the dvd player before (damn it was dark and I didn't see it... it's odd when you want to watch a certain dvd and a different one's preview comes up... oops!

Needless to say both dvd's still work, and the dvd player works too... it just made a lot of weird noises.

 

[Paperlantern]

i work in a computer store, and of all the things ive seen done, that is one of the LEAST likely to cause damage to the actual drive (unless its really cheap). More than likely the only damage will be to the cd's, since most of the time they scrape one another durring the spin up process and spin down process. However i cant see putting another disc on tom of another flattening it back out, having the warped disc in there with a second one MAY cause damage. my advice: throw out the old things and look for replacements on half.com, from friends (rip them) or ebay, youll save more money that way then shelling out between $30 and $100 depending on the model CD ROM you have. =)

 

[sniperruff]

my advice is to try what you want on someone you hate's computer..... haha so evil =P

it is only half joke so don't take it seriously 100%

 

[EeyoreX]

I, too, would be concerned about damage. I seriously doubt a flat CD is heavy anough to hold the warped CD falt. You say audiophile level CD players have a "metal platter"? (I have no experience here), but I would guess they are metal for a reason, as another piece of plastic won't likely do the trick. I say, either try to replace the CDs as someone said, on Half.com or something. Or tell your friend "Too bad, but now you know better..." A little harsh I suppose, but live and learn...

\Dan

 

[Viper96720]

LOL how was sticking a label on the label side protect the CD? Underside would still get scratches. No you can't stick two cds on each other. Those cd players with the metal
platter on top are designed with that in mind. How it got warped because of a sticker is weird unless all the cd's had extreme temperature changes. I would remove the sticker
and lay some books on the cd with the cd on a flat surface.

 

[Jeff7181]

Remove the sticker, stick it on your friend's balls, then rip it off.

Then throw away the CD because he doesn't deserve to have it if he put a sticker on it.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

stick it on your friend's balls

ewww, gross... (puke)


he's just an acquaintance, I don't particularly want to see (or do) that

 

[Looney]

Get a pointy knife or box cutter and make some verticle marks on the sticker... so that it won't contract (you can scratch the top all you want, it won't affect playback). Then put it ontop of a book, then put a heavy dictionary or something equivalent ontop of it. After a few days, it should straighten out.

 

[KF]

>you can scratch the top all you want, it won't affect playback

The reflective coating is on top. Don't scratch through that.

 

[bjc112]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
My supervisor was working on a PC under a desk. It has a black Sony CD-ROM drive, and there was a dark-blue CD in it already, and he put another one in on top. It made scraping noises and didn't work, so he called me over to look at it (you built this, what's wrong with it). After taking out the unnoticed CD, it worked again.

Bottom line, throw those warped CDs out and don't let him do that again. I guess.

It won't break, there is just enough space to fit the two cds that they don't jam while spinning.. More less scrape as they vibrate..

I wouldn't risk it though.

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: KF
>you can scratch the top all you want, it won't affect playback

The reflective coating is on top. Don't scratch through that.

Really? I had a cdr that was stuck to my table due to pepsi or something... so i had to tear it off... it came off, and took a big chunk of the top layer of silver off (unlabeled cdr), and it still worked.

 

[PowerMacG5]

Originally posted by: Moralpanic

Originally posted by: KF >you can scratch the top all you want, it won't affect playback The reflective coating is on top. Don't scratch through that.

Really? I had a cdr that was stuck to my table due to pepsi or something... so i had to tear it off... it came off, and took a big chunk of the top layer of silver off (unlabeled cdr), and it still worked.

KF got it right. If you want to test it (and don't mind losing a CD-R), burn an audio CD, play it back in mint condition, it will work. Now, take a key and scrape off random parts of the top coating (the reflective part), and play it back. It will either skip a lot, of just not play. I've done this before to prove it to people.

 

[bjc112]

Originally posted by: KraziKid

Originally posted by: Moralpanic

Originally posted by: KF >you can scratch the top all you want, it won't affect playback The reflective coating is on top. Don't scratch through that.

Really? I had a cdr that was stuck to my table due to pepsi or something... so i had to tear it off... it came off, and took a big chunk of the top layer of silver off (unlabeled cdr), and it still worked.

KF got it right. If you want to test it (and don't mind losing a CD-R), burn an audio CD, play it back in mint condition, it will work. Now, take a key and scrape off random parts of the top coating (the reflective part), and play it back. It will either skip a lot, of just not play. I've done this before to prove it to people.

But thats because it goes all the way through to the bottom... If you scrape it very lightly it shouldn't affect it right?

 

[Viper96720]

If there's no reflective surface then the laser can't read anything. Would be like using an optical mouse on a glass table.

 

[PowerMacG5]

Originally posted by: Viper96720
If there's no reflective surface then the laser can't read anything. Would be like using an optical mouse on a glass table.

That's a great analogy. Even if you just slightly scrape the reflective surface, wherever the scratch is, there will be a skip.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

So he wasn't completely off-balance, at least in theory... except that the idea backfired badly. But I still think that was a stupid thing to do, especially since if you take care of your discs you don't need extra protection. I told him the best thing would be to make MP3s out of them - if the discs become unreadable, at least he hasn't lost the music completely.

 

[DannyBoy]

I remember once, out of the blue, I was listening to an Audio CD and just randomly the CD Tray popped itself open, while the disc was still spinning.

The thing shot out the drive and went straight into me. Perhaps my computer was attempting to kill me?

Totally unrelated but hey

 

[amdskip]

tell him to use a sharpie next time