My CD changer is not reading disc's, if it's dirty how do i clean it?

[mikef208]

I have a shelf system with a 3 CD changer and it says no disc even when there are discs. I am assuming it's just dirty, but I can't use one of those CD cleaner things cause when it doesn't recognize a disc in the drive it won't be able to play, so it won't spin, therfore it won't clean. What can i do.

 

[tristramshandy]

Typically, it's not recommended that you take the cd case apart to wipe the lens by hand. Go buy one of the inexpensive lens cleaners like this one.

http://www.us.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10060515&loc=14577

If your drive gets so dirty that the mechanism is gumming, then you need to consider cleaning your cds more often.

 

[mikef208]

How does that thing work? As I said the lens is to dirty to recognize the disc and if it won't see the disc then i won't have the option to play it, therfore it won't spin/clean. that is the way most of those things work, is it the same for this one.

 

[tristramshandy]

Well, if you put the cleaner disk into the cdrom and the computer engages, then the cdrom will try to read the cleaner disk's type and program instructions. If the lens is terribly dirty, then the program on the cleaner (if there's one) and even the program type (usually something like an audio wav file) may not be recognised by the puter.

But then the cleaner disk (with its little lens attachment brush) is spinning the entire time the puter's trying to figure out what it is. So even if the fancy program fails to initiate, some cleaning does occur. You can, of course, repeat the cleaning process as needed. The lens brush is very soft and won't scratch.

 

[Kitros]

Blow in it, shake it and hit it a few times.

 

[dkozloski]

CD changers are a problematic animal. I have two that quit reading right after the warranty expired; one was an NEC and the other was a Nakamichi. Both wound up in the foot high+ stack of non-working CD-ROM players I have accumulated over the years.

 

[zemel]

How about buying some cans of compressed air at Costco, for example, and using it....in case you didn't know, the thin "red straw" gets plugged into the front top section of the can just be careful how far you stick it into the CD changer, etc.

 

[mikef208]

Okay, it seems that a lot of people missed the fact that this is a CD changer in a stero, not a CDROM in a computer. So maybe that will clear things up