Whats the best way to clean a DVD burner Drive ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Trimble Bracegirdle
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Trimble Bracegirdle

I have an internal LITE-ON DVD / CD multi-purpose Drive (u no the usual
sort of PC thing).
Its a 2nd new replacement for one that failed...BUT its very reluctant to
recognize discs
when 1st inserted.
When I 1st installed it would not recognize blank DVD's at all .
After many attempts & try's with assorted disc's to try & find out just what
it will do.
And repeated installing of the latest Firmware.
I find it will now recognize blank DVD's & have burnt two OK.
But it is still is taking a long time to recognize a newly inserted DVD
disc. around a minute.

I just can't bear the prospect of trying to RMA it yet again .
My belief is that this (NEW) drive has stiff & sticky mechanism
which is improving with use.
So what's the best way to clean & check this stiffness out ?.
Very recently I sorted a portable Audio CD player out which would not start
at all..
It had not been used for a number of years..
I opened that & cleaned the Lens surface & pushed the Lens assembly back &
forth
repeatedly...Started working after that.
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(") mouse(when I was a Lad we used to Oil everything that might move)
 
Trimble Bracegirdle said:
I have an internal LITE-ON DVD / CD multi-purpose Drive (u no the usual
sort of PC thing).
Its a 2nd new replacement for one that failed...BUT its very reluctant to
recognize discs
when 1st inserted.
When I 1st installed it would not recognize blank DVD's at all .
After many attempts & try's with assorted disc's to try & find out just
what it will do.
And repeated installing of the latest Firmware.
I find it will now recognize blank DVD's & have burnt two OK.
But it is still is taking a long time to recognize a newly inserted DVD
disc. around a minute.

I just can't bear the prospect of trying to RMA it yet again .
My belief is that this (NEW) drive has stiff & sticky mechanism
which is improving with use.
So what's the best way to clean & check this stiffness out ?.
Very recently I sorted a portable Audio CD player out which would not
start at all..
It had not been used for a number of years..
I opened that & cleaned the Lens surface & pushed the Lens assembly back &
forth
repeatedly...Started working after that.
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(") mouse(when I was a Lad we used to Oil everything that might move)
Click to expand...

oiling everything is not always a good idea especially with fine mechanisms.
Oil attracts dust and dirt.

if its a new drive then there's no chance its dust and dirt even on the
magic eye so change it for another model/manufacture a Sony or
Panasonic...........then report back.
 
I have an internal LITE-ON DVD / CD multi-purpose Drive (u no the usual
sort of PC thing).
Its a 2nd new replacement for one that failed...BUT its very reluctant to
recognize discs
when 1st inserted.
Click to expand...

Pressed retail discs or burnt discs? If burnt discs, part
of the problem could be poor burning previously.

When I 1st installed it would not recognize blank DVD's at all .
After many attempts & try's with assorted disc's to try & find out just what
it will do.
And repeated installing of the latest Firmware.
I find it will now recognize blank DVD's & have burnt two OK.
But it is still is taking a long time to recognize a newly inserted DVD
disc. around a minute.

I just can't bear the prospect of trying to RMA it yet again .
My belief is that this (NEW) drive has stiff & sticky mechanism
which is improving with use.
Click to expand...

If this is true, just using it a few times should help. I
doubt it though, a drive should not exhibit these problems
from lack of lubrication this early in it's life, but
perhaps you have an especially hostile environment with lots
of dust or smoke, etc?
So what's the best way to clean & check this stiffness out ?.
Very recently I sorted a portable Audio CD player out which would not start
at all..
It had not been used for a number of years..
I opened that & cleaned the Lens surface & pushed the Lens assembly back &
forth
repeatedly...Started working after that.
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(") mouse(when I was a Lad we used to Oil everything that might move)
Click to expand...

You could do the same with this drive but it would void the
warranty. Cleaning the lens and lubing the slide rails with
grease, not oil, can solve some problems but often it won't
help enough and the time was wasted.

Determine why you are seeing shorter life with the drive
than most do. Perhaps it is just a poor quality make/model
and getting something else instead is the answer. If the
failures are environmentally related, perhaps a room air
cleaner will help. Also try different media, poor media can
make a drive seem bad when it is just an entire poor spindle
of discs as-sold.
 
Trimble said:
I have an internal LITE-ON DVD / CD multi-purpose Drive (u no the
usual sort of PC thing).
Its a 2nd new replacement for one that failed...BUT its very
reluctant to recognize discs
when 1st inserted.
When I 1st installed it would not recognize blank DVD's at all .
After many attempts & try's with assorted disc's to try & find out
just what it will do.
And repeated installing of the latest Firmware.
I find it will now recognize blank DVD's & have burnt two OK.
But it is still is taking a long time to recognize a newly inserted
DVD disc. around a minute.

I just can't bear the prospect of trying to RMA it yet again .
My belief is that this (NEW) drive has stiff & sticky mechanism
which is improving with use.
So what's the best way to clean & check this stiffness out ?.
Very recently I sorted a portable Audio CD player out which would not
start at all..
It had not been used for a number of years..
I opened that & cleaned the Lens surface & pushed the Lens assembly
back & forth
repeatedly...Started working after that.
Click to expand...

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=210507
 
Thankyou for your comments:
Its not me or me environment or my Media (mostly Verbatim x16 DVD-R ) ..
some DVD-RAM ...Commercial software ..etc..all used regularly here for a
long time in various drives.

These are the basic home cheapy SATA LITE-ON 's ...£20 / £35 USD mail order
The 1st one was brought at the beginning of the year & worked fine with
light
home use ..I burnt around 20 DVD's & Cd's then recently it became unreliable
....taking
ages to read & very long burn times ...finally stopped recognizing DVD's at
all..
SOOO ! under warranty & sooo ! RMA ..The replacement was DOA ..(well 70% DOA
'cause it could just read commercial CD's).
SOOO ! RMA again now 'They' send this one, a LITE-ON 20A1S I have it in for
a very few days with the performance as described.

Returning it AGAIN is some what difficult for me...I have to go to a Post
Office to send it
The fuss of trying to be at home to received the replacement or going to
Post Depot to collect it..& 'THEY' (Scan) might argue its OK as it works but
badly / slowly

All FOR A THIRD TIME ! ...Nooo ! (sob n sigh) I can't face it again .
Think I will try to open n clean ...I'd shove it in the Bin & go up the road
to PC World
retail Computer Store & get one at maybe half as much again but I rezent
giving in
to something that should be working.
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(") mouse(we are in the Chilly n wet UK)
 
Somewhere on teh interweb Trimble Bracegirdle typed:
http://club.cdfreaks.com/f106/fixing-your-panny-when-theres-fault-lens-cleaning-doesnt-help-210507/
This is RE: cleaning dirty DVD /CD unit spindle
That's really useful Brett ...Thanks ...Tho should not apply to my
brand new unit.
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(") mouse
Click to expand...

....unless you make a habit of sticking your finger too far through the hole
when you hold a DVD/CD after picking your nose.

Seriously though, it's surprising how many people get that area of their
disks 'grubby'. Oils form your skin can collect in that area very quickly
and be transfered to the spindle gripper. I've mentioned to people not to
put their fingers through the hole and they tell me that they've always been
told that it's the safe way to hold a disk. Well, it's "safe" as far as the
data area of the disk goes but not safe for the drive's disk-gripping area,
which is surprisingly small.

Moral of story: Be careful where you stick your fingers.
 
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