If You Don't Have a Disc Doctor

B

BlackElantraGT

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WARNING: Do this at your own risk!



Last night I was watching a movie with a friend and about 2/3 of the way through, the disc quit working. Blockbuster was closed so there was no way we could go exchange for another copy and I didn't want to end the night without finishing the movie.



I've heard of people using toothpaste before to fix discs, but I was too lazy to run upstairs to grab a tube. I first tried Klasse AIO by hand and that didn't do anything. Since I'm not a big fan of #83 and I had some lying around I decided to give that a try.



I used a Meg's yellow polishing pad with a PC. I dabbed a little polish onto the disc and spread it around with my finger. While sitting in a recliner, I had my PC upside, held in between with my feet, and on setting 1 started to spread the product. After the product was spread, I turned it off, bumped it up to #6 (you could probably get away with a slower setting ?), and proceeded to carefully polish the disc.



Once the polish is broken down, it should finish to a mirror shine with hardly any residue to buff off. I wiped off anything left with a mf towel, popped the movie back in the DVD player and we were able to finish the movie.



I'm not saying this is a substitute for a Disc Dr. or a disc repair system, but it worked for me when I needed it. I also wasn't afraid of damaging Blockbuster's disc because I had won the same movie in a contest and was planning on selling that on eBay so if some mishap were to happen, I would have just returned my movie to Blockbuster with a perfect, brand new disc.
 
It is a similar process. Each disc has a coat of clear on there. If it gets scratched or marred, it will not be able to get picked up by the laser. So you are removing some clear where the problem is and it plays...great job.
 
It was Van Wilder 2. The movie is fairly new (out within the last few weeks?) so the disc looked pretty good. There was a very tiny scratch I could see that didn't look very deep and didn't seem like it would cause any problems (I've seen discs way more scratched that plays perfectly fine), so I don't know if that was the cause or if it was just bad from the manufacturer? When DVDs first came out, I used to have problems like that a lot but I haven't experienced that in awhile for brand new discs.



This wasn't the usual "skip to the next scene" type of DVD problem. At the 21st scene, it just locks up, and then the Playstation just says "Unable to read disc".
 
I have saved several CDs, both music and video game and a couple DVDs using ScratchX. Put a little on a MF and polish the disc. PRESTO, problems all gone. Sometimes, it takes a couple applications. I have brought back some pretty ugly discs (kids, like to leave them laying around out of the game case)

Besides, what have you go to lose if the disc doesn't play anyway?
 
+1 for wlhump's Megs process. It has saved a few of my kid's PS2 games. I read somewhere that you can wax discs to protect the surface. Never tried it but it makes sense.
 
You know you would think in this era and as long as CDs and DVDs have been out there there would be someone that would have invented a disc that doesnt scratch like that.
 
Greg Nichols said:
That does not say much for Klasse AIO
Click to expand...
Klasse AIO is primarily a chemical cleaner; it's not suprising that it doesn't work well when an abrasive polish is needed.



Horses for courses . . .



Tort
 
UPDATE:



I've yet to come across a bad disc that #83 and a 8006 polishing pad hasn't been able to fix.



Here are some tips:



If you have a rotary, it is much easier. The stationary spin on a rotary allows you to predict and apply the right amount of pressure on the disc against the pad, without flinging it.



Also, because on my Makita I have the bail handle attached, I can lay the machine perfectly on its back, which provides a better position especially since the pad now rests at an angle. On the PC, I had to turn it on then try to balance it with my feet. It just felt really awkward. I also found the trigger lock feature on the Makita really handy. I set my rpm around speed 3 (3000 rpm). I'm sure this is overkill, but for some reason I just preferred this setting.



Not much polish is needed. Just a few dabs and then spread it around the disc with your finger. Don't try to buff the disc all at once. Do the disc in 4-5 sections. Do one section, turn it, do the next. You're really only using the outer section of your pad to do the work. It should really be quick. Don't sit there trying to polish the disc to perfection. It doesn't have to be defect free for it to work properly.



Just be careful, because I'd hate for a disc to go flying and injure someone.
 
um ok i dont know how to say this...



THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT GAMESTOP/EB GAMES DOES TO FIX THE REFURB/TRADE IN DISCS!



i worked for EB Games (now owned by gamestop) for almost 2 years... and we had people who did this all day... they had it set up on a drill press and had a small spindle... they'd put some compound/polish on, press down for a few seconds and bam... they also had running water constantly on the discs... it does work.
 
My wife rented a few DVDs from one of those rental box vending machines at MacDonald's a few weeks back. Every one of them were so scratched up that my player wouldn't recognize the disks at all.



I started with PO106FF, and didn't really get anywhere. Switching to SIP with blue wool at a very slow speed on the rotary had the disks scratch free in no time.



Yup, I'm *still* finishing with wool... :)
 
Any hi temp polishes work great. just dab a bit on disc, rub w/ finger from center out to edge back and forth then buff w/ mf from center out to edge. I don't even start a blockbuster movie anymore w/o doing this first. bought 303 sonic blast repair for discs but not as good as this and way more expensive.
 
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