Cleaning CDP laser lenses

[BillyBatts]

Wasn't there an actual "Cleaning CD" put out back in the 80's by Discwasher or a similar company that had a brush attached to the CD itself? Playing it spun the brush against the lens....in theory anyway. I believe it came with a small bottle of cleaner to wet the brush with.

I could swear I saw this at a Sam Goody in NYC back in the 80's. Did a quick Google search but could not find anything.

 

[bare]

yes there was! It was unmitigated Garbage.
Had one ...but Never used it fortunately!
The brush was/is So stupidly stiff as to be damaging to the inexpensive bit of Polycarbonate that is the lens (glass on 99% of all Disc readers made.
These are Easily scratched ruined. Touching, let alone cleaning those wee lenses is a No No.
Also begs the question: how in hell did it get dirty ?

 

[Mr.White]

I have a SONY XA20ES that is just now for the first time playing a disc with a skip. I tried the disc in another cheap SONY player I have and it plays fine. So I came here to find out how best to clean the lens. I cleaned it with Windex and a Q-Tip and not only is the skip gone but I swear it sounds better overall.

 

[restorer-john]

The bottom line is this: the lens needs to be clean. Scrupulously clean.

In many cases, dirt and debris gets in under the lens and into the optical block, film builds up on the prisms and laser diode itself, all of which contribute to the falling off in performance of the entire optical block.

 

[markn2wae]

All the "dirt" in the optical path "adds up" causing increased "correction, concealment" and finally skipping conditions (Gee, my disk played fine yesterday).

Cleaning the "dirty-est" part of the system (the top of the lens in most cases) goes a long way to fixing the issue.

Someplace on line I have seen the whole laser assembly SUBMERGED in some type of cleaning fluid (distiled water perhaps?) to clean the "innermost" works of the optical path normally inaccessible.

Analog media "slowly gets CRAPPY OVER TIME", digital just "keeps going" (like the proverbial Energizer Bunny) until the correction circuits "run out of gas" and you get poor quality operation or outright skipping, blocky-ness etc., its' the known "brick wall" effect.

Mark T.