CD Rot - Sulphur Booklets

[TRC]

I've read that CD's can rot because of the CD label interacting with sulphur in the paper booklet.

What I'm doing, is flipping the label side of the disc AWAY from the booklet. will this protect my disc?

Considering the encoding is on the label side of the disc, under the label.


Thanks,
TRC

 

[Jonny Ramone]

I've never had that problem with CD's. Commercially released DVD's, yes.

 

[toddalin]

I still have the CDs that I got with my first player back in the 80s and they still play like new.

 

[SaturationPt]

I have CDs I bought in the 1980s, still in the original jewel cases, labels are still good.

 

[onepixel]

I have a bunch of CDs.
Much of them bought used.
Only two have rot.

This one from 1990 is nasty.
Two tracks are scratchy. The rest is fine.

 

[Vlad Soare]

I've read that CD's can rot because of the CD label interacting with sulphur in the paper booklet.

No, it's not that. Some of the early CDs used to rot because of a manufacturing defect - poor sealing of the layers at the edge of the disc, if memory serves. There may have also been some impurities in the aluminum used to make the data layer, though I'm not sure I'm remembering this part correctly.
A properly manufactured CD will not rot. And luckily the overwhelming majority of commercial audio CDs fall into this category.
Anyway, if the CD happens to be prone to rotting, flipping it around in the case won't make a difference.

 

[motorstereo]

There may have also been some impurities in the aluminum used to make the data layer, though I'm not sure I'm remembering this part correctly.

Sounds like fod may be the culprit after all these years.

 

[Spinning45s]

I recall reading that the manufacturers didn't have the formula right for the lacquer on the label side on the early CD's, resulting in cases of CD rot.

 

[StimpyWan]

At Nimbus CD, we had an environmental chamber, that exposed the discs to extreme pressures, heat and humidity, for weeks and months at a time. None of our discs failed. I have seen poor lacquer from other manufacturers, that resulted in pit rot, but that was extremely rare. To be honest, I'd be more concerned with scratching the bottom of the disc, causing read issues, before I worried about rot.