A friend bought an old used SONY Radio/CD/Cassette.

When he puts a CD in, it displays NO DISC, and ejects the CD.

He thinks it's dirty, and I'm in favor of cleaning things, and I even
have a CD Cleaning Disk, which I got for a dollar at a hamfest, have
never used, but have long wondered about.

a) If the CD cleaning disk doesn't touch the laser or anything else,
how can it clean anything????

b) Is there much chance using it will get the drive to accept and play
the CD?



P.S. The radio works well, AM and FM, and one of the 2 cassettes
plays, mabye too slow, but he was told they have belt drives and I can
replace the belts. There is an electronics store here that sells
pretty much all sizes .

micky wrote:

a) If the CD cleaning disk doesn't touch the laser or anything else,
how can it clean anything????

b) Is there much chance using it will get the drive to accept and play
the CD?

This is a frequent topic of discussion here. I live 3,000 feet up in the
desert. The air is dusty and relative humidity hovers around 35 percent.
There are winds from the west during the day as the sun heats the sand to
the east, and then blow from the east as the sand cools and the water is still
warm.

So everything here is dusty, and there is little moisture or hydrocarbons
in the air.

The cleaning disks DO use a small brush.

If you touch them, they wick oil from your fingers and contaminate the lens.

If the brush is clean, they will do a good job cleaning the lens.

Other people, in environments which have more hydrocarbons in the air, or
more moisture, have reported the opposite results. The brush just move
around the dirt and since it is moist or oily you just end up with muck
all over the lens.

YMMV.

Geoff.




--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, N3OWJ/4X1GM
My high blood pressure medicine reduces my midichlorian count. :-(

"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" wrote in message
...

The cleaning disks DO use a small brush.

I have one I've never used -- or needed to use -- with a brush on the data
side. The disk's TOC positions the brush over the lens.

However, I believe someone made a disk with vanes that blows air over the
lens. I think.

On 12/13/2011 10:59 PM, micky wrote:
A friend bought an old used SONY Radio/CD/Cassette.

When he puts a CD in, it displays NO DISC, and ejects the CD.

He thinks it's dirty, and I'm in favor of cleaning things, and I even
have a CD Cleaning Disk, which I got for a dollar at a hamfest, have
never used, but have long wondered about.

a) If the CD cleaning disk doesn't touch the laser or anything else,
how can it clean anything????

b) Is there much chance using it will get the drive to accept and play
the CD?



P.S. The radio works well, AM and FM, and one of the 2 cassettes
plays, mabye too slow, but he was told they have belt drives and I can
replace the belts. There is an electronics store here that sells
pretty much all sizes .

My experience with cleaning discs is that they don't do much.

Since you are mechanically competent enough to change belts, you should
be able to open the machine up enough to get at the lens. Use a cotton
swab SLIGHTLY moistened with lens cleaning fluid if you have some, but
even even Windex will do. Gently roll the swab over the lens. Keep in
mind that the lens is on a suspension that allows it to move up and down
to focus. On most home players, removing the lid and opening the drawer
will give you enough access to clean the lens. Portables are all over
the place, from really easy to needing a Sawzall to get to the pick-up.

Regards,
Tim Schwartz
Bristol Electronics

On Wed, 14 Dec 2011 02:43:39 -0800, "William Sommerwerck"
wrote:

"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" wrote in message
...

The cleaning disks DO use a small brush.

I have one I've never used -- or needed to use -- with a brush on the data
side. The disk's TOC positions the brush over the lens.

However, I believe someone made a disk with vanes that blows air over the
lens. I think.

Wow, I guess I should open the package and look at it. I might learn
something, like whether maybe there is a brush or vanes I did look
through the wrapper, but not carefully, since I just assumed it was a
flat CD.

I only paid a dollar at the hamfest and he had a 20 or more, still
wrapeed but no labels. Surplus from somewhere, either because no one
bought them, or they don't work, but possibly ones that do do
something from a company that closed out for other reasons.

G, I live where it's more humid usually, and I guess has more
hydrocarbons than the desert. OTOH, maybe this was in a house with
air filters and the windows never opened.

Plus what Tim said.....

Thansk a lot.

On Wed, 14 Dec 2011 08:43:25 -0500, Tim Schwartz
wrote:

On 12/13/2011 10:59 PM, micky wrote:
A friend bought an old used SONY Radio/CD/Cassette.

When he puts a CD in, it displays NO DISC, and ejects the CD.

He thinks it's dirty, and I'm in favor of cleaning things, and I even
have a CD Cleaning Disk, which I got for a dollar at a hamfest, have
never used, but have long wondered about.

a) If the CD cleaning disk doesn't touch the laser or anything else,
how can it clean anything????

b) Is there much chance using it will get the drive to accept and play
the CD?



P.S. The radio works well, AM and FM, and one of the 2 cassettes
plays, mabye too slow, but he was told they have belt drives and I can
replace the belts. There is an electronics store here that sells
pretty much all sizes .

My experience with cleaning discs is that they don't do much.

Since you are mechanically competent enough to change belts, you should
be able to open the machine up enough to get at the lens. Use a cotton
swab SLIGHTLY moistened with lens cleaning fluid if you have some, but
even even Windex will do. Gently roll the swab over the lens. Keep in
mind that the lens is on a suspension that allows it to move up and down
to focus. On most home players, removing the lid and opening the drawer
will give you enough access to clean the lens. Portables are all over
the place, from really easy to needing a Sawzall to get to the pick-up.

I have a Harbor Frieigh version of a Sawzall, so maybe I can use that.

If not, given the warnings you all have given, your way is may well be
tghe way to go

Thanks, and thanks to all. I won't be able to gve any feedback for a
long time. .

P&M


Regards,
Tim Schwartz
Bristol Electronics

On Dec 14, 5:43*am, Tim Schwartz wrote:
On 12/13/2011 10:59 PM, micky wrote:





A friend bought an old used SONY Radio/CD/Cassette.

When he puts a CD in, it displays NO DISC, and ejects the CD.

He thinks it's dirty, and I'm in favor of cleaning things, and I even
have a CD Cleaning Disk, which I got for a dollar at a hamfest, have
never used, but have long wondered about.

a) If the CD cleaning disk doesn't touch the laser or anything else,
how can it clean anything????

b) Is there much chance using it will get the drive to accept and play
the CD?

P.S. The radio works well, AM and FM, and one of the 2 cassettes
plays, mabye too slow, but he was told they have belt drives and I can
replace the belts. * There is an electronics store here that sells
pretty much all sizes .

My experience with cleaning discs is that they don't do much.

Since you are mechanically competent enough to change belts, you should
be able to open the machine up enough to get at the lens. *Use a cotton
swab SLIGHTLY moistened with lens cleaning fluid if you have some, but
even even Windex will do. *Gently roll the swab over the lens. *Keep in
mind that the lens is on a suspension that allows it to move up and down
to focus. *On most home players, removing the lid and opening the drawer
will give you enough access to clean the lens. *Portables are all over
the place, from really easy to needing a Sawzall to get to the pick-up.

Regards,
Tim Schwartz
Bristol Electronics

So you can get the top of the lens but what about all the other
surfaces inside the optical block?

G²

So you can get the top of the lens but what about
all the other surfaces inside the optical block?

The lens is the top surface of the optical block. The whole thing is a (more
or less) sealed assembly.

It's true that one is only cleaning the top surface of the top lens,
but that is the most exposed one. If the player was in a really horrid
environment, and you suspect problems below that, you might be right.

I have cleaned the under side of the upper lens on a couple of players
as a last resort before replacing the optical block, and have had some
success. It requires pulling the top dust cover (rather easy on a
typical Sony laser) and either lifting the lens up enough to get under
it, or having to lift the rubber suspension off its posts so you can
flip it over. NOT something I suggest to the average consumer who is
asking how to clean a lens.

Regards,
Tim Schwartz
Bristol Electronics


On 12/16/2011 1:37 AM, wrote:
On Dec 14, 5:43 am, Tim wrote:
On 12/13/2011 10:59 PM, micky wrote:





A friend bought an old used SONY Radio/CD/Cassette.

When he puts a CD in, it displays NO DISC, and ejects the CD.

He thinks it's dirty, and I'm in favor of cleaning things, and I even
have a CD Cleaning Disk, which I got for a dollar at a hamfest, have
never used, but have long wondered about.

a) If the CD cleaning disk doesn't touch the laser or anything else,
how can it clean anything????

b) Is there much chance using it will get the drive to accept and play
the CD?

P.S. The radio works well, AM and FM, and one of the 2 cassettes
plays, mabye too slow, but he was told they have belt drives and I can
replace the belts. There is an electronics store here that sells
pretty much all sizes .

My experience with cleaning discs is that they don't do much.

Since you are mechanically competent enough to change belts, you should
be able to open the machine up enough to get at the lens. Use a cotton
swab SLIGHTLY moistened with lens cleaning fluid if you have some, but
even even Windex will do. Gently roll the swab over the lens. Keep in
mind that the lens is on a suspension that allows it to move up and down
to focus. On most home players, removing the lid and opening the drawer
will give you enough access to clean the lens. Portables are all over
the place, from really easy to needing a Sawzall to get to the pick-up.

Regards,
Tim Schwartz
Bristol Electronics

So you can get the top of the lens but what about all the other
surfaces inside the optical block?

G²