CD-ROM shoots shrapnel almost on my face 2

[ImodiumAD]

Sounds like a title of a National Enquirer article. I didn't even considered the possibility of this happening to me EVER...

Alright, this is (or was) a TDK AI-CDRW241040B CD-RW drive (manufactured on 10/2001), which has worked well for years. Just a few minutes ago, after inserting a CD for my niece, all of a sudden (obviously after picking up speed) there was a cracking noise and the fancy blue faceplate of the drive, closely followed by a sharp fragment of the disk, shooted out of the enclosure. There was a faint burning smell, and I shut down and turned off the PC immediately. I replaced the drive with another, and it booted up OK. About the TDK drive... well....

All I can say right now is thank God that the enclosure is one of those Antecs with a door that closes over the drives. The impact was strong enough to force open the door, but since the door was snapped into place, it took away most of the energy of what would have possibly been a dangerous projectile. This sounds melodramatic, but this is the PC that my nieces use, and the fragment could have shooted out at almost face-level (the enclosure stands atop the desk).

Why did this happen? I have a mixture of fright, anger, and disbelief at the same time. I had to look several times to the table where the damaged CD drive rests to remind me it DID happen.

Venting my frustration,

Edwin

 

[Sleepsalot]

This happened because the cd most likely had a small crack in the center hub as the drive picked up speed it came apart. I have seen this many times. Some time you can open the drive and clean out all the fragments and reuse the drive. But the pieces may have hit the read head an killed it.

Wayne

 

[micker377]

I had a drive tray "open" before the disc slowed down. The disc bounced off three walls before comomg to a stop! My tower sits on the floor, off to the side (safer that way).

 

[ImodiumAD]

Sleepsalot: I'm planning on that, however, there was a smell as if something burned up inside the drive. It lasted only a little, and it may be just the smell of the friction of the disk as it spinned out of control inside (I could hear the fragments tumbling inside like mad b4 I managed to turn the machine off), but my hopes of rescuing the drive are slim.

micker377: Wow. I'm relieved that didn't happen in my case since it was not the whole disk, but a sharpened fragment.

 

[micker377]

Carefully remove the cover and check for pieces of plastic melted onto the circuit board. Try not to touch the mechanism. You probably won't hurt anything, but it would be a shame to fix the problem and mis-align the pick-up!

 

[wunkunn]

My ME System Disk developed a small crack at the hub. When I saw it, I made a backup of the disk. Unfortunately, I kept both disks in the same jewel case. In a moment of frustration at having to reload ME, I picked up the wrong disk. Yep, it started to load when suddenly the CD drawer came about half way out, accoppanied by a loud noise. Pieces of the disk were scattered all over the room. The largest piece I found was about the size of a nickel. My computer sits directly in front of me at flooe level. I was not harmed (lucky I guess) and the CD Rom drive still works.
I now check the disk hubs before inserting them in the drive.

 

[paparazi]

It pays to quickly examine every disk as you place it in the drive, look for hair line cracks around the centre hole, copy and throw away anything that looks suspect.

With a strip down and careful cleaning it is likely that your drive is still serviceable, you need to remove every last fragment of disk and silvered backing before
re-assembley but in my experience most drives are not permanently damaged what this happens.
Martin

We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[mainegeek]

I have never had this happen to me personally, but I have heard about it before and I have cleaned up the aftermath of it.I did experience the "skeet launcher" several times as Micker377 described, which is always interesting.

 

[Mike2287]

And who says our job is not Dangerous! LOL

 

[Volk359]

You mean we should start wearing safety glasses from now on? I could just imagine the safety training meeting if that had happened in our office.

Just curious, the other day I broke a CD on purpose and some of the metallic like coat slivered off the plastic. I didn't think anything about it at the time until reading this thread but if it is a metal it may pose a problem with the circuitry. Either way, I'd go searching around to find every bit of busted CD and maybe even vacume it out to be safe.

 

[garebo]

Just a darn good thing nobody got their eye(s) damaged!
We've pretty well all either heard about it or experienced it, i have only heard about it.
I guess this could happen with just about any optical drive since the prob is not the drive but the cdrom going into the drive.


Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[cbs604]

I wouldn't bother about cleaning out the drive - just replace it. That way you remove any doubt about lingering shrapnel and/or damage. They are dirt cheap nowadays and so easy to install.

Cheers,
Brodie

 

[paskuda]

I've heard of such things happen but never seen one. I have an old CD drive, worth circa 2$ now, also have some old CDs. I'll break them a little bit, run in CD drive and see what happens. The camera is ready

 

[stduc]

paskuda

I hope thats a video camera! You'd never press a shutter release quick enough!

Seriously - that could be one cool video if you get it.

 

[garebo]

ttttttt too much time on my hands!!
Remember that tune? that would apply here, lol.



Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[micker377]

Seriously, a lot of the "cracked hub" problems are caused by the factory holders that the CD comes in. Watch how you have to "wrestle" to get the CD out of it's hub retainer. A couple of time of this stress and the hub will start cracking, and you know the results! Any new disc I get, I put into a regular thin case (save the original case for the instructions). More storage space needed - less band-aids!

 

[ImodiumAD]

Thanks for all the insightful comments and suggestions . I will keep an eye from now on on the disks I use, and pass the word on to my nieces.