Mistafadedglory

Hello,

I was thinking about getting a laser lens cleaner CD for my DVD player. This is the one with "microbrushes" that cleans the lens. The guy at Radio Shack told me that he usually runs his once a month.

Are there detrimental effects to doing this?

Could it hurt my DVD player?

NikePenguin

I have never used one. My 4 year old dvd player never seemed to need cleaning.

Frank S

If you are NOT experiencing any problems with your DVD player DO NOT use a DVD player cleaner! Only those who have their player in a extremely dusty area will ever need to use one of these. This idiot at RS is just trying to BS you into buying this useless item! Anyone who is stupid enough to use a cleaner once a month deserves the almost certain laser mis-alignment that they are sure to experience from all the inpacts being done to the laser mechinism!

Mistafadedglory

Very good to know. thanks for the info

Josh Z

Not only laser misalignment, but running a physical brush over the laser head is an abrasive procedure that can cause damage.

Definitely not recommended.

Leon Liew

Have been using them for a long time no problems at all. Used it
to clean my CD player,LD player & DVD player. In fact I do it once
every 3 weeks after intense viewing and listening. Them players
are still going strong.

Josh Z

Do you watch your movies outside during desert sandstorms or something? What do you possibly think could be getting dirty inside the DVD player that needs cleaning every 3 weeks? The player reads the disc with a laser. It has no physical contact aside from the spindle, which you aren't cleaning with one of those lens cleaner devices anyway.

Frank S

You forgot to mention you work for a CD/DVD lens cleaning company!

Leon Liew

I do not watch DVDs outside during a sandstorm,anyway we do
not have sandstorms in Singapore. It's common sense that tiny
and minute dust particles do accumulate in nooks and crannies of
all things be it furniture or fixtures even amplifiers and DVD players! Even DVD discs do attract dust. I always use a dust blower to give it a few puffs over the disc before inserting it into
the player. To make my point short my habit of using the lens
cleaner certainly gave me clear crisp sound and video images that
I continue to enjoy to this day.

Anyway I do not work for a CD/DVD lens cleaning company but I
work for my hobby that is Home Theater !!

Frank S

Well I have had DVD players (one of which I still have circa 1997) since the first year DVD players came out and I have NEVER had to use a cleaner. The DVD players are for the most part sealed so there are no vents etc. for the dust and other material to easily get inside the player. In the entire lifetime of DVD's I have yet to hear of someone who used a DVD player in a normal home setting that ever required cleaning of their player! The only person I ever knew that needed their DVD player cleaned was someone who mistakingly left it out while doing some major drywall hanging and that ultra fine dust from sanding joint compound can get into anywhere!

And cleaning your DVD's each time you place them in your DVD player tells me you either leave your DVD's laying around outside of your DVD cases or you have an extremely dusty enviroment. Otherwise there is NO WAY dust is going to collect inside a DVD case!

Leon Liew

As I have mentioned its my habit of doing those things to ensure
I enjoy my Home Theater. I have done it and will continue to do it.
Like I said I work for my hobby and to summarise "TO EACH HIS OWN"

Frank S

That's a shame, because everyone else actaully enjoys their Home Theater as opposed to thinking of it as "WORK"! I think you take precautions WAY TO SERIOULY! I don't know who got you on the extreme fear of dust trip but it is very unrealistic.

Leon Liew

To work for my hobby is to ensure that the equipment are
properly taken care and that they will last me a long time. It's just PASSION !

Frank S

To most your actions seem more like OBSESSION! But as long as you enjoy doing it I am all for your having at it! HT is a nice hobby but the dang upgrade-I-tist decease is a real pocketbook killer!

My posts are more geared to others so they realize that they do not need to do all the things you do to get many years of viewing/hearing pleasure out of their equipment.

Leon Liew

AMEN !

Josh Z

You are free to do whatever you feel necessary, but the fact is that by using a cleaning disc so regularly you are actually doing damage to the player's lens assembly. You may not have seen any visible effect yet, but in the long term you will wear down the coating over the laser lens and prevent the beam from properly reading the disc.

Rubbing your discs with cleaning fluid every time you watch them does the same thing. The cleaning fluid is a mild solvent. Over time you will wear down the protective surface and corrupt the data layer below.

These types of cleaners are safe for a few sporadic uses, but are not meant to be used repeatedly in a short time frame.

Leon Liew

Well as I have mentioned in my posting I have been using the
lens cleaner since I started with Home Theater way back '97.
To date the players are functioning well.

As for using cleaning fluid to clean my DVD discs it's STRICTLY
a NO NO ! I know what cleaning fluids will do to DVD discs.Even
to day there are lens cleaner that comes with cleaning fluid for
cleaning of players I do not use them. The lens cleaner that I am
using is with a mirco conductive brush that removes static
electricity and so far it has provided me with good sound & images
I have no complains.

To clean my DVD disc I use a dust blower and clean cloth. As
fellow hobbiyists I appreciate the concern shown on this thread
but I guess it's just one's own opinion.

Joe-buck.ca

Josh Z, is right don't use cd lens cleaners ever.

if your dvd player has problems take it in for service because you could void the warranty, if you read the manual and hahaha I did, i will bet it will say do not use a cd dvd lens cleaner.

And the same goes for your computer's cd drive and burner, just do a search in google and see what happens to people who do that on a on going basis, this is a marketing scam used by stereo stores to up sell you on dvd players. I've had it happen to me, and when I was at the store the sales man told me ohh you need a lens cleaner, I never heard of one so when I got home I did a search and found lots of articles on the net about this subject, none of them recommending the use of a dvd len cleaner at all.

I have CD players from the 80s that still work because I never tried cleaning them. No reason too because nothing is really touching the disc in the inside of the player in the first place.