I think I have learned a very hard lesson. Let my pain be your gain. I have stored many of my DVDs in the CD/DVD binders to save space, but have discovered what I feel may be an insidious problem with this storage method.

I have two or three DVDs which I believe have become WARPED due to such storage... Perhaps the tightness of these binders, or the weight of them have caused this, but the titles in question make an audible "wobble" noise in my player, and only play around 20-30% of the movie before freezing.

I attempted to "flatten" one of these titles by placing heavy books on top of it. This resulted in it playing through about 50% and less wobble/ warp noise in the player.

Does anyone on this board have any suggestions in completely flattening / fixing a warped DVD? Is is conceivable that the "boiling" method might help?

Or, have I just learned a very hard lesson, and there is no good way to unwarp DVDs?

Has this problem happened to anyone else who stores their DVDs in CD binders?

There is no good way AFAIK. I had one warped DVD before (a disposable one at that...nothing worth saving)...it would never play, even after being unwarped.

Suck it up and buy a replacement, and stop storing them in such a manner.

Is it really the storage method? I don't store my DVD's in this manner, but it seems like it wouldn't cause them to warp. Have others had this problem? The only thing I'm aware of that causes them to warp are heat or water damage. Maybe it's a little too hot in your place, or the binders are exposed to sunlight from open windows?

I'm just curious. Maybe this has been discussed on this site before and I just missed it.

I do not think temperature or direct sunlight is an issue... The binders are stored in a dark closet at reasonable temperatures and in a dry environment.
The best I can figure is that the DVDs have been packed tightly into the binders so as to cause the warping. There must be *some* tolerance in the DVD-specs for warping, but I'm curious how much. It isn't that the DVDs are unreplaceable or valuable, I just asked this because I wanted to know if others had seen this problem.

I know in the days of LD, low temperature baking (150-200F) could unwarp laserdiscs and make them playable, but they are composed of acrylic, while DVDs are made of polycarbonate....

I've owned well over 1,000 DVDs since they began making 'em (though I currently own only about 500), and I've NEVER had a DVD warp. Those binders must be tight!

'Course, I've never had trouble with dust "depots", either, LOL.

I have hundreds of CDs I've burned over the years in a couple of these types of binders, and have never had a problem. Perhaps the DVDs were defective.

put it in between 2 pieces of glass and place it in a 250 degree oven for 30 minutes.


wait. this isnt a vinyl thread in 1977?

Boil them! (it seems to work for everything else around here! )

I have loads of dvds in binders and have never had this problem. How were the binders stored (i.e., physical configuration)? If they are stored horizontally with one on top of another, I could see the pressure eventually warping the discs. I store mine vertically (handle facing up), with nothing on top of any binder. Also, although they are more expensive I recommend going with a high-quality binder like Caselogic - their envelopes seem to be less tight than some of the lower-cost manufacturers.

i can imagine the pages being slanted in the binder as being the problem. despite how tight the binder is, these type of binder pages tend to hang at an angle, so the discs on the bottom half of these pages could be susceptible to warpage from the pressure, heat and weight of the other discs.

I have a binder full of MST3K episodes on CD-Rs that I've had for years, and I've never had a problem with any of the discs warping at all.

I don't keep my collectible retail DVDs in binders, however.

All the feeback has been helpful on further diagnosing this...

darmok-- I think you got it when you stated that these binders' pages are often at an angle (slanted). The DVDs affected were stored in the bottom half of the pages in a 300-disc capacity binder. These binders are stored horizontally, not vertically, as I supposed the weight of 300 DVDs in one binder to be enough! My other binders which are only 112 disc capacity seem to not have warped any DVDs so far (one being Caselogic, one being a cheap noname brand). Well, lesson learned, but I do wish they would come up with a more compact case / storage medium for DVDs aside from the standard keepcase.

Just a suggestion; thinline CD cases?

dilithium crystals should fix the problem. Or hmm... or is it the other way around?

What always cracks me up is people who spend thousands of dollars on DVDs and then buy cheap cases to store them in.

The BEST cases for storage are made by slappa.

www.slappa.com

I don't understand why people like to hide their collections in cases like that. I guess I can understand if you were short on space, but even then I'd think I'd find a different solution.

Believe me, I would love to build a custom cabinet to store these in, and will when I move out of this small apt. Also, I travel quite a bit, and having access to 100 movies on the go is wonderful. One could say "If you can't afford to store them, you can't afford the hobby," but for one who loves movies and not flashy storage displays, I just don't see it that way.

Those slappa cases look high-class, but still aren't a permanent solution. I should get one just to compare...

What's there to understand? Some people like beer and some like wine. Some people like to show off their stuff and others don't. I can certainly understand that most folks don't like to store their DVDs in binders, but there's a few of us that do. Live and let live. (OK, I like both beer and wine )

My thoughts exactly, I guess it didin't come accross that way. I still don't understand wrestling fans, anime fans, etc but to each his own. If you like having your collection hidden away, more power to you, I just don't understand it.