CDs and temperature

[jsvidyad]

This post has nothing to do with ubuntu. I just wanted to know if CDs can be damaged by cold. I just need to move ubuntu install CDs from my home to office and I have to walk for about 15 mins in the cold. Can the CDs get damaged by this? The temperature is usually in the thirties(fahrenheit) right now here.

[Habitual]

Should be fine.
High-Tech plastic composites.

[GreatDanton]

That's not a problem for CD. The problem would be if you decided to leave Cd's in the summer on sunny place. Since you are not going to leave cd's for long time, it will be fine.

http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub121/tablepvi.jpg

[jsvidyad]

So, exposing CDs briefly to low temperatures for short periods of time(15-20 mins) is okay?

[sffvba[e0rt]

Thread moved to The Community Cafe.

Not an Ubuntu Support Question.


404

[Dragonbite]

The cold shouldn't be a problem, though I wonder if it makes the CD more brittle or not.

Give it time exposed to the room-temperature air before putting it into the drive or the warm room's air can condense on the CD and it difficult to read.

For a 15 minute walk, I don't know if this will be an issue. I usually find this occurring when I put a CD that has been sitting in my car (not garaged) into the player it sometimes cannot read it at first.

[Lars Noodén]

Are they CDs, CD R or CD RW? Those are all different media. Here are the temperature tolerances for most of the different media:
http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub121/sec5.html

[Jakin]

Fortunately, outside of holding a Compact-disc (this indeed includes most if not all optical media) over an open flame, or dipping in a supercooled liquid; The only thing you need to worry about is not scratching or bending it.

I sure wish my vinyl had that tolerance, i have had many warp from heat in the attic :( and have since found safr places to store them

[Lars Noodén]

Fortunately, outside of holding a Compact-disc (this indeed includes most if not all optical media) over an open flame, or dipping in a supercooled liquid; The only thing you need to worry about is not scratching or bending it.

I sure wish my vinyl had that tolerance, i have had many warp from heat in the attic :( and have since found safr places to store them

Actually air pollution and organic solvents (even in the air) are long term threats to optical media. Hopefullly those are not an issue where you are.

Vinyl is much more vulneerable though to heat and even cold warping and scratching.

[Grenage]

Yeah, CDs are nowhere near as resilient as is normally made out, especially home-written discs. I've seen those things degrade after just sitting on a shelf.

[Lars Noodén]

Yeah, CDs are nowhere near as resilient as is normally made out, especially home-written discs. I've seen those things degrade after just sitting on a shelf.

The home-written discs are different chemically from the store-bought ones. Take a look at the figure "Basic Layers of CDs and DVDs" to see the difference:

http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub121/sec3.html

and the various subsections on 'data layers' The CD-Rs are dependent on organic dyes that start to age the minute they leave the production line in the factory.

[Grenage]

Aye, nowhere near as lasting. I remember when CDRs came out, there were many with claims of lifetime-guarantees for storage. Don't see that kind of thing any more!

[CharlesA]

That's not a problem for CD. The problem would be if you decided to leave Cd's in the summer on sunny place. Since you are not going to leave cd's for long time, it will be fine.

http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub121/tablepvi.jpg
Interesting.

My DVDs/Blurays are stored in a cabinet in the "book" position, but most of my CDs are sitting in a drawer laying down..

I wonder why orientation would make a difference.

[Bandit]

So, exposing CDs briefly to low temperatures for short periods of time(15-20 mins) is okay?

Cold doesnt damage CDs. Sub Zero cold can make them easier to break, but only thing about bringing your disc inside from the cold is depending on the humidity they may sweat. Other then that your fine. Now HEAT can warp them and damage the data foil on the disc. So sunlight is more bad then cold.

[deadflowr]

Cold doesnt damage CDs. Sub Zero cold can make them easier to break, but only thing about bringing your disc inside from the cold is depending on the humidity they may sweat. Other then that your fine. Now HEAT can warp them and damage the data foil on the disc. So sunlight is more bad then cold.

Agreed.
I've worked in shipping and seen truckloads of CDs sit in trucks for days sometimes weeks at a time in freezing temperatures, and never get damaged.
Heat and humidity are a different stories.

[HermanAB]

Hmm, in Canada, I had CDRs lying in my car and it went down to -40 Celsius. Now I am in UAE and the summer temp went up to 55 Celsius, with the inside of the car at 75 Celsius - again no problems.

Anyhoo, CDs use a Reed-Solomon error correcting code, which probably explains why they are so resilient.

[GreatDanton]

Interesting.

My DVDs/Blurays are stored in a cabinet in the "book" position, but most of my CDs are sitting in a drawer laying down..

I wonder why orientation would make a difference.

I believe they wrote that just because of the American laws.

[Jakin]

http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub121/tablepvi.jpg

*DO NOT Clean by wiping in a direction going around the disc.


Really? What harm could that do?? Worst case senario and it doesn't read- you clean it again NOT in a circular motion..

[CharlesA]

I believe they wrote that just because of the American laws.

How do you mean?

The only information I found about why it is "bad" to store CDs horizontally is because "gravity could cause the disc to warp."

Never had that happen to any of my discs. *shrugs*

[Lars Noodén]

*DO NOT Clean by wiping in a direction going around the disc.


Really? What harm could that do?? Worst case senario and it doesn't read- you clean it again NOT in a circular motion..

The scratches that follow the rotation of the disc are more likely to produce data loss. Scratches going radially are unlikely to disrupt the reading in any significant way, unless they are deep and wide. About storing them sideways, that position is more likely to result in damage and data loss if something heavy presses on it. For long term storage, things sometimes shift and/or are forgotten about. My CDs were in storage about 25 years and some of the cases got cracked, though I have no idea how that could have happened. About the heat, CD-R is a very different beast from a real CD, see the CLIR document for details. I've had data loss resulting in corrupted files in CD-R from ones as little as 14 months.

[Jakin]

The scratches that follow the rotation of the disc are more likely to produce data loss. Scratches going radially are unlikely to disrupt the reading in any significant way, unless they are deep and wide. About storing them sideways, that position is more likely to result in damage and data loss if something heavy presses on it. For long term storage, things sometimes shift and/or are forgotten about. My CDs were in storage about 25 years and some of the cases got cracked, though I have no idea how that could have happened. About the heat, CD-R is a very different beast from a real CD, see the CLIR document for details. I've had data loss resulting in corrupted files in CD-R from ones as little as 14 months.


I've never heard anything like that :? Anyway, thats why you are supposed to use something very soft, like microfibre or something and wipe down with little pressure, not a papertowel.

[jsvidyad]

Are they CDs, CD R or CD RW? Those are all different media. Here are the temperature tolerances for most of the different media:
http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub121/sec5.html

I believe they are CD-Rs. Some are official ubuntu CDs. The others are CD-Rs I burnt myself. I am not storing the CDs at low temperatures. I store them at room temperature. I was just asking about brief exposures of 15-20 mins to cold temperatures of thirty or twenty degrees fahrenheit.

[Dragonbite]

go USB and this argument is moot :)

[Jakin]

go USB and this argument is moot :)
Doesn't help retail musik CDs or DVDs.

[Paqman]

The cold shouldn't be a problem, though I wonder if it makes the CD more brittle or not.


Shouldn't do. They're made of polycarbonate, so it'll tend to fail by brittle fracture at any temp below about 140°C.

In other words, at room temperature they're already plenty brittle.

[fdrake]

it can be a problem because you have to make sure you bring the cd to the room temp slowly read here:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071202135928AAg9XBt

[Paqman]

it can be a problem because you have to make sure you bring the cd to the room temp slowly read here:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071202135928AAg9XBt

While that isn't the worst piece of advice I've ever seen, my rule of thumb is to never take any note of any advice on Yahoo Answers, ever. Even if my life depended on it. Yahoo Answers and Youtube comments are constantly duking it out for the coveted title of the Ultimate Internet Repository of All Stupid.

The advice there would be relevant if you were going to unevenly heat or cool the CD, which I suppose is not impossible. The better reason for warming it reasonably gently is to prevent condensation forming on something you're going to insert into an electronic machine.

[fdrake]

While that isn't the worst piece of advice I've ever seen, my rule of thumb is to never take any note of any advice on Yahoo Answers, ever. Even if my life depended on it. Yahoo Answers and Youtube comments are constantly duking it out for the coveted title of the Ultimate Internet Repository of All Stupid.

The advice there would be relevant if you were going to unevenly heat or cool the CD, which I suppose is not impossible. The better reason for warming it reasonably gently is to prevent condensation forming on something you're going to insert into an electronic machine. i don't trust yahoo neither but that kind of make sense especcially in an humid enviornment.... just wasting some time on useless details as usual..............