Why cds skip

And so: we know a CD's basic composition—there's a plastic polycarbonate layer, a metal reflective layer with all the data in it, and then the coating on top—but it's impossible to tell just from looking at a disc how it will age. Even CDs made by the same company in the same year and wrapped in identical packaging might have totally different lifespans.

That's what Library of Congress researchers found when they tested twin copies of Paul Winter's Grammy-nominated album Earthbeat. The two seemingly identical discs were exposed to extreme heat and humidity in an accelerated-aging machine. They cooked for about hours at degrees and in relative humidity of 70 percent—about what you'd expect on a sweltering July day in New York City, but not quite as humid as a rain forest. One of the CDs emerged relatively unscathed. The other was zapped of its musical data, completely destroyed by oxidation.

You can see the ruined CD, which became almost totally transparent, on the right:. If you're willing to part with your old CDs, the library will happily destroy them for you.

The Center for the Library's Analytical Science Samples is a laboratory for destruction, a place where researchers can practice "destructive testing" on non-library materials as a way to learn how best to care for actual library collections. Staffers at the center might opt for more destructive aging tests, like the treatment that Earthbeat suffered, or just let discs age naturally and check in on them every decade or so.

There are all kinds of forces that accelerate CD aging in real time. Eventually, many discs show signs of edge rot, which happens as oxygen seeps through a disc's layers. Some CDs begin a deterioration process called bronzing, which is corrosion that worsens with exposure to various pollutants. The lasers in devices used to burn or even play a CD can also affect its longevity.

Then there's the wear and tear that's more in line with what you'd probably expect to happen over time—like scratches and exposure to extreme temperatures. That's a really great way to destroy them," France says. But it turns out that plenty of people don't know how to care for CDs properly in the first place. Essentially, you need to avoid any chemicals more harsh than dish soap, along with water. Wet the CD with a filtered water and soap solution. Then, gently rub the data side of the CD with smooth fingers.

Trim off any jagged fingernails first though. Next, rinse with more filtered water. Finally, dry with a lint-free lens cleaning cloth. This washing technique removes fingerprints, oils, and loose dirt. Then, the wiping dry with the cloth removes the water from the CD.

But this also polishes out the very small scratches that often cause CD skipping during play. The CD player may become dusty inside, depending on the environment in which it is being operated.

They sell a laser lens cleaning CD. But they may work for you. Indeed, they could potentially save you the cost of buying a new CD player. The cleaning disc has a small brush affixed to the play side.

You put this disc into your CD player. When the player spins this disc to read it, the attached brush brushes across the laser lens. This presumably removes dust and dirt from that lens. But if the laser lens cleaner does not solve the skipping, clean the CD player. If you feel confident enough to take your CD player apart, then remove the top cover. Then, blow out any dirt and lint; particularly from the rails upon which the laser assembly moves back and forth.

Avoid too much air pressure though, which can hurt the components inside the player. A can of residue free air such as pictured next, works well for this. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure when maintaining these delicate audio discs.

To preserve peak performance, avoid ever dirtying the CDs to begin with. Always store CDs in their cases when not listening, and avoid exposing to weather and direct sunshine. Avoid touching the play side of the CD more than absolutely necessary in order to play them. Today's Posts competitions support us FAQ advertise our advertisers newsletter.

When you buy products through links across our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more. You may notice that the 'cookie consent' form pops up more often than usual lately - we are tweaking it behind-the-scenes to make sure it's working comprehensively. If you see it again it's because something has changed so please set your preferences accordingly. Why do CDs repeat when they skip? Is this how they all work or is it a matter of the CD player?

If they encounter an error, they usually go back and repeat it. Why don't they just drop that part and continue playing? I don't know for a fact but it may depend on the CD player. For example, a CD player that is primarily used for data such as in a PC probably re-reads the track trying to recover lost info. On the other hand the CD player in my car, which is only for audio, just skips ahead when it has an error.

But that's just a guess. Maybe it's just a fluke either way. My Studio. It's been awhile but I feel like I've heard CDs skip in a way that it just erratically fast forwards through the disc until it stabilizes but yes, the classic CD skip is when it gets stuck in one place and doesn't move on from there. A good question for sure. A very good question! If you visualize the spiral track on a CD is being many many times more fine than the groove on an LP, and if you see the laser as being many many times smaller than a stylus, then you can imagine just how huge even a small scratch on the surface of the CD would appear to the laser and optical sensor assembly in the CD player.