#Drives on standby …
5 messages in this thread
When a cdrom drive is powered up, but not being accessed for long periods, at
least a full day at a time, should the cdrom be left in the drive, or removed?
And if the disk is removed, should the drive tray be left closed or left open?
Dan:
It probably doesn't matter if you leave the disc in or take it out, but always
arange to keep the door closed as much as possible, to keep errant dust
particles from settling on the laser and lens mechanisms in the drive. We are
dealing with such small tolerances here, that the tiniest of such problems can
cause you headaches.
Best – Rich Bowers
Thanks, Rich; that's reassuring. I was prompted to the questions by noticing
that the cd was slightly warm when I removed it from the drive after leaving it
there for several hours. There was also a faint `plastic' odor. The drive is
Sun Moon Star external (Sony CDU-31A) that I've run for only three days. It is
the second one I've tried. The first one failed after a day and a half (would
read only one of three cd's that I have). Having no prior experience with cd's
in any form, I became concerned that the failure might have been due to my
running the thing continuously. I don't want it to fail again, and I certainly
don't want to ruin my $25-$60 information cd's!
By the way, my unit is tray-style. It has three small, soft pads that I suppose
are to support the cd when I lay it in the tray. Do you know if the disk is
lifted off the tray when the door closes, and whether the disk spins
continuously therafter like a hard drive or starts and stops like a floppy?
..Dan
Dan:
I'm not familiar with the 31A specifically, but I can tell that the drive works
more like a floppy, it starts and stops. As for the odor, it would conern me
too. It is not the disc (see some of the by-play in the "anti-art" thread
here), but it would be curious to know what else it might be.
Best – Rich
If the drive does not have a sleep mode which shuts the laser off and stops
disc rotation, the disc should be ejected. The tray or door should be closed
to protect from dust, esp. if the drive is mounted in the cpu. Hitachi drives
and the current drivers have a sleep mode 5-9 mins. The motor bearing and
laser wears out sooner if no sleep mode.