# "Noisy discs" - why does it happen, can it be cured?



## 86eldel68-deactivated (Nov 30, 2010)

I have an issue where a couple of once-silent BDs - that is, discs that spun quietly in my BDP-83's tray - are suddenly causing a racket. All my other discs still play quietly.

The discs ("The Dark Knight" is one of them) are clean and undamaged, they're seated properly in the tray and the movies play fine. But, for some reason, although they were dead-quiet the last time I played them, the next time I played them they were making distractingly-noisy sounds in the player. :scratch: :blink:

Have other folks had this happen to them? Does it "go away" on its own? Is there a "fix" of some sort?


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello,
I will load the Dark Knight in my 83 some time this afternoon and see if I can recreate the effect. While I have posted elsewhere that my 83 usage is off a cliff, I still make a point of using it at least once a month. I will say that I adore the redesigned Disc Loader in the BDP-93/95 that was developed in cooperation with the Tohei Group of Japan. 

The Disc Loader was the one area of the 83 that I felt made it seem not that special. I still think it might be the best BDP ever for DVD's, but the 93 steadily improved.
Cheers,
JJ


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## WooferHound (Dec 8, 2010)

Is the disc warped ?
Have you put any stickers or adhesive labels on them ?


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## gdstupak (Jul 13, 2010)

I can't think of which ones, but I have some that play perfectly fine and quiet in my player, but make a bunch of grinding noises when in my parents player (off hand I can't remember which player they have (and yes, it has the latest updates)).
So I think it usually has to do with the player, not the disc.


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## 86eldel68-deactivated (Nov 30, 2010)

Thanks for all the input. The discs are in perfect and unaltered condition. In the same player - my OPPO BDP83 - they used to play quietly, and now they're noisy. Other discs continue to play whisper-quietly.

I hope it's not the player, but I can't see how it could be the discs, since nothing with them has changed.

It remains a mystery... :scratch:


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## MikeBiker (Jan 3, 2010)

Try cleaning the inside of the tray. It's possible that some particles have fallen in and the result is that any slightly thicker disk may be raised just enough to cause the disk to physically scrape the mechanism. A quick vacuuming would fix the noise if the problem is dirt.


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## 86eldel68-deactivated (Nov 30, 2010)

Thanks for the tip...but I guess I should have mentioned that I regularly vacuum the inside of the tray.


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## WooferHound (Dec 8, 2010)

Would it be possible that there is another disc loose inside of your player ?


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

Look at the hole in the disc. It is common for the edges to be chipped with use and this can cause centering and balance issues.


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## gdstupak (Jul 13, 2010)

One of the blu-rays that played fine in my player but made a lot of grinding noises in my parents player is The Help.
My dad has a very old cd disc that is a lens cleaner, it has a small brush that wipes across the lens as it spins.
We ran that cleaner a few times and now The Help plays much quieter in his player. It isn't as quiet as in my player, but it reduced the noise by at least 90%.

Actually there were two blu-rays discs that we experimented with, one was The Help, and the other I can't remember the name of. But we got the same results with both discs.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

How old is the player? How much use? Could it be a combination of player wear and slight disk imbalance? i.e. a new player is "tight" and able to handle slight disk imbalance/variation, and with wear, some part of the disc mounting mechanism is "looser" and those imperfect discs that it used to be able to hold steady are now starting to vibrate? My aging washing machine is developing this problem - with laundry of course - and now can only handle smaller loads. Just a thought.


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## 86eldel68-deactivated (Nov 30, 2010)

Thanks again for all the input.

1. There's no other disc in the player.
2. I'm pretty sure the discs are in perfect condition, but I'll double-check to see if there are any chipped edges.
3. I'm not sure how a lens cleaner would cure the noise made by a couple of spinning discs, but I'll consider picking some up just to see what happens.
4. The player's ~3-1/2 years old and I use it maybe 3 times a week on average. Wear & tear combined with slightly unbalanced discs makes sense. I'll see if it starts to happen with other discs as well. What'll really be weird is if the discs that are currently affected suddenly go quiet again... :gulp:


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## gdstupak (Jul 13, 2010)

eljay said:


> 3. I'm not sure how a lens cleaner would cure the noise made by a couple of spinning discs, but I'll consider picking some up just to see what happens.


We got the idea from doing a google search. There were quite a few articles/posts mentioning that cleaning the lens, even on a newer unit such as my parents, could help fix noise and skipping problems. None of the articles got into specifics but they said the drive mechanism goes into a fit when the lens has trouble reading a disc.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

What will sometimes happen is if the disc or lens is dirty the player will spin the disc faster to help with reading it. When it spins faster it will make more noise if its even slightly out of balance due to the labels they stamp on them.


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## 86eldel68-deactivated (Nov 30, 2010)

Thanks again, guys. Any thoughts on whether I can clean the lens with a Q-tip and some isopropyl alcohol? That combo used to work well for tape deck heads, capstans and pinch rollers...


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## robbo266317 (Sep 22, 2008)

eljay said:


> Thanks again, guys. Any thoughts on whether I can clean the lens with a Q-tip and some isopropyl alcohol? That combo used to work well for tape deck heads, capstans and pinch rollers...


I would not recommend it. The lens structure is fairly fragile.


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## 86eldel68-deactivated (Nov 30, 2010)

I promise to rub lightly... 

Kidding. If anything, I'll buy a proper lens cleaner.

Thanks!


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

tonyvdb said:


> What will sometimes happen is if the disc or lens is dirty the player will spin the disc faster to help with reading it. When it spins faster it will make more noise if its even slightly out of balance due to the labels they stamp on them.


Well, not quite. The speed of spinning the disc will not vary due to a dirty lens unless it loses focus enough to not track properly, then you would completely lose the image. What happens with a dirty lens is that the focus servo has to work much harder to keep the pattern stable and maintain data lock. When the servo is working harder it makes more noise.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

lcaillo said:


> Well, not quite. The speed of spinning the disc will not vary due to a dirty lens unless it loses focus enough to not track properly, then you would completely lose the image. What happens with a dirty lens is that the focus servo has to work much harder to keep the pattern stable and maintain data lock. When the servo is working harder it makes more noise.


Thanks, did not know that thats what was going on. These issues are particularly noticeable in PC drives


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