Frustrated with rim cracks: my discs are dying. (1 Viewer)

I guess every video format has it's Achilles Heel.

VHS tape snarls, Laser rot, and now...DVD rim cracks.

Opened up my 'Episode 1' and 'Planet of the Apes' (2001) cases to find the disc 1 trays had shattered my interior disc rims.

Some hanging tray styles are apparently very shallow and if the disc isn't completely down, the catch will rest between the disc layers.

Over time, the disc will eventually give way and crack.

Also had two other situations where a disc cracked while being remove from standard hubs.

It's getting to the point where I'm afraid to touch my discs.

DVDs are fairly durable, but I'm realizing that interior rims are the weak link.

You never had this problem with CDs.

Why doesn't the layer glue extended all the way to the interior rim?

Do the thin rim layers get more brittle with age?

I never expected to have this problem.

Thankfully, I haven't had this sort of problem and I have been collecting DVDs since 1998, and have over 400 in my collection.

Yeah weird, something in the environment where you are storing them? I have never had that problem.

I have over 2700 dvds without any such problem.

That is very strange because I have many with rim cracks. Granted, none of them go beyond the rim, so they havent affected any of my discs, but I have purchased discs that have come right out of the shrink wrap with rim cracks. I just figure its just the way it is...

I've seen DVDR's get split apart by the hub pushing into them (as you say "if the disc isn't completely down, the catch will rest between the disc layers" -- i.e. when the hub's nubs fail to get out beyond the disc and trap it properly, the hub's nubs can indeed push the disc's layers apart). But I haven't seen that with DVDs.

Of my collection, I've only had this happen once. And that was in the BATTLESTAR GALACTICA TV set. The inner rings that they were stored on were so tight, it ended up breaking the inner rim of at least one of the DVDs. I had to take them out of the cases and store them in other DVD cases.

Lou, you may have something there. Mike and the OP are both in Chicago!

Glenn

This happened to my Office Space DVD. Thankfully, I haven't noticed it on any others... Yet.

Everythings in my basement, but in the past all this did was cause my snappers and the occasional insert to warp/ripple from the increased humidity.

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There's not much more to say about this, except I'm ticked about the fragile nature of interior DVD rims.

Two thin layers of unconnected plastic just isn't tough enough to deal with tight hubs and prying catches.

My CDs may outlive me, but my DVDs...not likely.

I've suspected for a while that what many people are calling disc rot is in fact rim cracking that upsets the balance of the DVD. The reason it plagues certain discs could be connected to the particular hub. For instance, From the Earth to the Moon, a frequent "rot" candidate, had notoriously tight hubs that easily could cause damage if care wasn't taken in removing and replacing the discs.

I didn't even know that many were available...wow makes my 600 look piddly-assed..

Oh and no problems here either!!

Mail them back to the studio. I bet they replace them (they damn well should).

Sounds good in theory, but I've had the other experience.

Here's a thread where I tried (unsuccessfully) to get Paramount to replace a single defective disc from a Star Trek TV boxset:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=208423

In today's business world, customer service is largely extinct.

The flipper disc in my Dracula Legacy Collection had a crack at the inner rim when I got it so I sent it back. The replacement was fine. My collection consists of about 400 items (approx 500 discs w/ special editions and TV sets) and this is the only one I've had a problem with. I do believe that this is a genuine problem, however, and I honestly think that people with really large collections that haven't had this happen at least once have just been lucky. That said, I haven't had a problem with a disc after purchase.

Something that worries me more is the fact that so many newer DVDs seem to be improperly glued at the inner rim. I can just imagine several years from now when the delamination spreads to the playback area. Has anyone else noticed this? It seems like a lot of more recent Warners have air bubbles in the clear part of the disc near the inner ring, my copy of "Libeled Lady", for example.

1400+ DVDs only have that problem with:

Devil's Advocate (original version, unfrotunately)
Ocean's Eleven
Replacement Killer

I'll have to ditto that, I have about five discs with "rim cracks" but it hasn't affected the performance at all. I'm just a bit more careful with them and some have had these cracks for years (Avia - Blade Runner).

Frank,

Try these phone numbers:

1-323-956-8070

1-323-956-8830

1-323-956-8509


I've found Paramount to have the most disc quality problems in terms of scratches, scuffs, and other surface irregularities. They seemed to be fairly trouble-free until they moved production to Mexico. In my experience at least.

However, they are quick to take care of my problems. I called one of the numbers above more than once and received the same treatment every time. The lady will give you the address to which your disc(s) must be sent. I sent them in and had flawless replacements within 3-5 weeks from the time I shipped them away. You won't find many studios willing to send out replacements without receiving your DVD first so I would plan on mailing it in. Fox did it for a defective Star Wars DVD but that problem was very widespread and gaining a lot of Internet attention.

I just wish Paramount would do something about their quality control. The Star Trek sets have been ridiculous. I eventually had to assemble a good S1 of TOS at Best Buy. Even then, disc 7 still had to be replaced by Paramount as not one set in stock at the store had a #7 that didn't look like I had kicked it around the driveway a few times.

You can do that, but it's kind of like driving your car on the 'donut' tire.

It can be done, but it's bound to be a problem at some point.

Once I see a crack, I need to replace the disc.

If the crack isn't too visible, then I'll sell it off.

When it's clearly ruined, the disc gets tossed.

Dave,

Thanks for the Paramount numbers.

I was using the 800 number and got nowhere.

BTW, what was wrong with the Star Wars DVD?