USB Powered CD cleaner

After bugging my sister for some time, we came up with this crazy idea : The USB Powered CD Cleaner

Quite what you need to complete the project:
- a fan out of a broken power supply
- a spare USB cable
- 2 CD cases, the plastic ones
- something to stick it all together : i used tape and glue
- one or more diskettes
- tools to cut through such as a pair of scissors, knives or anything you've got. I used a piece of iron heated in flames to cut the plastic casing
- a ruler and a marker to make some measurements
- a CD to test the functionality of the project as you advance
- a working computer or any device witch has USB support
- free time and some luck

So .. that's that. Let's move on to the next step as i cant tell you are eager for some trimming.

Step 1 Get the CD casing

Now that you have in front of you one of the CD cases it's time for some chopping. Pick one of them and disassemble it. When you start cutting/ melting the plastic note that all you need at the moment is the middle of the case (that circular thing where you attach the CD)

Cut that out and stick spare plastic on the bottom of it to grow its height. Repeat the cutting procedure (in my case it was melting)

* note that to bind these plastic pieces together i used the double adhesive tape, but you can use whatever method you wish

Comments

[adamazing]

An ingenious hack, but I really wouldn't recommend this. The way to clean a CD/DVD is from inside to out, not around in circles, to avoid scratches:

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Clean-a-CD/?ALLSTEPS
http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub121/sec6.html
http://www.wikihow.com/Fix-a-Scratched-CD

Because the track is a spiral from the centre, it's susceptible to scratches that trace a circular path around the centre. So, unlike a vinyl record, you should wipe from inside to out. If a bit of accumulated glue,grit or grease is picked up on that cloth it would do a number on the CD and might make matters a whole lot worse..

[z4r3k]

now that you mention it i might look forward for a next project. thanks

[reverser514]

maybe you could use a small servo that can run off of the usb's 5volt supply (were getting into flip flop and 555 circutry here but i think we can handle it :)) that moves the cleaning pad in an "Line" (it would really be a large arc) while the disc is spinning, effectively, (quote un quote) cleaning the disc from the inside out. While i still think this is a great idea, maybe if you were to use the servo idea that you would probablly be better off putting it into a project box cause youll need more room. Just an idea! :)

[LiesCat]

good idea!

[E_MAN]

Why don't you just mount the soft material in your CD drive on your computer. Then it would clean while it reads CD's. :D