Company
Address: Memtek Products, P.O. Box 901021, Fort Worth, Tex., 76101.
More than two years ago, Editor Gene Pitts sent me a crudely packaged CD repair kit which, he said, had been developed by Harald Schmid of West Germany. I was to try it out on some damaged CDs that would no longer play through, even on my best reference CD player. There was no shortage of such discs in my collection, so I decided to give the repair kit a try. I must admit, however, that when I first read the English-language instructions (rather poorly translated from the German), my skepticism increased. Included in the kit were four grades Of sandpaper! They were labeled X (for the coarsest grade), 1, 2, and 3. For minor scratches, I was to start with the number 2 sandpaper, first moistening the scratched area of the CD with a few drops of water. I was then to proceed to sandpaper number 3, with sanding motion applied at a different angle from the back-and-forth motion used with the coarser sandpaper. This was to be followed by an application of a special polishing fluid, supplied in a small packet similar to those towelette packages we are sometimes given on airplanes. The polishing was to be done using a special yellow cloth, with the cloth moved in a straight line, back and forth, until all evidence of the preceding sanding steps was gone. After polishing, the CD was to be washed with warm water and dried by dabbing it with a lint-free paper towel or tissue.
I wanted to make the test as tough as possible, so instead of trying to repair a minor scratch, I deliberately put a major scratch into the surface of a CD that I hadn't cared too much for in the first place and was ready to sacrifice to the cause of scientific research.
For a scratch this serious, the instructions told me to start with sandpaper X, followed by sandpapers 1 through 3 in that order. Before I even began the repair, I wanted to make sure that this damaged CD would not play on any of the machines I had on hand. It didn't! Then, fully convinced that this was another "magic kit" that would fall far short of expectations, I grudgingly but carefully followed the instructions.
To my utter amazement, when I was finished, not only was there no evidence of the deep scratch on the surface of the disc, but it played through the section that had been scratched even on the most inexpensive portable CD player that I had on hand (a player--I might add--that mistracked and muted when asked to play through even the most minor, almost invisible surface scratches). My skepticism turned to complete enthusiasm as I proceeded to repair several other damaged discs.
Since that test nearly two years ago, I have been inquiring of Editor Pitts as to whether the repair kit was available in the U.S. All that time, Mr. Schmid kept seeking proper distribution of the product and now, happily, Memorex is the winner. All of us who own treasured CDs that have become useless because of accidental scratches are winners as well. Memorex has retained all of the elements that were in the original kit, now nicely packaged in a CD "jewel box," with enough material to repair a dozen CDs. As an added attraction, they've also included packets of cleaning solution for those discs that merely have accumulated finger prints, oil stains, or other dirt on their surfaces.
The only other change from the original kit that I noticed was the fact that the English instructions were now easier to understand! Oh yes, the suggested retail price of the Memorex kit is $14.95.
That's a lot cheaper than having to replace 12 damaged discs with new ones.
-Leonard Feldman
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(Source: Audio magazine, Nov. 1990)
Also see:
Meridian MCD compact disc player (Jun. 1985)
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