CED VideoDisc and Player Discussion

[Rixrex]

I got out an old CED of Halloween III to watch last night, and the disc was a bit skippy. I let it run through twice while watching other stuff on TV, and of course it plays fine now, because as most of us know the stylus cleared the debris.

My 1st question is regarding the stylus. Will this "cleaning" action reduce the life of the stylus significantly or only a little or what? Also, I'm wondering if the bigger SGT stylus is better suited for this action than the smaller SJT/SKT stylus, or is there no difference? (I realize the stylus itself isn't different, but perhaps the case or the whole design or each player's built in stylus cleaner makes a difference)

Lastly, has anyone had experience with one of those vacuum operated disc cleaners, or that funky old triangular shaped record cleaner they use to sell on TV in the 70s that you set the disc in vertically and some fine brushes clean the disc while it spins? Wondering if either might be suitable for CEDs and still not affect the silicon coating.

[deantjeep]

Hi there! Considering the stylus is designed to do the cleaning, I would suspect that it wouldn't produce any significant wear and tear on it. The damage would be caused by something well stuck to the disc or a serious crack on the disc. I don't think there would be any difference between the larger and smaller stylus assemblies. I do believe that the newer players, especially the SJT or SKT 400 players are very proficient in cleaning a disc.

As for the vacuum cleaning machines, I have no idea as to how well one of these would perform. I kinda remember those didn't really work very well even on records. Made by Ktel or Ronco at the time.

[Beetlescott]

X2! Dean is spot on! When I started back with this forum, I was convinced that the SGT250, (with the larger cartridge) was second to none! When I got my SJT400, I was shocked at how much better it cleared the disc of debris. I popped in a disc in to my Zenith player (also with the bigger cartridge) and when the disc started on both sides, it skipped like just continuous bump bump bump. I took it out of my Zenth, and put it in the SGT250, it did exactly the same thing. I took the disc out, removed it from the caddy, it looked perfect. I put it in the SJT400, and it was PERFECT!!! absolutly perfect!! Not a single skip or jump. Now, I play all my movies in my Zenith once or twice before viewing it. I will say this. In my opinion, the SGT250 is superior in picture and sound, but the SJT400, the stylus does do a lot better on the smoother playing. I'm STILL trying to figure out what they dumped the stylus compartment!!!!
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