My friend got a bit carried away on eBay a few weeks ago. After being out-bid a few times he ended up with this complete ass of a PAL DC - no games, 2 controllers and a boxed keyboard (but no mouse, so it's pretty useless). But it gets A LOT worse! Sometimes it won't spin discs. I can't seem to find the cause of this problem - possibly the little switch thingy that's pushed when the door's closed is borked? And on closer inspection, it seems like it's been confronted by some kids - there were bits of manky old food (possibly Smarties) and junk inside, and worst of all - there's what appears to be crayon on the lens! He didn't have any proper games to try out, and a lot of mine are pretty badly scratched, but when it decided to start spinning (which usually only happened when we took the cover off and held the switch down by hand) we got Virtua Tennis and some audio CDs to play OK. The worse off GDs I have just wouldn't read at all. So, anyone know what's good for cleaning shit like this off a lens? And any ideas as to why it's not always spinning discs? It would be nice to get it working, as besides the brokenness of it, it seems like a pretty good unit - it's a damn sight quieter than my one, at least.
I picked one up for a mate once, and upon inspection when I got home, it had what could only be described as dried Chicken Cup a Soup inside the disk bay. Took a lot of effort getting it clean and useable...
You hope it was chicken cup a soup!! My friend gave me his Amiga 1200 for nothing. Because his cat had thrown up on it and he couldn't be bothered to clean it. Did I mention he hadn't had a cat in about 2 years? Was NOT nice.
Some asshole vomited on my bike a few weeks ago :angry Is this relevant? No. But it was annoying. :smt071
when I used to have Eunos Roadster - riced up fair bit if I add :-D - some asshole throw in cigarette butt while it was parked top down. luckily Recaro Rev seats were covered with the seat covers as the car was undergoing bit of work... it only scorched little bit of the cover and not the seat itself but could'd been worse... sometimes I miss that car - I spend so much time and effort to modify... I was about to drop quad fuel bodies onto bored out 1.7L NA16 complete with Motec and 6 speed MT but then I got married and had to sell her... wish I kept the all custom carbon fibre interior bits, roll cage, etc... :smt022
Yes, delightful stories, but vomit and carbon fibre ain't gonna fix my friend's crappy DC! Seriously, anyone know what stuff is suitable for cleaning lenses?
Sorry, cotton bud and some ethanol. Be very sparing with the ethanol, and very gentle, you can scratch the lens very very easily!
Err, have you tried lens cleaner? You can get industrial lens cleaner, which is very similar to Boots glasses cleaner, actually. And umm, you never seen those lens cleaner CDs? clicky Incidentally, if you ask a photographer, they'll say use a lint free cloth to clean lenses. Cotton buds aren't lint free.
I know about the lens cleaning CDs, but I doubt those crappy fibre brushes are gonna move crayon. And dj898 - I take it you mean isopropyl alcohol? I'll try that.
Isopropyl alcohol/rubbing alcohol/head cleaner/switch cleaner/whatever you feel like calling it (or charging for it to people who don't know the difference), is what you'd be after.
I'll have to write down that one if I want to remember it! Is that easily available in chemists, or do I have to go elsewhere? And does anyone have any ideas about the other problem I mentioned with the Dreamcast?
isopropyl alcohol = isopropanol = 2-propanol Although admittedly it does come in various strengths, most are 70% or so AFAIK. Dilute with water as necessary. You can get "cd lense cleaner" from most cd stores for a few quid a bottle (50mls or so), or you can go to RS electronics and get a pint for about the same price ;-) http://www.rselectronics.com/ I've used isopropyl alcohol to clean many a lense. Be careful where you keep it, it is flamable and you don't want anyone to drink it.
I'm not sure what the technical term is, but just get the general-purpose rubbing alcohol you can find at any drugstore. Unless, of course, in that odd United Kingdom way, 'the chemist's' IS the drugstore, and you don't have 'rubbing alcohol'... in that case, listen to these other guys, I haven't a clue how things work on those mad islands.
