Garage Guide
Regarding wood and electric forces?
Currently, I store most of my recorded CDs, DVDs, and other optical discs inside of a large wardrobe (instead of using it to keep clothes) which is located on the second floor of the house, in an area above the garage. I had a couple of concerns regarding this method of storage. I have seen firsthand that notebook paper and printer paper will become brittle and yellowed over the course of several years and can also discolour objects around them. I was wondering if WOOD would also emit/release acid over time and discolour objects kept inside of something such as a wardrobe? It seems unlikely considering how much of what is around is actually made of wood, and the fact that wardrobes are DESIGNED to hold clothing, which are most susceptible to discolouring caused by paper acid. I wanted to make sure that storing discs inside of an enclosed, wooden area was safe, although if I think about it, most entertainment centers are made of wood and come built with storage sectors for DVDs and the like. The other thing that I noticed recently was that most garages have an electronic device that hangs from the ceiling (it opens and closes the door(s)). Because this device is located below the ceiling of the garage, it means that it's also located below where my discs are stored. I once heard someone say that a strong electric force could "damage" the data layer of recorded discs, but I am unsure of the validity of the claim. So I guess what I'm asking is, are electronic forces harmless to optical discs as magnetic fields are, or is there truth to the claim and might the device in the garage be an issue due to where it's positioned? Thanks in advance if you can address this concern!
Public Comments
- Whether the electronic forces can hurt you recordings is determined by the type of recording. If it is burned into the disc (CD's) then no. If you have an optical drive that merely keeps electrical forces in line on the drive, then yes. Same thing with floppy disks. BTW, wood does not leak the acids you were talking about, the acids are added to wood pulp when turing it into paper. it breaks the wood pulp down so it can be sheeted.
- The main enemy of DVDs and CDs are temperature extremes (so don't leave them in your car where they can get really hot and really cold). A CD is made in layers (usually a metal layer between some hydrocarbon (plastic) material), which have different coefficients of thermal expansion, so the different layers expand and contract at different rates, and will eventually peel apart if the optical disks are allowed to continually heat and cool over and over again. Unheated rooms without climate control are bad for most optical disks -- depending on how much the outside temperature changes over the seasons. What, you didn't know that Sexy Homer knew jack about optical disks? Yea, it is easy to be so distracted by all of this hotness that you probably didn't realize that Sexy Homer knew jack also...
