Question storage dvd drive

[gamerfan]

I have Asus internal Sata DVD drives stored away and I know that these drives have mechanical parts, lubrication, motor, lens

How many times a year is it necessary to energize these drives to maintain good health of the mechanical parts, lubrication, lens?

 

[TheELF]

You don't need to do it ever, if the silicon grease on the motor degrades you have to clean it and re apply it, using it or not is not going to make much if any difference.
Same goes for the motor, in the worst case it will need some fresh oil.

 

[mindless1]

I am starting to wonder if you are the same person who has posted OCD topics in the past (under a different username) related to trying to make things last forever in storage, where ultimately the advice was to store everything in a vault at the bottom of the ocean, packed with packets of silica jell.

Why would any "exercise" be needed to maintain the lens? That makes no sense. As TheELF mentioned, not using the motor is not going to make much difference in the lubrication of the motor, nor the slide rails that the mechanism rides on, but time will eventually make it beneficial to relube them with the appropriate lube.

The slide rails would get a silicone lube because they are plastic riding on metal rails, while the motor(s) would use a very light petroleum based oil since it is almost certain to have sintered bronze bushings aka bearings that absorb and wick the oil as needed. However the rear bushing on the motors is practically always sealed, not a serviceable part unless you are very adept at microsurgery to bend tiny metal tabs used to hold them together and then successfully get the tabs to hold the motor back together. Essentially, you would need extremely high precision tools to do it with a reasonable chance of success, and you don't strike me as someone who would have those tools or else you wouldn't be asking the question in the first place.

Let's be practical, and specific. What need do you have to keep an optical drive working long into the future? "Asus internal DVD drive" implies that it is a modular computer component, so just rip all the DVDS to another storage format now, instead of hoping to wait years and then use DVDs. DVDs made sense only back when the cost per GB of storage was higher than it is today, or distribution for movies, which also have better distribution methods today, especially with more efficient video codecs to reduce the size:quality ratio.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I am starting to wonder if you are the same person who has posted OCD topics in the past (under a different username) related to trying to make things last forever in storage, where ultimately the advice was to store everything in a vault at the bottom of the ocean, packed with packets of silica jell.

Why would any "exercise" be needed to maintain the lens? That makes no sense. As TheELF mentioned, not using the motor is not going to make much difference in the lubrication of the motor, nor the slide rails that the mechanism rides on, but time will eventually make it beneficial to relube them with the appropriate lube.

The slide rails would get a silicone lube because they are plastic riding on metal rails, while the motor(s) would use a very light petroleum based oil since it is almost certain to have sintered bronze bushings aka bearings that absorb and wick the oil as needed. However the rear bushing on the motors is practically always sealed, not a serviceable part unless you are very adept at microsurgery to bend tiny metal tabs used to hold them together and then successfully get the tabs to hold the motor back together. Essentially, you would need extremely high precision tools to do it with a reasonable chance of success, and you don't strike me as someone who would have those tools or else you wouldn't be asking the question in the first place.

Let's be practical, and specific. What need do you have to keep an optical drive working long into the future? "Asus internal DVD drive" implies that it is a modular computer component, so just rip all the DVDS to another storage format now, instead of hoping to wait years and then use DVDs. DVDs made sense only back when the cost per GB of storage was higher than it is today, or distribution for movies, which also have better distribution methods today, especially with more efficient video codecs to reduce the size:quality ratio.

1) Buy cheap stuff now.
2) Stick it in a dry basement.
3) Sell it as "vintage" in 40 years for an insane markup.

On eBay, old computers that were freebie garage sale stuff when I was a kid are $500 a system now. $1000 if they're cleaned/restored.

As far as why you'd think that mechanical things need "exercise," it's common advice for cars. Unless you drain the fluids and prep them for long term storage, it's generally a good idea to turn over the engines and drive them around a bit every few weeks so fresh oil gets to where it's needed.

 

[mindless1]

^ Cars are a bit different though, subject to acidic oil/coolant corrosion, seals drying up, sticking motors due to more harsh environmental conditions, old gas, rust, operational temperature cycling, etc.

Storing a DVD drive, I'd just blow the dust out, seal it in an air-tight bag with some desiccant, in a cool, dry place. I probably have some NIB DVD drives somewhere... they used to be nearly free after rebate so I had surplus, but stopped putting them in new builds, years ago.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

^ Cars are a bit different though, subject to acidic oil/coolant corrosion, seals drying up, sticking motors due to more harsh environmental conditions, old gas, rust, operational temperature cycling, etc.

Storing a DVD drive, I'd just blow the dust out, seal it in an air-tight bag with some desiccant, in a cool, dry place. I probably have some NIB DVD drives somewhere... they used to be nearly free after rebate so I had surplus, but stopped putting them in new builds, years ago.

Oh absolutely, it's apples and oranges. I'm just saying, people get an idea of how stuff works and go with it.