hi,my first technical post here

I have been plagued by cracked discs for a while now. I buy mostly from forums and various used game stores. I never know when buying till its to late and i get home under my house lighting and always the seller is unaware.
And sometimes cracks happen in your home collection. Constant releasing from the case and insertion in the machine will take its toll. You can have some with cracks and not even know it!
But all the discs i have with cracks have been from purchases.

The cracks are on the spindle and looking directly at the spindle you won't see a thing. The light has to be low like a tv tubes and move the disc at an angle and then you can see the hairline crack or cracks. Sometimes the crack is huge going deep into the game and very obvious.

What can i do? Throw it away,get a refund or keep the case and get a disc only to replace it. But sometimes the game over time has become rare or special and you cant just replace.

After many months of trying to figure a way to be keep these trashed games and still be able to play them without making the crack bigger i have discovered some things.

A game disc going back to saturn up to xbox,even gamecube all seem to be made the same way. Different from cdr and dvdr. 3 layers sandwiched together with glue or the glue can be considered a 4th layer. I made a rough picture of how the spindle area looks cross section:





Notice that there is room between the layers around the spindle,so thin,not thin enough to put a piece of paper but you can see them and by holding a disc with 2 fingers around this area you can move them till they touch. This is where cracks form. It is the weakest part of the disc. I call it a hollow zone.

Where dirt has collected in a hollow zone:

i thought the hollow zone was from glue seperation from use but new discs have this as well.

The cracks you will get on disc will be on one of these 2 layers. Rare is it that both layers are cracked and that i think is caused by stepping or force done to it. A average crack from use will usually be on the bottom area thats bent more by a console or removing from a case.

The longer you play a game with a crack like this the bigger the crack gets and forms other cracks.

I tried to duplicate these cracks on cdr and dvdr,many brands and the spindle is solid. No hollow zone. A cdr or dvdr will outlast a commercial cd or dvd.
Why do commercial media have this hollow zone? Im not sure and nothing is created by mistake or without reason. Could be on purpose.

I tried many ways of trying to fix a crack. A hot neddle at the end to stop its growth,tape,etc but the best is crazy glue. Crazy glue could of saved humpty dumpty.

But to glue properly you need to get glue in the crack and in the hollow zone:


I used a round surface like a golf ball to slightly open the crack ever so carefully. To much force with the fingers and you can make it grow bigger or snap the disc in half.
Im also working on a cone of sorts to put the disc on so teh crack can be worked on. Once glue is in teh crack add a tiny bit to the hollow zone under the crack. That should do it. use as small amount of glue as possible,wipe up any excess. The glue will be as strong as the plastic itself. This one looks messy but the game is playable. If i had a thinner applicator i can do a better job,make it almost unnoticeable but the crazy glue spout is big.

before:


after:


a pic of a single crack 2 mm almost flawless repair:


Thats it,i can play it without fear.

There have been some discs with really bizzare cracks and damage ive come across. One where the glue is almost gone between the 2 layers making a crunchy noise when you touch it but the game stil works fine. Sometimes water gets in the hollow zone and causes mineral deposits or rust.
Of all the games i have only a few ps1 discs are cracked and saturn games having slightly more cracked games.
But the king of cracked games is the xbox 1. Also noticed unusual wear patterns and scuffs around the spindle area of xbox 1 games. I think the disc spins to fast or something or bad dvd drive cause friction and cracks on the games or cheap discs
Ps2 games gets cracks but very few ive come across.

I have no ps3,wii or 360 to compare discs of.






If anyone can add more into this or correct any of what i typed or have an idea how to save a cracked game please post it here.