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Bought a dozen CD's from Tower the other day. It took me what seems to be eons to scrape off those sealing tapes on top edge of the CD cases. They NEVER come off in one try and usually takes 4-5 rounds, after which some of it still sticks to the case. Arrrgg... What's the purpose of this sadistic tape, especially since new CD's are wrapped in clear plastic anyway? Just venting.
Follow Ups:
It's cheap and easy to replace CD cases that come with sticky adhesive. I bought a few dozen jewel cases from a supplier whose name I can't remember. I salvage the inserts from the sticky case and put them in a fresh case together with the CD.
Hello...After unwrapping the shrink-wrap, I usually unclip the bottom tab of the jewel case lid (carefully!), and lift the lid up, which turns the sticker into a kind of top-hinge (at this point the lid hinge tabs are both off the rest of the case). After opening it up around 180 degrees, I use the lid to pull the sticker off the back of the bottom of the jewel case, and then pull with my fingers to remove the sticker from the lid.
After a try or two to learn it, it works right nearly every time... Every once in a while, there's a sticker that just wants to shred itself. But with this method, you can already be listening to the CD while picking of the remnants...
At least the tape is just aesthetic. Anyone have real problems, i.e., getting the cd off that center plastic ring? Cracked a cd 1x, and if I hadn't given up swearing..... Ideas other than a hammer appreciated.
I may be dead shortly after posting this, but the rest of you need to know this. What happens to me afterwards is of no consequence.Most of the larger industrial manufacturers employ EE's, ME's, CE's etc. in the darkest, most secret part of their systems: FAILURE MODE ENGINEERING.
For every $5 spent on R&D, another $4 is spent on insuring that the item will fail or become unusable within the designated time span for that item. For instance; the auto industry spent nearly $25,000,000 to develope mure durable break pads. They spent nearly $20,000,000 to develope rotors that wear out faster from these more durable pads. Net income for more frequent replacement: $50,000,000 / yr.
The seal tape used on CDs was FME'd by 3M. They needed an adhesive product that would cause damage to the contents, in nearly 35% of the packaging it was used on. It took them over 3 yrs to fully develop and implement a tough, nearly untearable plastic tape and the polyoxysalyic adhesive that is resistant to most common (read will not damage the contents of the package) cleaners and solvants. This adhesive is now used in nearly 90% of the products w/ plastic or glass materials, from which the adhesive is nearly impossible to remove w/o damaging the product itself. Net profits from this work amount to nearly $250,000,000 / yr. in replacement sales from product ruined by the end user.
Just thot you'd like to know.
eX
After he got out of the loony bin. America is overpackaged in general, largely because of all the loonies abroad in the land, but those things are the worst. I cracked the case of my last purchase trying to get the damned thing off!
So the checkout chicks know what variety they are!
"(nt)" means "no text", and a vote for "Gore" means a vote for "Buchanan".
- This signature is monophonic. -
That torques me, sitting there with tape all over the place and on my hands with Amazon.com orders. The tape is to slow shoplifters and there are none there. Couldn't manufacturers make a special internet version of their packaging that is easy to open?
CD's are still prone to theft from the time it's unpacked at the warehouse to when it's packed for shipping to a customer. Those underpaid handlers could probably use extra money or "gifts" any way they can get it.
I just open the cases in spite of the tape, which generally splits in half. Then you can get the CD out and worry about removing the tape at your leisure. One interesting phenomenon is that I often find pieces of the stickers in random places (the ceilingof the car, for instance) several months later. I'm resisting the temptation to say that this is yet another argument in favor of vinyl.
...that might change if I ever met the guy responsible for those protective tapes. Even worse, the guy who came up with the execrable jewel box itself. When it comes to modern scourges, these things are right up there with the infuriating robot-messages that greet anyone who phones a company of any kind.
Rich H.
the wrapping and such will come off very easily.Sadistically,
Jeff
.
Jon:Naptha, available at paint stores, hardware stores or Home Depot, will safely remove the adhesive residue without frosting or dissolving the plastic. Sometimes you will find it labled as "VM&P" Naptha, which stands for Varnish Maker's and Painter's Naptha -- because it is often used as a thinner or solvent for same.
Do not use denatured alcohol or, even worse, acetone. Denatured alcohol will make the jewel case look dull or frosty after it evaporates, and acetone will aggressively attack the plastic and begin to 'melt' it.
Use the Naptha in a well-ventilated area.
Best regards,
eclectic iconoclast
... I bought a few discs, and was thinking the same thing! I must have mouthed off at least a few expletives as I took a pretty long time to first open the CD's, and then take that damn sealing tape off, which as you said, hardly ever comes off in one fell swoop. Recording companies, please take note. You've got to come up with a product that is easier to open!
Getting the tape to come off clean in one piece is like finding tha t diamond ring in a bag of Cracker Jacks. We've heard it's supposd to hapen, but have our doubts.
If you take the one fairly big piece which comes off clean and stick it back on top of the remaining pieces of adhesive on the CD and pull it off again and repeat that a few times most of the adhesive on the CD will stick to the adhesive on the bottom of the strip you're holding in your hand and eventually it's completely clean. It sure beats trying to scrape it off
no message
I like the paper cases better.
Crude but effective. I've never broken a case and you can pull the remaining tape as you listen from your easy chair. Takes about 10 seconds.
I still have a bunch of ceedees that I have not opened yet. As if this is not enough, I tend to put all the goey pieces in my pocket to discard it later. I have to then literally get the pockets in my jeans inside-out to remove all remnants.. AAArrrrrggghhhhh....REALLY frustrating...Glad to note that I am not the only one to go around swearing every time I buy a bunch of ceedees.
Jay
Both have a similar goal: TO PREVENT A CRIME! See, you want to buy a CD. THerefore you are a potential criminal. Simple, eh?
record shop on earth will solve your problem, once you get the hang of it. i can open a "top-taped" variety jewel case in about 20 seconds, including removal of the wretched tape. -cfb
Thanks for the tip. Isn't is pathetic we have to have a special device to open packaging? The marvels of the corporate mentality.Good listening
gjg
If I remember correctly there were such devices for opening shrink wrapped LPs as well. The tape on cds may be annoying but at least it doesn't warp them like the shrink wrap on LPs did.
Welcome to 2002. This year is a numerical palindrome. Normally numerical palindromes occur once every 110 years. The next one will be 2112. Many people never survive long enough to celebrate one. However, this is our second. The last was 1991.
what are they thinking,,,, I've heard of childproof caps, but this is ridiculous!!Jack
.
The top spine tapes (that's the trade term) annoy me. But they are a necessary evil if you want to sell CDs in the mass market.The tapes do three things. They make it less easy to slip a CD out of a case. People steal CDs and DVDs and leave the packaging in the rack or bin. Big retailers insist on various forms of anti-pilferage, and will shy away from a DVD box with fancy packaging that is easy to slip the DVD out of. So everything gets taped up.
Second, they act as a form of anti-piracy ID. Big labels invest in custom strips and closures to make it harder to clone. The "dogbone holograph" is the SOTA anti-clone trick.
Thirdly, the UPC code allows store staff to do an inventory without having to page through the rack.
In addition to an EZ•CD slitter, the best thing to use is an electric hair (blow) drier. Just heat the tape GENTLY and the adhesive comes off with the tape.
Ciao,
JOHN
Jon,This is going to sound goofy---but I use TAPE to remove the residual goop left on the case.
Use either the tape you just removed or a piece of clear shipping tape and gently using the adhesive side tap the goop on the case, in an UP-&-DOWN fashion. You'd be surprised how the idiotic goop will come off cleanly.
Key is NOT to try rubbing the goop off. Leave the blobs as is---then tap with the tape.
The method that works best for me is for one to undo the bottom hinge and move the booklet storage half (non spindle half) toward the top (where the tape is). This should loosen the tape to allow for easy removal.
Won't get the tape off but does a good job on the stickiness left behind. Get it at Wally World in the cleaning dept.
The store that I buy some used cd's feels an obligation to put a BIG sticker on their used cd's. These stickers use the same adhesive as the tape. (I think it is the same adhesive used to fasten the heat shield tiles on the space shuttle) After ruining many cases, my wife brought me this stuff. Works great.
I agree with all of youz that the tape sealing the jewel cases is a royal pain in the ass, but I've found that after removing the tape if there is any residue remaining on the case, all you need to do is press the sticy backing of the removed tape several times onto the residue and it will adhere easily to itself. Works every time.....even on "most" aftermarket used cd stickers. Try it.
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... we're still working on getting
the threading right on the yo-yos
so they can be used as record clamps.Then we have to source a lighter
weight string so the yo-yo tuning
devices will improve on "air" as
well as their current best trick:
extending the "soundstage" when
unwound.
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add a small sharp blade inside the yoyo to use it as a CD opener. Just don't forget to remove the blade when you use it as a yoyo (ouch!).Actually, the hammer suggestion isn't bad, and proves that CD isn't perfect sound forever.
This place is the greatest
I agree. Can't stand that stuff.
2) Pull cover up, exposing underbelly of sticker.3) Gently work one side, front or back, of sticker off.
4) Use freed portion of sticker to grasp and remove sticker.
5) Replace CD cover.
6) Curse inventor when you cannot remove sticker from fingers.
Good listening,
Barton
I was amazed the first time someone showed me this. Get it in one piece almost every time.
I usually just stack up the jewel cases so that the security tape is facing me, then quickly cut along the length of each tape using the sharpest knife in my kitchen. Takes about about 1-2 seconds per cd.You can then open the cases and play your cds . . and remove the remaining tape at your leisure. The bits of tape come off extremely easily from an open jewel case.
landed a famous ballplayer in the hospital if I remember correctly :)
...use an LP record instead of bothering with the CD at all!; ^ )
-LP
As in digital data.
I'll still give the inventor a swift kick in the jimmy when I meet him on the street.
I don't like to fiddle around with all that sticky tape so I use a hammer to break the boxes and buy replacements every time I buy a new CD.......
> > I use a hammer to break the boxesSomehow, I have no trouble
believing you would do this.
æ
I was kidding about the hammer, I normally measure where to cut with a micrometer, mark it with chalk and cut the jewel boxes open with a chain saw......Just hate those things and have six CDs sitting here I haven't even opened since Christmas!
LOL hahahahah you crack me up Bob.
I needed a good laugh at the end of this shit day I had.Thanks
MiKe
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