| ★★★★★ | The JFJ Easy Pro does a fantastic job of bringing your discs back to new condition. | | Verified Purchase | The JFJ Easy Pro does a fantastic job of bringing your discs back to new condition.
I’ve now resurfaced about 50 discs (CD, DVD, Blu-ray) and after some time with it I can now resurface a disc to a mirror-like condition without swirl marks. XBOX 360, no problem. Note: you can only polish, not sand a Blu-ray disc.
Here is a huge tip; get a small spray bottle and fill it with water. Hit the white and blue pads with a few sprays before adding the creams. This will cut down on the amount of white and blue cream you use and keeping those pads moist is the key to a mirror like finish.
Don't fear the sanding discs, they are the only way to remove deep to medium scratches
Easily go from a trash disc to NM (near mint) | | | | ★★★★★ | No phone trees, no extra fees, no messing around. | | Verified Purchase | I wish the tech support option included a 6-star option.
So the thing worked great for the first couple of hundred desks that I resurfaced. It's not a foolproof system and you may not get the results you would get from $1,000 machine but considering the difference between this and those, this is certainly the better value. After those first couple of hundred discs, the machine started running oddly so I inspected it and found that the black plate which sits against the back of the disc to be resurfaced had warped a slight bit. I still can't figure out how it happened but when I got a hold of jfj, they immediately took my information and sent me an entirely new fixture. They offered to send me a new machine but I figured it would be and waste since my machine worked fine except for that plate. So they sent me the fixture and the lid which took about two minutes to replace, now the thing works brilliantly again. I'm very impressed with the professionalism of the staff at JF J I'm quite pleased with the product they provided. | | | | ★★★★★ | If you handle a lot of used discs, you will love this machine! | | Verified Purchase | At the time of this review, I have been using my JFJ Easy Pro for about 6 months, so I'm going to write a review from the point of view of a novice users who bought this product with no prior experience of using a disc repair system. However, a used record store which I frequent owns a more expensive JFJ machine and allowed me to pick their brains for some valuable operating tips.
I should also mention that I have at this time successfully repaired several hundred discs. I have not used ANY of the sandpaper pads, the #1 Blue polishing solution, or anything else supplied with this machine other than the #2 White solution and the foam buffing pads. That's because this combo will repair 99% of discs that are worth repairing. I frequent garage sales, thrift stores, and flea markets, looking primarily for music CDs to expand my collection. I dont't usually waste my time or money on discs that are so bad they would need to be sanded, though I can imagine if you were in IT for example and had a really destroyed data disc you needed to recover, it might warrant use of some other repair strategy, for me the White Solution + foam pads are all I ever need.
Choosing discs to repair: The data layer on an optical disc is near the "top" of the disc - that is, the label side, just beneath the label. That's how this machine works - there's a thick layer of polycarb on the non-label side which can be polished to remove scratches on it's surface without affecting the data on the disc. So most discs which don't have damage to the data layer can be fixed. Simply hold the disc up to a strong light. If you can see daylight through any of the shiny areas of the disc then the data is damaged and you will not be able to fix the disc 100% no matter how much polishing or sanding you do. As an aside, optical discs are read from the hub first and out towards the edge, so the first track on your CD, for example, will be located nearest to the center of the disc and so forth. This gives you some idea where to look for that scratch which is causing your disc to skip or your DVD to lock up.
This machine is simple to operate. There's no real need to "practice" as some reviewers maintain - unless you plan to use the more radical sanding options. Here's tip #1 from my record store friends: Get a spritzer bottle of water and moisten the foam pad before each use. Don't soak it, just get it damp and then apply the white solution. I apply the solution to the pad in a ring and then spread it out to the edges with my fingers. There is a 1-1/4" patch in center of the pad which doesn't need solution on it - this corresponds to the hub of the disc which doesn't get polished.
Next, attach your disc to the spindle on the lid. The clear, non-label side will face down when the lid is closed. Here is another very important piece of information that my friends warned me about. BE VERY CAREFUL SCREWING DOWN THE DISC! Make sure that the plastic screw, which is threaded somewhat imprecisely, doesn't get cross-threaded, so that the disc can wobble ever so slightly when it is being polished. This is the source of the cracked disc hubs that other reviewers have mentioned. So use both hands to press the disc down absolutely flat against the top surface, make sure it hasn't gotten hooked on the screw threads, and then carefully and gently screw on the nut that holds the disc in place. If it doesn't go on easily, back off and try again until it does. Once you've got it on right, tighten it down good and finger tight.
Now you're ready to polish the disc. Watch a movie or something. Put on some headphones because this machine is pretty noisy. Keep a rag handy to wipe the compound off of your fingers if you're going to be doing a number of discs. Remove all the discs from their cases at the beginning, so you don't have to handle the cases with polish-covered fingers. Now, using the #2 polish and a foam pad as I do, there's no risk of over-polishing a disc. If you just want to remove finger-prints etc, a single two-minute run will be enough. Otherwise, I have found that giving all my scratched discs three two-minute runs for a total of six minutes of polishing works best. I don't add more compound between runs. Most discs that are not repaired after this time are not salvageable, but if your really really want that disc, you can try another six minute set on it. Note that this machine will get hot, especially if you are doing six minutes for each disc, so keep an eye on it and give it time to cool off every now and then. If the nut has gotten too hot and you can't loosen it to remove the CD, I have found that a spritz of cool water will usually loosen it.
After polishing, it is safe to stack the repaired CDs on top of one another, and even to put them aside for later washing. The compound will not "harden" on the discs. To remove the compound, I take a batch at a time into the bathroom spread them out on the counter label side down, then I put a drop of dishwashing liquid (non greasy, like Dawn) on each disc. I run some very warm water and using my fingers I wash and rinse the discs and then stick them inside the folds of a cotton bath towel to dry. Here's another tip from me: Make sure you get all the compound off the disc, especially in the central hub are, which often has a groove around it in which the compound can remain. If you don't get all the compound off, it will smear around your disc when you give it the final touch up. For me, the touch up is nothing fancy. Like I said, I don't use any of the other equipment or sprays you are provided with this kit. I just dry the discs off and look for scratches. There are some advanced scratch removal techniques you can employ at this time which involve spit, your fingertips, and a white cotton T-shirt, but these are not part of my official recommendations. :)
Here are a couple more non-official non-recommendations which are sure to void your warranty, so try at your own risk:
Meguiar's Ultimate Compound (Car polish) is almost, but not quite as good a JFJ Compound #2, and quite a bit cheaper. It works!
After you've polished a number of discs, you will see a lot of gunk inside the machine which is made up of used compound, tiny worn fragments of foam pad, and presumably, tiny bits of poly carbon. This can be scooped off and re-used as buffing compound as long as you're using a spritzer bottle to keep everything moist. Just smear it all back on the pad. (Update: I wouldn't do this if you have used the sandpaper on any discs!)
BTW I have repaired several hundred discs at least, and have only used the original two foam pads that came with the system. Neither of them has completely worn out, so I think you can expect to get a couple hundred uses at least (remember I do SIX MINUTES! per disk) out of these pads - IF YOU KEEP THEM MOIST.
In summation, this is a great product, works exactly as described, and has been a boon to my CD collection, enabling me to scoop up and refurbish many rare used discs that others simply pass by. Like many such tools (like ink-jet printers for example) they really nail you on the supplies, however. I hope my tips will prove useful and help others to mitigate this at least a little. | | | | ★★★★★ | Yep - EZ is right! Great Tool for Disc Reconditioning | | Verified Purchase | Absolutely thrilled with the JFJ EZ Pro. It really is easy to use and does an excellent job of reconditioning. We ran about 40 DVDs through it and all came out perfect. Usually 20 seconds is plenty, but a couple of scratchy ones we put back in for 1 minute and poof - perfect.
Yes, it makes little nearly invisible swirls on the surface but the movies play just fine. In fact a handful were not playable at all before and this tool restored them to like new.
Some tips: Just use enough of the white stuff to keep the disc surface moist. We overdid the first few and I ended up scraping the stuff off the sides and adding it back to the white pad and was able to clean another few DVDs. I plan to try the mist bottle of water to save polish and maybe try the Macguire's like another review suggested.
Overall VERY RECOMMENDED! It's pricey if you just want to clean or refurbish a few of your own discs but for scaling up to shelves full of discs, it's a super cost effective solution. | | | | ★★★★★ | The Best I've Used! - Here Are My Pointers! | | Verified Purchase | I've tried several of these CD Repair Machines through the years -- all the cheaper ones, of course. Hand crank models. Small electric models. All with lingering issues and, mostly, tedious to use and not with completely satisfactory results. This is the best unit I've ever used and it's because of the powerful motor and self-contained design.
I will not go into all the esoteric accolades and complaints that everyone else has already posted. I will simply say if you are an old-timer with 700+ CDs in your collection (I started buying CDs before I owned a player -- and that was the year they were introduced!), and if you are shocked by the condition they are in as you attempt to convert them to MP3 or other digital transportable formats -- then know this: a) Those CDs are completely recoverable if the "damage" is only on the silver side; and b) this is the repair machine you definitely want when you have a lot of CDs to recover! A $35 or $50 hand-crank unit is not going to do it for you. At least, not satisfactorily.
If you are just starting out to convert your CDs to MP3s, you will find -- as I did -- that the conversion process is far more sensitive to scratched surfaces than the music players are, themselves. A CD that might seem to play "just fine" will not allow itself to be copied as easily. If your recording program is reporting lots of errors, or rebuffering repeatedly, or rescanning 3 and 4 times -- it's time to bring in a unit like this to save those CDs. If you only have a few in such a condition, then buying a new CD or the MP3 or iTunes version may be a better choice.
Here are some Tips and Observations for use once you've bought this...
a) I do not know why they call the first polish you use "Solution #2" and the second one you use "Solution #1" -- but they do. Solution 2 is a little thicker than Solution 1, so be aware before you squirt Solution 1 all over the place.
b) Does this unit get a little messy? Yes. But not terribly so. And it's all contained within the unit so long as you are not crazy enough to open the lid while it's spinning the buffing pad and CD! 8-) But my Tip about using a Credit Card helps with this. Note: There is no avoiding getting your fingers messy as you remove the Buffing Pads from the machine and replace them with the next one. So get over it!
c) The instructions for spreading the polish across the face of the buffing pad "with the tip of the bottle" are somewhat useless. The tip of the bottle is really not the correct shape to do this well. Squirt a few dollops of paste here and there on the pad, then use a Credit Card to spread the polish evenly. It gets easier as the pad gets used more. A dry pad absorbs more polish -- a used pad absorbs less. You do not need to cover the entire inner part of the pad up to the small hole because the retainer cap that locks the CD in place will cover about 1-1/8-in diameter from the center out. You do want to concentrate more on an even coating out to the very outside edges of each pad, however. Yes, this takes longer, but the results are vastly superior.
d) Once you run your CD through Solution 2, I do recommend you heed the mfr's advice and proceed with using Solution 1 for the best results. That is a light aqua color and should be applied to the second buffing pad. You will notice that this polish is the one that gets flung about more because of its viscosity.
e) After you are finished with Solution 1, remove the CD, and its locking cap. Then peel the Buffing Pad away from its turntable inside the unit. You'll notice a line of paste that has been flung against the inner walls of the machine. Carefully scrape off that goop with your Credit Card and reapply it to the Buffing Pad that has Solution 2 on it. This is all valuable paste and should not be discarded. NOTE: At first, I was reusing this paste on Buffing Pad 1, but that aqua polish is the finishing touch and needs to remain as pure as possible. Using the excess paste on the Buffing Pad with Solution 1 on it will degrade the final polishing. I switched to using it on the Buffing Pad with Solution 2 -- and although it discolors that white paste over time, it is a better choice. Mark the pads with a Sharpie if you start getting confused. Keep the Aqua Paste Solution 1 as pure as you can.
f) If you must resort to using the actual 3M Sanding Discs for deeply-scratched CDs, you may wish to discard the excess goop that you scrape off the inner walls. I have not had to resort to these discs so I cannot swear if their sanding surface creates a gritty residue. If so, you might wish to discard that goop. If you have kids and they abuse these discs, I can see that the Sanding Pads might be very useful.
g) While you have the Locking Cap off, and are preparing to insert the next CD, wipe off the bottom of that Cap so it can seat against the next CD properly. Don't let the goop fill up its threaded screw area, or under the Cap, itself.
I did not find it useful to count just how many CDs the first bottles of polish might recover because some CDs have deep scratches and need more polishing than others. So, your mileage may vary. I had a few that required 2 passes. And if you don't always use Solution 1, then it affects how much of that polish you use, as well. But I got quite a large stack resuscitated, so far. I have not actually finished either bottle as I write this, and have not refinished all 700+ CDs in my collection.
Also, the Wiping Cloths that come with the unit really should be replaced with Microfiber Towels. My method was to rinse my CDs in a sink and then pat them dry with Microfiber -- not a hand towel or paper towels (too coarse). Do not use paper of any kind -- not toilet paper or napkins. These are all too harsh and will scratch surfaces.
This system is NOT complicated. Everything about it -- except the motor housing, itself -- is built around commonly-available supplies. The Buffing Pads are similar to 3M "Perfect-It" pads @ 4-5/8-in Diameter. The Sanding Disks are 3M discs. Even the two polishing solutions are available by other mfrs. So don't feel trapped by JFJ. Their prices are probably as competitive as anyone's, however. The trick is, don't buy more solution than you'll need, as the polish (like most car waxes) may get gummy or watery over time. It will not store indefinitely.
If this item seems too costly for you, consider these points:
You can waste a lot of money buying tools that really are not suited for the job. And you probably have. If you own 10 CDs that need polishing, then buy the hand-crank model. If you have over 100, this unit will serve you better. You can always sell it, later, because these are quite popular and well-respected. If I were a shop selling used CDs, I'd set one of these up on the counter and offer to clean 2 or 3 free for each customer -- they'd buy it after seeing the results. Swirl marks are almost invisible. The mirror-effect is very nearly as good as a new CD. | | | | ★★★★★ | Really impressive piece of kit. | | Verified Purchase | TLDR - Does it exactly what it says it will do. Truly impressed with the finish on the disc post "blue" polish stage.
My son(s) like college football...for the older ones birthday I purchased the "finest" (read as "last") college football game ever made - NCAA'14 for the 360. Unfortunately, Game Stop's QC leaves a little to be desired and needless to say the game wouldn't play. (Plus, there wasn't another example in my area available to swap with...so what to do?)
Enter SkipDr. from this old guys gaming days (yeah, like circa 2006)...my rationale was, "heck, it worked on a couple disc's over a decade ago, what's the worse that could happen?" Yeah, um no. The results were not good...I now had a more scratched disc that, of course, *still* wouldn't play. (Furthermore, after SkipDr doing its worst, I was now the proud owner of a disc that I likely wouldn't be able to return even if I wanted to. Winning!)
Enter JFJ Easy Pro - upon receiving the product I was up and running with in 5 minutes. With in 10 minutes (with a few minutes allotted for reading the directions) I had one 2014 NCAA Football disc, complete with mirror shine, ready for a go. Yes, it really is that easy.
Disc ran first time out of the gate (BOOM! That's right! GDOAT!)...drop mic <exit stage left>.
In all seriousness, my experience with the product has been very positive. If you're on the fence, give it a shot. I think you'll be very pleased with the results. | | | | ★★★★★ | Works as advertised and will repair and restore many CDs | | Verified Purchase | I have to say this machine works quite well, and also that the reviews posted here were very helpful in figuring out how to use it - more helpful than the instructions. I've used mine so far to de-scratch about 300 CDs, and I plan to finish another 300. (I acquired some big collections cheaply, but many discs had scratches.) The machine definitely works as advertised. I've turned many completely gnarly discs into very good or even like new CDs that look great and play perfectly. It can be expensive to use these machines, since you'll need a fair quantity of the accessories (sandpaper, pads, and white solution) to repair a large quantity of discs. But if you have a record shop, a large collection, or for some other reason need to clean a fair but not industrial number of CDs, this will get the job done.
And here are my quick tips - garnered from some other people here and on other sites, and tested with more than 300 good repairs:
- Before repairing a scratched CD, hold it up to the light with the label facing you: if you see big pinholes of light forget it, you can't fix that ... 1-2 pinholes, then test those tracks before trying to repair (read about how CDs are put together to understand this)
- Use sandpaper (coarser 600 grit first, then finer 1200 grit) on most of your discs with scratches of any significance, just as the instructions suggest - but longer than they may indicate - I almost always do 40-60 seconds on 600 grit, and half that much on 1200 grit. On super gnarly discs, I try 80-120 seconds, but be careful because you can sand through a disc.
- You can use the same sandpaper pieces for many many discs
- If the sandpaper gets clogged, just rinse it off and let it dry - it's wet/dry sandpaper so you can do that
- When you buy accessories, ONLY buy the JFJ pro stuff - it's the same basic price as the knockoffs, but the knockoff pads do NOT work nearly as well, and in fact they suck
- The instructions tell you to do a two-step process with the white solution and then the blue BUT
- You can skip the blue solution for all or most CDs - in my experience it's worthless
- The white solution you'll need a lot of
- Dump out the little spray bottle of cleaning solution - totally worthless
- Instead, put water in that bottle ... before loading a buffing pad with white solution, mist it with several pump sprays of water (don't soak, just mist)
- Then use the white solution as directed, but always apply more than the instructions suggest, like 6 dime sized dots each time
- Spread it around the pad using a plastic knife
- After buffing with the white stuff for two minutes, just rinse your CDs under tap water and then rub some soap on with just your finger (not a scratchy towel) and rinse ALL of the white solution off
- Goal is to get all the white residue off
- You can wipe the CDs with microfiber cloths, which are washable - this will save you some money (they sell them at Target or Wal-Mart with carwash supplies)
Last tip: The white buffing pads with white solution work great, but it takes a while to break in a new pad. The first 3-4 CDs don't seem to get the best treatment, so maybe don't start with your prized Led Zeppellin remasters - save them for once you've worn down the buffing pad a bit, which is when they work best. | | | | ★★★★★ | excellent small volume machine. I highly recommend this for a starter or small quantity use | | Verified Purchase | I just got mine today and have to give this thing 5 stars considering the price and that a really good resurface machine is about $2000. With that in consideration the way pro plus really is a very good machine if you read the directions and simply use some common sense. Use one buffing pad for solution 2 only. Use the second pad for solution 1 only. Do not mix them up. One will stay whitish from using solution two amid the other one will be blue from using solution 1. Also since you get two sanding pads do the same thing. Use one for coarse and the other for fine. I actually was able to stick the label from coarse and fine into the center of the sandpaper after applying them to the sanding pads so I never have to get them mixed up. After doing this you simply put in the sanding or buffing pad you want for the job. Now on to consumables. I found out quickly from my first couple of jobs that it is much more economical to do a batch of discs at a time and do it in assembly line fashion. I set up 3-4 discs and after if they are in similar condition I simply do one at a time using buffing pad with solution 2 then done. For the tough jobs, do the same thing. Line up a few and sand them all using the same grit sander, then after all are done. Wipe the discs, then switch to buffing pad #2 and do them all with that. Then again with pad #1. This way you are able to go faster as you aren't switching pads multiple times as well as saving solutions since when you run a job, a lot gets flung onto the sides of the machine inside. Simply wipe that off after each disk and apply it to your pad when you put on the next one. You'll be good to go and running like a well oiled machine in no time. This saves you a lot of time and money on solutions. Anyway, I hope this helps people thinking of buying this. It's an excellent machine as long as you understand how to use it and what for.
If you don't intent to do a lot of discs, I'd say ship your discs off to get fixed and save the time and money. If you're like me and starting a game collection or starting to sell, then this is Great starter machine.
Also please keep in mind, as the directions state, the machine will shut off if the motor reaches its thermal threshold. This happens to me and I had to let is sit for about 15 minutes today. The machine itself didn't seem very warm, but I had been running some really damaged discs that needed some serious sanding for a few minutes and I'm sure the 4-5 1 minute cycles caused the motor to get close enough to shut off to protect itself. It's not a problem with the machine or a design defect, this is simply not a volume machine. For me, if I ever get the the point that I need to do a lot of these then I'll have probably reached the point where a $2000 azuradisk will make sense then. For now, for the 10-20 I'll probably do each week this is a perfect economical system and I really couldn't be happier with it. Money well spent, just do your research and make sure this will really meet your needs. Again, this is really a small volume home or very small business unit. This is not something for a large business or someone with a very large collection as it will be frustrating to wait for these cold own periods. If your in that boat, look into an azuradisk or similar industrial machine that can handle your capacity. I hope this was some helpful information for someone looking. Again. It's a great little machine and it totally does what it says and I can see the quality in it. It's sturdy and well built while being lightweight (plastic mostly). For a little over $100, it really is a steal considering how much you'll save not having to repurchase games, movies, etc. good luck and enjoy. | | | | ★★★★★ | Amazing product and read many reviews which very essential tips | | Verified Purchase | This works like a charm. I had old cd and my cd reader was not able to read it. After 3 times with 10 second, cd reader was able to read partly. Then I have used soft sand paper for 10 seconds, soft white pad with solution #2 for 10 seconds and then 10 seconds with #1. This made cd as good as new and cd reader was able to read everything completely.
I had my old photos and videos. I was so happy to see these photos.
Thank you for creating this product.
The only problem is that I do not have use of this product after the cd that I have recovered. Pls suggest me a path forward for this. | | | | ★★★★★ | The best option under about $500 | | Verified Purchase | I have done computer and game repairs for a few decades now and done my fair share of disc resurfacing. Anything below the JFJ is a waste of your time and money. To find a truly better machine, you have to jump up to the $500ish range. As such, it is quite popular and widely used. When I received mine, I immediately ran about 100 (no exaggeration) PS1 discs through it. I had to give the machine a break every few hours as the top mechanism would become extremely hot. My success rate for repairing discs is around 90% for surface problems and maybe 66% for deep blemishes. Some types of discs resurface better than others. The machine is loud but not as loud as some people make it out to be. It doesn't wake my baby in the next room.
One shop I work in has an $800 resurfacer, and the other has a $3000 resurfacer. 99% of the time, they don't perform any better than the JFJ, they just do the same job faster. If that 1% matters to you, be prepared to pay for it. Otherwise, this is the one. If you're going to be doing discs by the hundred, you'll probably want to buy more white solution up front. | | | | See more reviews |
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