Strange, pink substance on the underside of the disc tray?

[kibescorp]

Hi, this is an odd discovery that took me by surprise today. I had ejected the disc tray of my Toshiba DVD Recorder (D-R550) today and noticed that there was a pink, gum-like substance on the bottom/underside of the tray, almost as if it had been "smeared."

My first thought was that someone had placed bubble gum underneath my disc tray at some point in time, but I had just gotten the device new a couple of months ago.

However, I then took a look under the tray of my older Toshiba DVD Recorder (DRW2), and I saw the same exact substance!

Since I've never really looked under a disc tray before, I don't know if this substance is supposed to be there or not. It seems VERY unlikely that it's just a coincidence that both of my DVD recorders, which were bought almost TWO years apart, would have the same substance underneath.

Is this just a Toshiba thing or do all DVD players have this substance? Once again, it's like a sticky, pink bubble gum material that's "smeared" on the bottom of the disc trays. I'm wondering if it's meant for greasing/oiling the gears or something like that?

[doctorhardware]

That is what it is used for, it is a lube for the tray motor and the track that is on the tray.

[kibescorp]

No kidding? That's a relief to hear. The thought did cross my mind, but what threw me off was the fact that there were two large globs of it smeared on the bottom. Just doesn't look very professional, especially for Toshiba products ... plus, I took a look under my computer drive's disc tray, and I didn't see anything.

I am assuming then it is probably lithium or silicone grease/lubricant? It's weird that they would use this stuff inside of disc-playing devices, because the polycarbonate surfaces of optical disc can be damaged by certain oils.

Don't they take that into consideration?