Does anyone know how cold a temperature you can keep a CD in without causing it any damage?

By the way, the reason I need a quick answer is because I'll have to go back to a place where I have no Internet access (a nuthouse) in like 40 minutes and I'll be there for at least another week before getting online again, and I need to make plans for next weekend for which I need to know if my CDs, which are in an unheated house with the winter near, need to be rescued. :p

Unless we're talking like -100 or something I really cant see it causing any damage.

I think in Celcius, Spork, do you?

Also, you know how when something freezes it's really easy to snap? I just can't imagine frost not making any damage to a CD...

Well if whack them against a table edge they might shatter a little easier when cold, but hopefully an abrupt meeting with a sharp edge wont be something you'll have to protect them against

With frost and condensation an issue I'd be much more worried about the covers and booklets than the actual CDs themselves.

Good points...

Thank you!

Hmm. You should bring your computer aswell. I don't think people worry about getting their computers too cold, right?

Cold temperatures don't do anything to a computer until the computer warms up again - this causes condensation. Make sure you don't turn on any cold electronics for a few hours at least.

You could freeze a compact disc to absolute zero and nothing will happen to it. The only damage that could occur would be if while frozen, the disc flexes enough, has enough vibrations going through it etc, to cause physical damage to the data layer. And I'm betting that's not easy.

If you're worried about it, pack them up in a binded CD case, wrap it in a blanket, and put it under the blankets in your bed or something.

Or in your car. Engine.

Just think about how a CD works. The data layer is nothing but pits etched into a very thin film of metal or fancy plastic. You can flex them back and forth all day without any damage. Freezing a CD just makes its materials more brittle and prone to physical damage.

I would think burnable CDs might have some vulnerability to cold weather. Don't they use some kind of vegitable oil for the data layer? Feel free to STFU me if I'm recalling something totally outdated or untrue. It's in my brain from somewhere.......

[QUOTE=Hell Raiser]I would think burnable CDs might have some vulnerability to cold weather. Don't they use some kind of vegitable oil for the data layer? Feel free to STFU me if I'm recalling something totally outdated or untrue. It's in my brain from somewhere.......[/QUOTE]No. Most of them are cyanine dyes. Don't eat a CD-R.

Blankets keep humans warm because they generate heat. The body's heat warms up the nearby air, which is trapped inside a blanket and serves as an insulator from the surrounding environment. On an object that doesn't generate heat, a blanket would keep it warm for about 20 minutes.