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All my Vinyl Crackles Wtf?

SPL db said:
I had an similar issue at an apartment I rented. I took my then table into the local dealer along with one of the worst offending albums and hooked it to one of their systems. The record played flawlessly with only one pop.

Found out the air in the apartment was way too dry... I bought a humidifier and problem solved.

Your mileage may very... :thumbsup:
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Possible. We have forced air heat and air conditioner.
 
+1 on Discwasher with fluid for static reduction. I always used to conserve the precious fluid from the tiny bottle. I recently followed Onwardjames advice and got a spray bottle with distilled water and a small amount of rubbing alcohol (way diluted) for using with the Technics, after discovering that my carbon-fiber brush made the static problem much worse on this particular turntable. Just spray some on the Discwasher before use, every time. I have an anti-static mat and some D-stat on order - we'll see about them. I have a Milty Zero-stat, too, and it works, but I find it fussy and finicky. The old Discwasher ritual is so ingrained in muscle memory that I don't even have to think about it. The backwards rolling swipe on clothing is CRUCIAL. It makes even the new RCA versions effective.
Thunderbox said:
What I want to know is where does the dirt go when you use a discwasher brush to (clean ) records. If you don't have a way of removing the dirt like a vacuum then all you are doing is moving the dirt. As far as records go moving dirt is the opposite of removing dirt.
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It ends up on your clothing. You can see it easily, if the record was dirty enough. If one were really finicky, one could then use a clothing brush to clean the line of dust that is transferred from the Dishwasher to your pants. They work on the same principle - directional fibers. Dampening with fluid helps greatly, too. The dirt sticks better to the brush, and the moisture reduces static charge. Sometimes the old ways are the best ways. You should try it, before knocking it. Humidity helps too, but somehow the Technics is like a Van de Graf generator compared to my other tables.
 
It's been my experience that too light a tracking fotce, the stylus has a tendency to "ride the rim", so to speak, bouncing around the upper part of the grooves...hope they haven't been damaged. A slightly heavier weight (try a 1/4g at a time) may quiet the noise w/o damage to the record at all.
Everything I've heard so far, it sounds like too light a VTF, air static , or something wrong internally picking up radio static (long shot, worth noting).

Dasher
 
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I'm surprised to see people suggesting adding dishwashing detergent (regardless of how little) to a record cleaning solution. Why would one do that? The detergent molecules will definitely stay behind on the vinyl surface, as they are much too large to evaporate along with the water.

The only records that I ever come across that have serious crackling issues are old, used records neglected by their previous owner(s). Covered in dust and/or dirt. Most of those will clean up reasonably well with my SpinClean, but some retain a significant amount of crackle, which I simply ascribe to tiny dirt particles wedged so deep into the grooves that only an ultrasound cleaner would stand a chance at getting them out.

The vast majority of my records that I clean with the SpinClean using the supplied solution, followed by a rinse in distilled water and air-drying (no wiping), come out dead quiet. This simple system works so well for me that I have not felt the need to look into any home-made concoctions based on any assumptions, as supposedly scientific they may be.

Humidity, or lack thereof, definitely is an issue here in Arizona, and when I take a new record from its sleeve the first time, it crackles from static before I even play it. Within seconds, it will have attracted any dust grain or cat hair that happened to be floating within a 5-foot radius. If there is such a thing as "Dust Central," the place where my records live would be it. :D

But despite living in a crammed, 3-cat household in the middle of the desert, once I run new records through the SpinClean, they have no perceivable static left and sound almost as quiet as a CD, even without using any deionizing gizmos like a Zero Stat gun or anything like that.
 
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sKiZo said:
Make sure your ground is actually to ground. Lots of folk just attach the table the the system using a receiver grounding lug, but the static has to have somewhere to go. I've also run a lead from that to a wall ground to take care of that.
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I've been wondering about that. My TT's ground wire is attached to the amp's grounding lug, but the amp's power plug has only two spades, no ground. I don't know enough about electronics to draw a conclusion from that observation, but perhaps I should run a wire from the grounding lug to the ground socket in the wall outlet (?). On the other hand, the grounding wire on my Mapleshade brush is plugged into a grounding slot in the power strip, yet the brush's ability to remove static from records is virtually non-existent.
 
Oh, yeah, living with dogs that shed, here, as well, not the best situation. I live in Minnesota. Our staticy times are the cold, dry winters..static runs amoke. Even now, tho, the shedding pet hair doesn't make record playing completely without some issues.

Dasher
 
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woodj said:
No.
The ground on the amp is a zero reference point for the TT/amp combination; external ground is unnecessary.
The orientation of the plugs (power) in the receptacle (you need to experiment) which way is cleaner.
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Thank you. I heard about the orientation of the power plug spades, but I never quite grasped the concept. I noticed that older equipment commonly has identical spades, whereas current appliances have two differently-sized spades. I'm not sure why that is. As far as my amp goes, should I simply connect the plug one way, listen to some music, then connect it the other way, and decide which sounds better? I can't imagine why I would hear a difference, but perhaps I'm missing information on this subject that would help me figure this out.
 
One way places neutral on the "primary" circuitry "hot" on the "passive" portion, the other way places "hot" on the "primary" circuitry neutral on the "passive" portion.
 
...a turntable is sorta like an electric guitar...cartridge/pickup, record grooves/strings...putting the plug of either kind of amp may produce hum...touch the tone arm to find out if the receiver is plugged in properly. Also, one strand of the power cord may have a molded-in stripe. (Correct me if I'm wrong) the stripe indicates "ground (?).

Dasher
 
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