Loving my new record cleaner!

[Mark W.]

For my DIY RCM which is a more advanced machine then the VPI 16 and 16.5's I have seen I added a Muffler to the exhaust port dropping the sound by a little over 10db. Made from MDF and some various soft materials it works very well. In the next step I am building new LP shelves that will have 30" wide double doors that open in the center. At work hieght will be my RCM sitting centered in a 60" wide shelf 14" deep giving me basically a record cleaning station right inside my LP storage shelves. The exahust will go into a port in the wall behind the shelf unit and exit into the crawl space under the house.

I figure to drop the sound at least 15db with this method.

Oh and my machine uses a 3.6V rechargable screwdriver moter and has enough torque to screw a 2" wood screw into a 2X4 so it never stalls it uses a hub drive which reduces the screwdrivers RPM to 25rpm at the platter (an old ONKYO aluminum) The vacuum turbine is a 600 watt unit out of a Shark portable vacuum. It's mounted inside of a large water trap made using common PVC fittings and 4" white plastic sewer pipe.

bidirectional

My pickup is made from Carbon fiber tubing and pivots on the end like a tone arm would and will allow the pickup to stick straight up allowing me to vacuum crud of my brush between LP's.

Somewhere around here is a long thread I did on the machine if you want to look.

my total cost was about $100.00.

 

[Luckyman]

Hey all,

I just got my new record cleaning machine yesterday, a Clearaudio Smart Matrix, and it is wonderful. I have never seen cleaner records, and it takes literally two minutes to do. Easy enough that I spent today going through the bargain record bins and ended up with like $50 worth of LPs. In this case, that would be like 18 records. Looks like I'll be listening for a while tonight. Now if I could just upgrade the TT...

Not trying to brag, BTW... just kinda excited.

Erin

Congratulations on a great investment! I have a Smart Matrix myself,
and it is a wonderful machine.

 

[markd51]

Yes Mark, I remember seeing the pics of your machine, you did a magnificent job I must say.

I've tried quieting the VPI 16.5 without too much success. Adding a 4" hole on the rear for the cooling fan made the machine even seem louder. The rapport when turning on the machine hits you even more now, like a slap in the face.

For one success with the fan upgrade, there was this one bit of a downside. Looking back, I feel I used an incorrect method, in that lining the inside panels with Dynamat Sheeting wasn't the way to go.

The noise from the machine seems to eminate from everywhere, but I didn't implement some sort of "muffler" to the vacuum motor itself as you did, and something like this might help to a greater degree?

You smartly concluded to squelch the noise at the source, which is no doubt the best method, and is what needs to be done somehow in the VPI 16.5's case.

Was probably why Harry Weisfield of VPI placed two small sheets of insulation at the bottom of machine near the Vent.

Reckon I might have to place the ole thinking cap on once again?! Mark