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Ultrasonic Cleaners - They do Work...

drtool said:
Jeff that is cheep. How many hours do you have on yours?
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I bought mine last summer. I have done about 600-700 records. I really don't know how many hours but to estimate I would guess about 20-30 hours? A typical cleaning secession would be about 3 to 4 hours with the machine running about 2 hours. It takes a bit of time to handle the records to get them ready for cleaning, removing, drying, and replacing the inner sleeves. I've got my routine down pretty good now so I am more efficient. The machine is only down a few minutes for the time it takes me to remove the cleaned batch of records from the bath to the time I insert the next batch of records to be cleaned.

MX117.MC7150 -
Am wondering if anyone has had their US die and what warranty/service response they've received from the seller(s)? With the VPI or Clearaudio, etc., vacuum RCM at least there is a "real" company (service, etc.) standing behind the unit.
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There is a 30 return policy for the unit I purchased.

It would probably be more effective just to purchase another unit rather than eat up your time dealing with a manufacture in China. These are quite a bit cheaper than the vacuum RCMs.

My first Okkie Nokki spindle got stripped after a few uses and Needle Doctor/ Okkie Nokki replaced the unit. The unit cost 2x than my 10L USC.
 
Bummer about the scam. Hope you all get your money back.

I too am seriously considering taking on this project. I don't have thousands of records, but I can't stand pops and clicks, am not satisfied with my hand cleaning results, and don't like the results or the time the glue method takes. Plus, I love the idea of having a ultrasonic cleaner in the house for other uses.

My goal is to keep it under $250.
 
Moon_Man said:
Bummer about the scam. Hope you all get your money back.

I too am seriously considering taking on this project. I don't have thousands of records, but I can't stand pops and clicks, am not satisfied with my hand cleaning results, and don't like the results or the time the glue method takes. Plus, I love the idea of having a ultrasonic cleaner in the house for other uses.

My goal is to keep it under $250.
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I got my refund already from Ebay, no worries...

keeping my eye out for a good unit. The China units are so inexpensive, i do wonder how long they will last...
 
I'm just hoping that mine will last until I get my 2,200+ cleaned. I'm about a third of the way there.

I am actually using my machine right now - well taking a lunch break.
 
This is in a different direction, but i acquired an ultrasonic cleaner for free. It was advertised as not working, so i thought i would give it a shot..

the tank is a great size for cleaning records- 19" x 13" x 6". It's a Branson model that is 60Khz frequency.

On testing- I filled the tank with water to 1 inch from the top, plugged it in and turned it on. To my surprise, the unit seemed to be working as I could see agitation in the water, then some smoke came out the back. I drained the water and took it apart to see what the burning smell/smoke was from.

The smoke was from a wire (+) to one of the transducers that had burned and broke off. The wire burned off at the connection point to the transducer. This unit has a total of 8 transducers epoxy to the bottom of the tank. Only the one transducer was burning at the wire connection. all the other components appear in good condition, no burning or arcing.

Would this unit work/still be effective with 7 transducers? I could cap off the (+) and (-) wires to the bad transducer. the bad transducer sits underneath one of the corners of the tank, not near or around the middle.

any thoughts?
 
7 out of 8 should work

I would think running the unit with 7 transducers would work fine. If you cannot replace the burnt wire, which I gather is not possible, then bypassing it seems to make a lot of sense.

I gather they are all wired in parallel, so not having this one running will not be a problem.

7/8ths strength on the unit should be just fine.
 
oldvinyldude said:
I would think running the unit with 7 transducers would work fine. If you cannot replace the burnt wire, which I gather is not possible, then bypassing it seems to make a lot of sense.

I gather they are all wired in parallel, so not having this one running will not be a problem.

7/8ths strength on the unit should be just fine.
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good to know- Just wanted to make sure if this is possible before capping the wires and make another trial run with 7/8 transducers working.

it appears that the transducers are wired in parallel. For now, I have no concerns running the unit on 7/8 of the transducers because the burned one is located in a corner of one end of the tank. The other end is where I'll locate the spindle for rotating records.

will report back tomorrow after I try this out this evening and more testing for effectiveness.
 
I got my ultrasonic cleaner in today - got 6L model from Ebay. To say that I'm impressed with the results would be an huge understatement. Although I have VPI HW-17, VPI produced mediocre results compared to $150 ultrasonic cleaner. the LPs sound not just good, but incredible. It's not just pops and noise - everything became much better, air, soundstage, bass... WOW.
 
nick-seattle said:
I got my ultrasonic cleaner in today - got 6L model from Ebay. To say that I'm impressed with the results would be an huge understatement. Although I have VPI HW-17, VPI produced mediocre results compared to $150 ultrasonic cleaner. the LPs sound not just good, but incredible. It's not just pops and noise - everything became much better, air, soundstage, bass... WOW.
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Glad you are liking yours!
 
nick-seattle said:
I got my ultrasonic cleaner in today - got 6L model from Ebay. To say that I'm impressed with the results would be an huge understatement. Although I have VPI HW-17, VPI produced mediocre results compared to $150 ultrasonic cleaner. the LPs sound not just good, but incredible. It's not just pops and noise - everything became much better, air, soundstage, bass... WOW.
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got any pics of your setup?
 
nick-seattle said:
I got my ultrasonic cleaner in today - got 6L model from Ebay. To say that I'm impressed with the results would be an huge understatement. Although I have VPI HW-17, VPI produced mediocre results compared to $150 ultrasonic cleaner. the LPs sound not just good, but incredible. It's not just pops and noise - everything became much better, air, soundstage, bass... WOW.
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I agree completely.

I got my U/S tank up and running, cleaned a few records the past few days. Ultrasonic cleaning is a game changer. I had no idea the records would sound this good. I've cleaned about 10 records so far. Most of those had already had a bath through my SpinClean.

FWIW, i prefer to let the records dry alone, no clothes..
 
brianjrealto said:
I agree completely.

I got my U/S tank up and running, cleaned a few records the past few days. Ultrasonic cleaning is a game changer. I had no idea the records would sound this good. I've cleaned about 10 records so far. Most of those had already had a bath through my SpinClean.

FWIW, i prefer to let the records dry alone, no clothes..
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Glad you like it. When/if you add the 99% IPA to your solution, the records will dry quickly, say 10-15 mins, and that would be the portion of the record that was in the bath last.
 
GPJeff said:
Glad you like it. When/if you add the 99% IPA to your solution, the records will dry quickly, say 10-15 mins, and that would be the portion of the record that was in the bath last.
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My tank holds about 5 gallons

So, my mixture is...
8 oz. of 91% IPA
16 capfuls of Spinclean fluid. (from the big bottle)

seems to work OK. should i increase the amount of IPA for how many gallons it holds? shallow, but It's a big tank. records seemed to be dry in about an hour. I wait 2 hours just to be safe..

I'll get pics up soon. it's a funny looking contraption with the tinkertoys built around it. But, it works for now. I nice motor design is on the horizon....
 
the ipa does two key things IMO with a Ultrasonic. First, it aids in wetting as it reduces the surface tension of water(also a key purpose for the surfactant). second, it helps produce the small bubbles easier that straight water alone as the alcohol has a lower boiling point than water and this aids greatly in the ultrasonic effectiveness. I have varied between 10% and 25%
 
oilmanmojo said:
the ipa does two key things IMO with a Ultrasonic. First, it aids in wetting as it reduces the surface tension of water(also a key purpose for the surfactant). second, it helps produce the small bubbles easier that straight water alone as the alcohol has a lower boiling point than water and this aids greatly in the ultrasonic effectiveness. I have varied between 10% and 25%
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wow...

that would mean 4 (16oz) bottles of IPA to about 5 gallons for a 10% mix. any concerns over the flash point of the IPA? I don't use the "heating" mode at all on the machine since it's a 60khz frequency.
 
Ambien Gnome said:
I wonder if someday there will be a more high end cleaner that will remove the grunge left by the Ultrasonic?
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I would suggest a rinse after running through the u.s.
The spin clean works excellent for this. I have 10 years experience working in the medical re-processing department where I work, and running the items through the u.s. was the first step. I realize that medical instrumentation and a vinyl record are two different beast, but after I started running them through the spin clean after a u.s. cycle, I always find debris on the bottom of the SC.
The u.s. will definetly dislodge the debris, but sometimes it needs a little extra help getting it out of the grooves.
Of course my comments only pertain to the DIY u.s. because I have no experience with the KLA etc.
YMMV
 
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