Ultrasonic Cleaners - They do Work...

[4-2-7]

Wow, you have a lot of records! Good to hear the new cleaning machine is working out for you.

So do I have this right - the machine heats the water it uses to clean? If so, is the water temp adjustable? Kinda scary to me that something is buckling the records even if it is temporary.

Heat is adjustable and able to be turned off.

Sonic speed is adjustable plus timer.

Motor speed to turn the records is adjustable.

I don't know what has made them buckle yet. Maybe tomorrow I'll soak a junk record no sonic or heat and see what happens.

 

[dodog]

Iowa City!!
I miss that place.
You from there?

Anyway, my post...
sorta half calling BS, half not.

The OP cleared it up tho, and I totally respect his opinion.

Thanks for the clarification.

Yes, from Iowa City. Moved away for a while but came back. It's still a great place to be. :thmbsp:

 

[GPJeff]

4-2-7 thanks for the progress reports.The machine sounds tempting. I also have the Okki Nokki. I like it, but it just takes so much time.

 

[4-2-7]

4-2-7 thanks for the progress reports.The machine sounds tempting. I also have the Okki Nokki. I like it, but it just takes so much time.

Yep! all the vacuum RCM take a bunch of time and they're noisy. This unit it's no big deal to knock out 50 a night after work or do 200+ on a Saturday. That's cleaning, new sleeves marking them as done and putting them back. All the while listening to music and doing other thing at the same time.

I'm at Johnny Cash & the Cars right now starting from A. For me that's about 200 titles in maybe 8 hours over three cleaning sessions.

These records sound awesome, some are just like new. All my lead-ins are quiet and work well. It's like getting a new cartridge or something SQ has definitely improved and my vinyl is better.

For $1500 if one can swing it and have a large

 

[dlaloum]

Another Ultrasonic Record Cleaning alternative...

http://www.suu.com.tw/showroom/view.php?C=5186022

I have sent a query - unfortunately in English - there is nothing but Chinese language on this website.

It appears to be an alternate purpose built ultrasonic RCM, and apparently sells for under $700...

Given that the ultrasonic baths are no more than circa $500, and the simplicity of the mechanism required to hold and rotate the records in the bath, it seems that circa $700 should be about the right price for such a device....

Here is hoping there is someone at that manufacturer who can respond in English!

bye for now

David

 

[SaSi]

Dang I cleaned over 50 albums and at least 8 were double LP's.:thmbsp:

Just 2500+ more to go.

Have you listened to them after cleaning? Or even better, did you do a before/after comparison?

What temperature are you putting setting the bath at? Is it plain distilled water or do you use any additive?

I have found that by rotating the records constantly (not necessarily fast) I can reach up to 50 degrees Celcius (~120F) without permanent deformation. As soon as the bath temperature goes beyond 30C it starts to bend the vinyl surface making the record take the shape of a pringle. Going for 40C slightly increases the deformation but not any more if temperature rises more.

I am theorizing that the warm bath performs two functions:
Energises the cleaning agent in the bath more
Softens the record surface to the point where crud that has stuck in the grooves is easier to remove by the ultrasonic waves.

I am doing the records one by one, and after the bath I am vacuuming each one - then letting them dry. I have about 1500 LPs and I've done almost half of them. Currently stopped as I've run out of inner sleeves (I replace all the paper ones with new lined ones) and out of patience (decided to work with tapes and tape decks for a while.

 

[MX117.MC7150]

Yep! all the vacuum RCM take a bunch of time and they're noisy. This unit it's no big deal to knock out 50 a night after work or do 200+ on a Saturday. That's cleaning, new sleeves marking them as done and putting them back. All the while listening to music and doing other thing at the same time.

I'm at Johnny Cash & the Cars right now starting from A. For me that's about 200 titles in maybe 8 hours over three cleaning sessions.

These records sound awesome, some are just like new. All my lead-ins are quiet and work well. It's like getting a new cartridge or something SQ has definitely improved and my vinyl is better.

For $1500 if one can swing it and have a large

Tell us again about your drying method? Getting the 200 LPs mounted, run, unmounted and dry in 8hrs seems pretty good.
Just received the Clearaudio RCM ($830, shipped) which is supposed to be considerably less noisy than the competition. If it isn't, I may have to step up to one of these.
The Chinese model listed a couple of posts ago is a single-LP unit. Not sure I don't prefer its smaller size and elegance, though getting one and then service, if needed, might be a challenge.
4-2-7 - Thanks for your in-depth feedback.

 

[4-2-7]

Have you listened to them after cleaning?<Yes and they look and sound much cleaner.Or even better, did you do a before/after comparison? < Well I have some that I know make noise (a gritty static like out of tune radio) No comparison they are noticeably quieter.

What temperature are you putting setting the bath at? < Around 85-95 degrees Is it plain distilled water or do you use any additive? <Distilled,Alcohol,Dish Soap,Photo Flo.

I have found that by rotating the records constantly (not necessarily fast) I can reach up to 50 degrees Celcius (~120F) without permanent deformation. As soon as the bath temperature goes beyond 30C it starts to bend the vinyl surface making the record take the shape of a pringle. Going for 40C slightly increases the deformation but not any more if temperature rises more.<Running @ fastest setting but is slow.

I am theorizing that the warm bath performs two functions:
Energises the cleaning agent in the bath more
Softens the record surface to the point where crud that has stuck in the grooves is easier to remove by the ultrasonic waves.

I am doing the records one by one, and after the bath I am vacuuming each one - then letting them dry. I have about 1500 LPs and I've done almost half of them. Currently stopped as I've run out of inner sleeves (I replace all the paper ones with new lined ones) and out of patience (decided to work with tapes and tape decks for a while.

In bold, :thmbsp:

 

[ripblade]

I made one that holds my diy hydraulic record washer above the unit, so it can only clean one record at a time.

Compared to the VPI I can see how it would be an improvement, but it won't do as well on filthy records compared to the hydraulic method.

Temperature, duration and surfactant play critical roles here as was previously mentioned.

 

[4-2-7]

Tell us again about your drying method? Getting the 200 LPs mounted, run, unmounted and dry in 8hrs seems pretty good.
Just received the Clearaudio RCM ($830, shipped) which is supposed to be considerably less noisy than the competition. If it isn't, I may have to step up to one of these.
The Chinese model listed a couple of posts ago is a single-LP unit. Not sure I don't prefer its smaller size and elegance, though getting one and then service, if needed, might be a challenge.
4-2-7 - Thanks for your in-depth feedback.

The thing is doing one disc and each side noise of the vacuum and gears.:thumbsdn:
Then you have to physically flip switches back and forth, pickup bushes change direction, move vac head on and off lol what a pain. You still need them to sit a bit before playing.

I have an Okki Nokki and it only gets used on bad record when I'm playing them. It can't nor I keep up with the amount of records I am bringing home.

This unit you grab 8 discs mount them, drop them in the tank start it and walk away. Then pull them off and let them dry all by themselves again. Once dry a little wipe off of dust and slip them in a new sleeve.

Dry racks are the suplied one holds 8, my dishwasher hold 16, a counter dish rack holds another 8, the shaft you load them one is another 8.

 

[4-2-7]

Does it clean good? you tell me...


The tank after about 60 last night.

The center jug is unused water.

 

[rebellovw]

The thing is doing one disc and each side noise of the vacuum and gears.:thumbsdn:
Then you have to physically flip switches back and forth, pickup bushes change direction, move vac head on and off lol what a pain. You still need them to sit a bit before playing.

I have an Okki Nokki and it only gets used on bad record when I'm playing them. It can't nor I keep up with the amount of records I am bringing home.

This unit you grab 8 discs mount them, drop them in the tank start it and walk away. Then pull them off and let them dry all by themselves again. Once dry a little wipe off of dust and slip them in a new sleeve.

Dry racks are the suplied one holds 8, my dishwasher hold 16, a counter dish rack holds another 8, the shaft you load them one is another 8.

I have the clear audio and play the record right after they have been washed I also put them in the sleeve right away. They are never wet after the clean. I wouldn't want to leave them out to air dry and collect dust. I'm extremely happy with the vacuum method and the CA unit isn't that loud.

That said your unit also seems very nice and of course less work. Thankfully I do not mind the effort.

Thanks

 

[elza]

Back in my younger days I had a darkroom. The film dryer consisted of a vinyl tube with a blower and filter. Hang up the dryer, hang the film inside the tube and the film dried in no time flat.

How about making a plywood box with both ends open? Put a filtered fan on one end and slide the racked records in from the other end. It will improve drying time and the filtered air will keep any dust from getting on the records.

 

[4-2-7]

Let me address.. Static, Dust, Bowing.

Ok before cleaning some records feel staticy when pulled from the sleeves. Once cleaned and dried there is absolutely no static what so ever.

Once pulled from cleaning the records have a slight pucker in the middle. This goes away before they even dry. I think this explanation is what does the trick on removing static. It acts as a stress reliever in the slow expansion contraction and heating cooling. The ultra sonic is what is doing it and not the heat because I get it without any heat at all.

Before sleeving I lightly wipe them with an old record lint rag cleanning the center runout and lead-in. The dust present just falls off, there is absulutly no static.:thmbsp:

 

[Ken Boyd]

Sounds like a product that would fit my needs. I too have a large number of LP's in need of a good bath. I wonder if it might not be a good idea to run them thru a final rinse of just pure lab water, do you think that the soap residue might be a problem in the future?

 

[4-2-7]

Sounds like a product that would fit my needs. I too have a large number of LP's in need of a good bath. I wonder if it might not be a good idea to run them thru a final rinse of just pure lab water, do you think that the soap residue might be a problem in the future?

I don't know about future.

Right now they sound awesome at least bumping any disc capable of up a graid point. Play graiding where no physical damage is seen but surface noise is present. After cleaning they get dead quiet, i'm supper happy with the sound.

It seems some of my really old ones like Cream,Beck, Yardbirds, Cash and the likes are way better. Some have normal or more damage and have been cleaned on a vac RCM. That did not get them this clean, this fast and easy. Now they have great sonics low or no surfact noise but just pops from acual damage.

Im using just a cuppel of drops of dish soap and Photo Flow. and a few oz's of alcohol in two galons of Distilled water. The sonics is doing most of the cleaning. The crap is falling out the grooves lol.

 

[GreatTone]

If you are looking for a fan to dry records, and want to combine that with eliminating any remaining static, look into one of these babies:

They are industrial ionizers with a built-in fan, available used on ebay for under $100; I got the one above for more like $50. Generates a huge quantity of pos and neg ions, with an adjustable fan speed. Many different brands that do something similar.

Unless a record is really noisy or has fingerprints, I don't even clean them any more. Holding it in front of the ionizer and wiping them off removes everything that isn't oily. That reduces noise quite a bit on its own, if the noise is from static/dust, which it turns out is a fair bit of it on any given record, even those that look pristine. I have a packing peanut on a thread by my turntable; if I hold the record near it and the peanut is attracted to the vinyl, I turn on the ionizer and wave the record in front of it for a few seconds. No more static! Just a thought.

 

[drtool]

That sir is a great idea. Plus the only reason on earth packing peanuts should exist.

 

[4-2-7]

That sir is a great idea. Plus the only reason on earth packing peanuts should exist.

lol

I hate chassing those thind all over the place unpacking something.

 

[4-2-7]

If you are looking for a fan to dry records, and want to combine that with eliminating any remaining static, look into one of these babies:

They are industrial ionizers with a built-in fan, available used on ebay for under $100; I got the one above for more like $50. Generates a huge quantity of pos and neg ions, with an adjustable fan speed. Many different brands that do something similar.

Unless a record is really noisy or has fingerprints, I don't even clean them any more. Holding it in front of the ionizer and wiping them off removes everything that isn't oily. That reduces noise quite a bit on its own, if the noise is from static/dust, which it turns out is a fair bit of it on any given record, even those that look pristine. I have a packing peanut on a thread by my turntable; if I hold the record near it and the peanut is attracted to the vinyl, I turn on the ionizer and wave the record in front of it for a few seconds. No more static! Just a thought.

Yeah but what about your brain:scratch2:

Does it hurt any cells:headscrat