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Ultrasonic Cleaners - They do Work...

MX117.MC7150 said:
Hmmm............ wonder if your stylus is bad? That 'white, thread-like substance' sounds like it could be vinyl being cut off by your stylus. Same with that collection of dust.
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I take your point about the stylus making its presence known in the groove. I have a theory that different stylii contact profiles like to 'claim ownership' of the record grooves by cleaning the groove walls of grunge left in place by the action of previous needles. Most of what I play is probably at least 50 years old, so who knows what stylii profiles have travelled those little canyons... Interestingly,what the dust bug seems to get is just very fine, brownish dust. Maybe this is the remains from the cleaning cycle that the vacuum didn't get? Dunno. But it is never boring. :scratch2:
 
BMW rider said:
I bought a 6 liter ultrasonic cleaner off eBay for ~$200 and then built a frame to spin the LPs in the bath. I've put about 35 LPs through a 10-12 minute cleaning cycle and I'm impressed. 25 of the LPs had already been through my Nitty Gritty, yet the water is already getting a little cloudy. The Nitty Gritty is now relegated to vacuuming the LPs dry when they come out of the US cleaner.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Which model did you buy?
 
MX117.MC7150 said:
Can you post a pic of the frame/rotation apparatus that you built?
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I've been meaning to post some pictures. It's a very simple set-up for manual rotation (at this point). I built a wood frame around the top that's tension fit. I cut down a paint stirrer and using a sanding drum, made two recesses for the spindle "bearings". The spindle is made of two sections of 1/4" threaded rod (one is 6" and one is 3") joined by a threaded coupler. The coupler is fixed on the handle side using Loctite. I need to add another handle on the far side, or something large and flat for loading/unloading the LPs. 1/2" nylon spacers keep the LPs separated and large nylon washers protect the label from the nylon wing nut and threaded coupler. The spindle rotates in sliding screen door rollers (positioned with nylon nuts) which sit in the paint stirrer handles. Here are some pics:

Basic frame around the top, friction fit using the wood screws
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Close-up of the paint stirrer holders for the spindle
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Spindle
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Spindle mounted on US cleaner
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Thanks BMW Rider. That's the one I was look at, too. I was going to try to space the LP's out 1" apart with 1/2" tubing spacers.
 
I got the ADS in today and of course rushed in and got it filled and did a couple records. I chose a couple that were playable, but noisy.

I quickly discovered that miracles are not possible, but the remaining ticks are likely scratches, but they are less irritating with a clearer overall background. I'm going to run a couple of them through again as I did not add anything beyond the standard cycle.

As an example, the first was "For Everyman". I've struggled to get a really good copy of this. The first cleaning did not bring perfection, but it's certainly enjoyable now.

Next up is John Denver's "Aerie". I expected this to be a particular challenge, as so much of side 1 is very pristine, quiet, and crystal clear when it's right. Again, it's a thrift store record and I'm going to give it another pass, but it's now very good.

I think what's most surprising is not the top, but bottom end. I am very surprised at the clarity of the bass in both LP's I've tried so far. Of course, these are just very initial thoughts after running two records through, but I do know that so far it's two LP's that were in my cull pile that will stick around awhile.
 
I'm slowly making my way through my LPs with the ultrasonic cleaner. Every LP had previously received a healthy scrub with a paint pad and/or Nitty Gritty pad, then vacuumed dry on a Nitty Gritty Record Master. This morning, I started to play Steely Dan Greatest Hits and the surface noise was really bothersome. 12 minutes in the ultrasonic cleaner and then vacuumed dry on the NG made an amazing improvement. As Bayou Tiger states, you can't repair abuse (scratches), but the before/after difference was really impressive. It's amazing to see how much dirt has been removed; the water is noticeably cloudier than when I started (about 45 -50 LPs ago).
 
BMW Rider - I bought the type like yours but I got the 10L. It was on "sale" for $243. I'm looking to do 8 at a time spaced 1" apart.
 
GPJeff said:
BMW Rider - I bought the type like yours but I got the 10L. It was on "sale" for $243. I'm looking to do 8 at a time spaced 1" apart.
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Giddy-up! That's a 60% increase in throughput. My next project is motorizing the spindle with a small stepper motor so I don't have to stand there while it does its magic. I'll look at both belt-drive and direct-drive arrangements depending where it's best to mount the motor and install the loaded spindle.
 
I decided to motorize mine rather than stand over it spinning the spindle. I ordered a 2 RPM motor and a set of gears. After receiving the (1" diameter) gears, I realized that I should have ordered ones much larger. Rather than pay for new ones, I decided to change the way the motor mounts and interfaces with the spindle. My original plan was for the gear to sit inside the rollers/bearings on the spindle, but changed it so the gear was outside the bearing. After messing around trying to cobble the motor and gear onto the existing design, I changed the bearing supports to bigger pieces of craft plywood (1/8”) with a 1” hole drilled in them about 1-1/4” down from the top. That created a deep “slot” for the rollers to drop into and holds them there firmly with no possible side-to-side play. I also made everything slightly adjustable so I could move the supports left/right and up/down into the final position and then clamp everything down. The LPs are about as deep into the cleaner as they can go (1/8” or less clearance from the edges). It now works like a champ! Here’s a couple of quick videos of it in operation with a full load of 5 LPs.

Ultrasonic video 1

Ultrasonic video 2
 
Cool! Couple of questions: are you worried about the water dripping onto the labels as the records rotate? And where did you get your motor/gears?
 
GreatTone said:
Cool! Couple of questions: are you worried about the water dripping onto the labels as the records rotate? And where did you get your motor/gears?
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The LPs spin slowly enough (2 RPM) that any water drains off around the labels, so they stay completely dry.

I picked up the motor off eBay (link). It was shipped from China, so delivery took a full two weeks. It has a surprising amount of torque. I had a 12V power supply for an old router that I used for power (configured with a reverse switch).

I picked up the gears from Servo City (link). That could be an addictive site with all the robotic parts. The motor has a 6mm drive shaft, while my spindle is 1/4" threaded rod, so while the exterior dimensions of the gears were the same, the bores were different.
 
4-2-7 said:
I would never use glue or any of the other home resilient around here. I can't even see glue as cost effective.
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Glue isn't expensive at all. For about a quarter an album it's brought back a LOT of albums my RCM could not. But this idea could be better.
 
I think what we need is an enterprising individual to make and sell a reasonably priced setup (preferably all stainless or something that won't warp, rot or rust)that would work for any number of records in any ultrasonic cleaner larger enough to hold an album - or ten. The cleaner is what goes bad anyway, and one can find them priced reasonably enough nowadays to replace that portion. But the part that holds and turns the records is what is needed here.

I can see it anyway - but I can't build it! lol!
 
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