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Ultrasonic record cleaner question....

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The process works and works well.
Now, in my experience, these US cleaners from China are a shot in the dark, most of the times. My first purchased was frustrating as it failed after 5 minutes and the membrane control pad was probably mis-aligned and didn't function correctly. The seller sent me a second one free of charge that failed again and then checked their stock and had two failures on two tested units. I got a refund on that.
My second purchase was made following comments from others that had tried that particular type and brand. That works fine and it a 10lt unit with 6 transducers. I find it works much better than with 3 transducers, especially when using a stacking unit to clean multiple LPs at the same time.

what is offered on this auction is a nice combo of parts that are needed to make a working system. I don't know the particular U/S unit so I don't have any comments on that one, negative or positive.

BTW, the problem with the original U/S I had that failed was incorrect assembly. As it had 3 transducers, it came with two driver PCBs, one good for a single transducer and one that could drive two. They were wired the wrong way and the "weaker" driver was overloaded. From the two units I harvested two good PCBs and assembled a working U/S that functions OK. That shows how terrible QC can be in these assembly lines.
 
It should work quite well. If you're thinking about purchasing this cleaner, you might consider building an ultrasonic LP cleaner yourself and save some money. Check your local CL or OfferUp as I've found many inexpensive used ultrasonic units which could be used to create your own LP cleaner.

 
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I made one about a year ago but still haven't tried to clean vinyl on it. I'm not sure what to use as a cleaning solution to be sure every possible contaminant is removed. It can spin 6 records but because tank doesn't have it's own heater, fish tank heater was purchased. I don't want to start the cleaning and not be able to spend enough time to clean at least 25 records since bunch of water and whatever cleaner will be wasted, plus at least cleaning solution stage needs to be fairly warm and it takes time to heat it. Just need to get motivated I guess or run out of projects.


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One of my customers used to be jewelry cleaning tech and had several US tanks. I got this one in the exchange of securing exhaust heat shield on his car.
I had a rotisserie motor attachment for the grill that is long gone so I utilized. Spacers between records are made of 1/4" plexiglass with drawer liner foam attached with contact cement. All metal pieces are made from 316 stainless steel.
 
grindfix said:
I made one about a year ago but still haven't tried to clean vinyl on it. I'm not sure what to use as a cleaning solution to be sure every possible contaminant is removed. It can spin 6 records but because tank doesn't have it's own heater, fish tank heater was purchased. I don't want to start the cleaning and not be able to spend enough time to clean at least 25 records since bunch of water and whatever cleaner will be wasted, plus at least cleaning solution stage needs to be fairly warm and it takes time to heat it. Just need to get motivated I guess or run out of projects.


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One of my customers used to be jewelry cleaning tech and had several US tanks. I got this one in the exchange of securing exhaust heat shield on his car.
I had a rotisserie motor attachment for the grill that is long gone so I utilized. Spacers between records are made of 1/4" plexiglass with drawer liner foam attached with contact cement. All metal pieces are made from 316 stainless steel.
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There are many thoughts on what is the best way to clean LPs. Here is a link to a long thread with much info regarding record cleaning:
https://audiokarma.org/forums/index...-developing-the-best-possible-methods.689430/
BTW, nice build there! That's a great idea, using an old rotisserie motor to spin the records.
 
MRL_Audio said:
Read more than a few DIY uses of the rotisserie motor to drive the rotation. Most are too fast however and need to be slowed.
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True, so one must check the specs before purchasing. There are some rotisserie motors which turn as slow as 2 rpm. These should be slow enough for ultrasonic cleaning LPs.
 
After having a look at the one the OP is talking about in the first post, I would not be in favor. The spacers (9 of them) do not look to be wide enough to provide for the recommended space between records (most agree ~ 7/8" to 1"). It claims to do 6 records at a time, so why 9 spacers? Also, those spacers do not appear to have rubber o-rings in between so there's really no way for them to keep fluid from reaching the labels (a prescription for things to get messy and believe me, messy is NOT WHAT YOU WANT WHEN DOING THIS).

AIso, I didn't notice what the speed of the motor is for turning the records. Again, all the research I've done to arrive at optimal turning speed reveals that only about 1/3rpm.....that's 3 minutes to make one revolution.....is going to provide best results. My cleaning cycle lasts 15 minutes, that's 5 revolutions.....speed is NOT your friend here.

Here's what I wound up getting, and I am not associated just a satisfied customer:

https://thevinylstack.com/view-cart/#!/3-Record-ULTRA-Sonic-Spin-Kit/p/51658871/category=13505423

https://thevinylstack.com/view-cart/#!/Sonic-Spin-Record-Drying-Stand/p/52362069/category=13505423

https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-6L-Ult...083766&hash=item2aed1ec7c5:g:z~wAAOSwJdRfER48

It is true that the purchase of the cleaner itself is a bit of a gamble as SaSi above points to. They seem all to be made in China, regardless of the "brand" advertised (e.g. Vevor), and you may get a lemon but if you do, easy enough in most cases to get a replacement of refund. The heater on mine was a bit quirky but I finally got it to do what I need, although heating will take some time and may go warmer than you intend so I keep an eye on it while cleaning.

The vinylstack is adequate, nothing special and overpriced in my opinion, but it does the job and I haven't seen anything out there that I would rather use. If you do wind up going this route getting the drying stand would be, again in my opinion, essential to the process as after using the setup and cleaning over 2,000 LPs in the past year, I can't imagine how I would do without it or at least something that functions like it does. Also, if I did it over again, I would get the stack that holds 4 records as that will still allow you to have the minimum spacing between records. You just have to be a little more careful when putting the records in the tank and removing them as you will have less room at the sides. This will not be an issue as you become familiar with the operation. Vinylstack recommends the 10L tank for 4 records because you have more room, but in discussions with them they agree that the 6L tank will work fine, they just don't want a lot of people complaining that they bumped their records on the sides and damaged them.

So, for somewhere around $50 more, you will be better off....again, only in my opinion.

I'm anticipating your next question as for the solution to use.....man, that one has volumes written on it here and elsewhere of encyclopedic proportions! For what it's worth, here's my "brew:"

50ml Triton X-100
38ml Hepastat 256
72ml IPA added to the Triton and Hepastat

I mix the above in a container (I use an empty IPA bottle) and as you can see, the total is 160ml.

Fill the 6L tank with about 5 quarts of distilled (you will see that brings the level to the FULL mark inside the tank).
Then, measure 20ml of your solution and pour that in the tank, followed by an additional 150ml of IPA (I've used up to 200ml but don't notice any benefit). Turn the tank on and let the transducers run for at least 5 minutes to "degass" the mix and you're ready to add records.....that is, after the tank heats to the desired temperature.

There is considerable debate regarding rinsing after US cleaning and, with due respect, I'm of the opinion that it is a good thing. You already have a spin clean and that is what I would suggest you use in a clean, distilled bath to rinse the records before vacuuming them dry. The VPI would actually be the way to go for the entire enchilada as you can rinse and dry with that after taking them out of your US cleaner.

Hope that helps you a bit.
 
Try to buy the ultrasonic cleaner with the most US power. If you want to clean 6 records with the same amount of time you need twice the US power than you need for 3 records.
 
If your mix of ingredients is correct you don’t need to waste time rinsing. Air drying after the US bath works just fine in my 4,000+ LP experience. Also, a 10L tank is overkill. Both in terms of size and benefit. In order to save wear and tear on my unit I heat the distilled water on the stove prior to putting it into the US. Less work for the US bath to deal with.
 
MRL_Audio said:
If your mix of ingredients is correct you don’t need to waste time rinsing. Air drying after the US bath works just fine in my 4,000+ LP experience. Also, a 10L tank is overkill. Both in terms of size and benefit. In order to save wear and tear on my unit I heat the distilled water on the stove prior to putting it into the US. Less work for the US bath to deal with.
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I believe a rinse and a vacuum are the best but each to his own.
 
Thunderbox said:
I believe a rinse and a vacuum are the best but each to his own.
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After cleaning over 4,000+ LP's with no rinse and vacuum I must agree... to each his own. I figure over those 4,000 LP's a rinse and vacuum takes about a minute each to complete. Not doing that, with outstanding results I might add, saved me 67hrs. That's a lot of extra listening and enjoyment hours. ;)
 
Isonic owners...is it correct to say that this:

https://smile.amazon.com/iSonic-P48...s=isonic+record+cleaner&qid=1609884799&sr=8-5

Plus this:

https://smile.amazon.com/iSonic-P48...s=isonic+record+cleaner&qid=1609884799&sr=8-4

Would equal this:

https://smile.amazon.com/iSonic-P48...s=isonic+record+cleaner&qid=1609884799&sr=8-3

For about ~$120 less? Or am I missing something?

I do like the idea of being able to clean 10 records at a time. I have a Record Doctor but never use it because it takes too long and is noisy.
 
Mine looks very similar to it.
It cleans 5 LPs at a time. Its size is 6L, but you put about 4L of distilled water.
I recommend to use 3 LPs at a time since there won't be much gap between LPs if you use 5.
I've cleaned about 2000 LPs so far.
I've use different methods - spin clean, vacuum clean, cleaning with wood glue, etc.
Ultrasonic cleaning works best.
This is my cleaning procedure for dirty record.
1. Clean with record brush to remove all dusts from dirty record.
2. Spin clean with cleaning fluid
3. Ultrasonic clean (at 33' temp and for 12 min) with cleaning fluid
4. Spin clean with no cleaning fluid
5. Wipe off water with a clean cloth
6. Dry
If the record is relatively clean, I would skip #1 and #2 above.
 
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