A Worthwhile Untrasonic Cleaner

Man this is like deja vu all over again.....

I spent well over a year researching the US cleaning thing and about 2 months ago had all my ducks in a row, took the plunge. I bought a cheap tank, 6L Chinese product that runs at 40kHz, 180W and would likely spring for something a little better but at $100 it seemed reasonable place to start.

I got the VinylStack 3 record but in retrospect, would have opted for the 4 record stack as it will just increase each cycle by 1 record and take no more time.

The formula was the most tricky part and on another forum, a gent who is a chemist has been entertaining questions and given learned answers for a couple years now. I thought that I would try a solution based on his and others recommendations which will hopefully cover most of the gamut of what we will run into as far as unwanted stuff stuck to our record grooves is concerned.

Here is the formula I am using and have found it to be very excellent indeed:

FOR A 10 GALLON MIX (8 TANK-FULLS AT 5 QTS. DISTILLED WATER PER TANK)
(I discovered that 5 qts. works perfectly in the 6 liter tank, fills nearly to the overfill line)

Triton X-100 50ml
Hepatstat 256 38ml
IPA (91%) 72ml
_________________
Total 160ml

Mix these ingredients in a container (I am using an empty IPA bottle).
You will need to refrigerate the Triton after opening as it is prone to growing bacteria otherwise. Once the Hepastat is added, no more worries and the solution can be stored at room temperature. Also, you will not be able to mix the Triton unless you have added the IPA as it is extremely difficult to mix unless you do.

Once you have the above ingredients mixed in your empty IPA bottle (or a bottle of your choice), add 20ml to each tank of 5qts distilled water. Then, ADD AN ADDITIONAL 200ml of IPA (91%) to the solution in the tank and you’re ready to go!  Once you start to see a lot of detritus in the bottom of the tank, it will be time for a refill.  Totally empty the tank, rinse well (I use the faucet in the kitchen for this) and dry (I use paper towels).  You still have 80ml of the mixture left, so enough to do 4 more tanks.....get the picture?

As mentioned, this formula is nearly identical to that suggested by the kind gentleman on the other forum who goes by the handle of Phantomrebel so giving credit to whence it is due.

The last step before you drop the records in on your VinylStack or other turning/holding device is to turn the US cleaner on for at least 5 minutes to allow the solution to degass.....you will achieve better results that way. I do use the VinylStack, as noted, and have it set to 6V that yields 1 complete turn of the record every 3 minutes. I set the timer to 15 minutes, which means 5 complete turns for that cycle. I set the heater to 30deg. C. but as others have noted, when the transducers are turned on the temperature will rise fairly steadily. I usually do about 9 records in a session (3 cycles of 3 records) and the ending temperature is about 42-45deg. C. I have noticed NO warping or other unhappy outcomes at these temperatures. I would suspect that the records at the higher temps (the last 3 cleaned) actually might benefit the most at the elevated temps.

Happy cleaning all.....and.....it really, really works! I’ve provided a couple friends here where I live with the details and they are just smitten at how clean and quiet their records are now.

Appreciate your post, spiritofradio!  I can tell you this was the one thing that held me back for a long time, not having a solution that was fairly inexpensive, made from readily available ingredients, and most of all effective!  After all, the whole reason to improve our cleaning techniques is that we want the cleanest possible records to spin, right?  The tanks and the record spinning gadgets had both become very reasonable in terms of price, so it was just what to use as the solution that kept me from jumping in.  Now that I have, and been cleaning this way for a couple months, it's really a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned.  Thanks again, I hope it helps a lot of vinyl enthusiasts take the next step.  By the way, Phantomrebel has quite an informative thread over on another forum that is extremely helpful if you are interested.  Just google him and record cleaning and you'll see what I mean.  

Yes, that is correct.....the original formula in fact called for 300ml to be added but I thought that I would try just 200ml and it seems to be working just fine.  The chemist I refer to also suggested that he felt this to be a bit overkill with the IPA, although nothing untowards as far as negative effect on the vinyl itself, so I reduced the amount to 200ml in large part just to be a bit more conservative and not go through IPA so quickly.  The original formula is available but I'm not sure I am OK to provide a link to it here.  Can a mod perhaps let me know?  I will be happy to do that, just don't want to get sideways with the rules of this forum.  Thanks for asking, questions are the way I got to where I'm at and I'm very pleased with the outcome!

Correct, the label will inform you of that and it is highly advised to wear protective gloves and eyewear when handling the product.  Avoiding skin contact and especially eye contact is extremely important.  Additionally, the container that it comes as I bought it has a dispenser that must be removed to get the liquid to flow out of the container.  This is all addressed in the other forum to which I alluded, the thread by Phantomrebel.  I'm not sure I can point to that thread directly without violating this forum's rules.  Please advise.  It is really necessary reading to proceed safely, but once you know how to approach things there will be no real concern, at least there was not for me.  Good call though antinn.  Thanks.

Antinn, that is very interesting.....one of the variants of the original formula was to use Tergitol S-15-3 and S-15-9 (not sure in what combination %) but then it was posited using Triton 100-X would work just as well so that is what I went with.  This is still a process, and I appreciate all observations to improve upon it.  If elimination of IPA is possible, that also reduces the cost quite a bit although it's not hugely expensive.  On the other hand, when considering doing about 15-20 records per tank and then cleaning/refilling with the goal of doing an entire collection of >3,000 records, it might become considerable. Thank you for your thoughts.

"Tergitol 15-S-3 is not water soluble, it is intended for oils."

Maybe that is why that formula also called for the IPA?  I don't know, just a guess so that it might be necessary for the 15-S-3 to become soluble.  In any case, this is way above my understanding of the chemistry involved.  What might you suggest as a formula that will work without the IPA?  Just leave it out, substitute 15-S-9 for the Triton?  Add Hepastat and try that?

Antinn, thank you immensely and you sound a lot like that Phantomrebel guy, who has a slightly different take on it but I will give it a shot.  For one, makes it a whole lot easier, no need to mix up a solution, just add it to the distilled water and you're done.  If it works as well as what I'm doing now, all the better and that would certainly be a great place for anyone to start in terms of getting their US cleaning system going.  I am going to ask the question of Phantomrebel to see what he thinks about it and will post back here.  This is kind of an adventure we are all on for what's most effective and simple at the same time.....I'm all for that.  Very kind of you to chime in here with your knowledge, much appreciated indeed.

Thank you antinn.  I appreciate your efforts and this will likely lead to a way to improve upon the solution.  I am concerned about the Triton as well regarding environmental issues so the Tergitol seem like a better choice.  I'm going to order some and try it out.  I'll be back....

"there is method to this madness."
To be sure, antinn, this is very true and since this whole thing is pretty new for most of us, I imagine there will be some trials and experimentation involved but in the end most effective and simplest method will be the one I'm interested in. 

So if I'm reading this correctly, to achieve .5% Tergitol 15-S-9  concentration one would use:

5qts.(total volume of distilled water) =  4,730ml. (1qt. = 946ml. x 5)
4,730ml. at .5% = 23.65ml or 24ml. to keep things sane, is that correct? 

Maybe even make it a bit easier to just use 25ml. since my measuring device has a marker for that and no harm done.  25ml. of the Tergitol to 5qts. distilled water and you're done....sounds like a plan and I'm going to order some later today. 

Will report back on the findings once I have cleaned some records and made comparisons to my present formula.  I believe the Hepastat 256 was recommended as an antistatic measure, so would there be any benefit to using that along with the Tergitol in your estimation?

Thanks, antinn.  Will the Tergitol mix well in distilled water?  The Triton X-100 that I'm using now does not, hence pre-mixing it in IPA is necessary.  

Antinn, I would think that getting the tank up to about 30-35deg. C and then turning it on, the transducers that is, as you add the Tergitol should then produce the desired result as far as dissolution is concerned.

Great you are getting back into spinning vinyl!  Good luck with your cleaning method and enjoy the music!

Thanks again for your input.

Thank you antinn, I will give it a go.....appreciate your follow up and look forward to comparing results. 

So I wanted to follow up on this discussion as I have received feedback on another forum that I trust will be helpful here as well.  The kind chemist of whom I have spoken previously responded that while a simple solution is indeed convenient, it may not provide the best results.  He states "There is no ONE solution for every record as they vary in types and levels of contamination."  I believe this makes a lot of sense but am still going to give the Tergitol a go as well.  I have many records cleaned now with my present formulation using Triton X-100, Hepastat and IPA in distilled water so it will be interesting to see how those fare compared to some that I will clean with just a Tergitol 15-S-9 in distilled water mixture.  Stay tuned!