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A Worthwhile Untrasonic Cleaner

I just purchased these two items from Amazon (PRIME)...

An Album Rotation device - holds 5 albums...
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07PNCVMZ3/ref=pe_3034960_236394800_TE_dp_1

An Utransonic Cleaning Tub
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07HNQ26WT/ref=pe_3034960_236394800_TE_dp_f1

The rotation device is extremely well built and fits the tub perfectly. The tub also looks well made, but is a bit noisy, but that is normal from what I have read..

I have just finished cleaning some 30+ albums and found the complete unit is extremely good at getting rid of those crackles and pops - even finger prints and other grunge - with minimal effort

The tub defaults to a wash time of 5 minute (I used 10 minutes) and I reduced default temperature to 20 Celsius, but the ultrasonic process warms the water up, so by the time I had finished some 35+ albums it was 30 Celsius.

Even had a friend come over with 3 of his dirtiest albums - grunge + finger prints - just plain grubby. Ten minutes of cleaning and voila - shiney like new (apart from the scratches) playing the album was almost noise free - probably needed a second wash.

So the total cost for both units was around $450 from Amazon.ca ($370 from Amazon.com)) for the two pieces - which from what I have been seeing is perhaps the lowest price for an Ultrasonic cleaner out there.

Eager to try the unit that arrived yesterday, I only used distilled water - without any additive

What additive does the absolute best job ?
What difference does it make?
Or should I just stick with distilled water?

Thanks for any feedback.

One of the best analogue related value for money products I have ever purchased

At this rate I’ll clean my entire vinyl library pretty quickly AND do some of the wife’s jewellery :-)

If you are looking for something that actually cleans you vinyl well - consider these products.

Regards - Steve



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williewonka
64 responses Add your response
billwojo
397 posts
 
You definitely need something to break down the surface tension in the water. There is a commercial product, Terrigal I believe is the product name. It's what the Smithsonian uses to clean records with.
There is a big thread on AK on the proper products to use with a chemist involved in the discussion. Lot's of really great info there.It's nice to see ultrasonic record cleaning coming down in price.

BillWojo
benjie
327 posts
 
@williewonka OP

I am using an iSonic P4875, it is an commercial quality machine. Its a 35 Khz frequency at 165 watts. 3 industrial grade stack transducers with individual control PCB for unmatched cleaning power. The tank is nice and wide at 9.5 inches. The unit is well insulated so it runs pretty quiet, it doesn’t buzz your brains out.

I use the VinylStack Ultra Sonic Spin to mount the records. There is 1 inch spacers that go between the records so there is plenty of room for proper cleaning and you have control on how fast the records spin in the tank. Nice design.
https://thevinylstack.com/

Hope this helps.
williewonka OP
3,072 posts
 
@benjie - what machine are you using?

How many watts?

What is the vibration frequency?

There seems to be a few "variables" and would like to get an appreciation of these attributes of your machine

Many Thanks
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,573 posts
 
Look into inserting a filter to keep the solution clean.
Ag insider logo xs@2x
cleeds
5,722 posts
 
benjie
... plain distilled water does not do anything. It will not clean your records ... It won’t remove grease or fingerprints. You need to use 1 1/2 ounces of isopropyl alcohol (70%) per tank and a surfactant to properly clean records when using an ultrasonic machine.
That’s certainly not universally true, even though it may be true with the machine you are using. The Klaudio US machine uses nothing but distilled water and is very effective with grease and fingerprints. That’s all part of its charm: Ease of use. Essentially one button operation.
benjie
327 posts
 
Sorry to say but plain distilled water does not do anything. It will not clean your records, it doesn't matter how many cycles you do. It won't remove grease or fingerprints. You need to use 1 1/2 ounces of isopropyl alcohol (70%) per tank and a surfactant to properly clean records when using an ultrasonic machine.

As for the  WEWU rotisserie. The records are too close together. The cavitation wave will not be able to move all the way up the record. You should have at least 1 inch between the records, 1 1/2 inches would be ideal. I would recommend just cleaning 2 or 3 records at a time with that system.

This is the surfactant that I use. You only need 1 ounce per tank. This is a case where more in NOT better.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SGY8LRC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,386 posts
 
Cost for increased performance and operating it is too high for me.
williewonka OP
3,072 posts
 
WRT cleaning Time - with this combo I have only used 10 minutes, but time is something I plan on experimenting with - also I plan to experiment with % of Alchohol as an additive

For the most part just plain distilled water removed greasy fingermarks and the larger pops & cracks after 10 minutes one album required a "second dunk", but it did not improve too much so I stopped there

My stylus is an Optimized Contour Contact Line - which really gets way down into the groove, so on some albums there is some very minor noise. My guess is - using a different stylus profile will change the effectiveness of the unit. 

But for the most part 10 minutes does a pretty good job

I'll post further results here as I try alternate approaches.

Cheers
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
Fwiw.
I just ordered both exact units from Amazon USA.
Came in at $440 as the wewu Is still $300 whether Canada or USA dollars.
And I got the 10 gall tank as Amazon insisted the 6 gall was not available for USA purchase?
However compared to the degritter I was looking at ($3000). Leaves a lot of money to buy more records.... Lol.

Now I had purchased a tank previously on eBay but it was very badly made, you get what you pay for.
It gave fair results, enough to convince me us is the way to go.
Then it stopped working at all so I junked it as construction inside was scary poor when I opened it up to investigate.

I really like the look of the rotisserie, being powered and handle 5 albums.
effischer
553 posts
 
You're entirely welcome and thank you for directing my attention to the power connection - I missed that completely.  I may have to add the WEWU rotisserie to my wish list; the wood stand that came with the V8 works and is fairly pretty, but is also bulky and rather awkward to set up.

On the LAST machine cleaning fluid, it smells like it's a dilute isopropyl alcohol solution.  I've been using it since I already had it.  When I run out, I'll give 91% isopropyl a try.  I've cleaned my entire collection (500+; some had to go through more than once) and the US process has brought back stuff I thought was relegated to simply decorative status.  It also revealed one or two that were actually much more badly damaged/produced than I'd recalled.  Win some, lose some.

I forgot to mention run time earlier; I set my tank for 20 minutes for "normal" second hand vinyl (stuff that appears relatively clean) and 30 minutes for "moldy oldies."  It's all a bit of an empirical process.  I found that 20 minutes wasn't enough to get what looked like pizza grease off one Goodwill find, and 30 even worked on one that had visible mold.

Happy listening and thanks again!
williewonka OP
3,072 posts
 
@effischer  - RE:  The rotisserie is higher quality too, but isn't powered. 

Mine is :-) 
- it came with a Wal-wart power supply and there is a small button-switch on the top of the motor unit.

You can see the socket for the power supply from the rear view in the advertisement

Set it and forget it - for however long you program the tub to vibrate for

I've heard putting some isopropyl alcohol in with the water - how much I do not know

Thanks for sharing your experience with the cleaning fluids.

WRT putting cleaning flids on my vinyl I tend to err in the direction of the Rega recommendation - "do not put anything on your vinyl"

Distilled water and maybe some Iso-Alch - That was there can be no residue 

Many Thanks

tablejockey
3,804 posts
 
Thanks for the insight.

I’ve put off purchasing US, and have patiently listened thru ticks/stitches while watching solutions become affordable to schlubs like me

2020 may be the year I finally give in.The Spin Clean will hopefully be officially retired!
effischer
553 posts
 
Thanks for the links!  Wish I'd been able to find them 6 years ago; quite a bit less expensive than the V8 cleaner I ended up with.  The rotisserie is higher quality too, but isn't powered.  I can think of a few ways around that, though.  You might want to look into adapting a low RPM DC electric motor for the purpose - it makes the process pretty much set and forget.

I agree that the ultrasonic system is the best way to clean records, hands-down.  I tried the Kodak Photo-Flo sample included with the V8 and it didn't really seem to make much difference.  I've had a gallon of LAST machine cleaning solution sitting around that was purchased many years ago for a vacuum machine that I never ended up acquiring.  That seems to help get rid of mold and greasy fingerprints more completely than pure distilled water.  I add about 500 ml per tankful.

Other folks here have extolled the virtues of ultra pure water in various ultrasonic applications.  I'm not convinced I have to go quite that far - distilled water out of the local grocery appears to do the trick sufficiently for my purposes.  You can search the forums here for more detail on the matter at your leisure.

FWIW, I don't use the heating element at all.  Room temperature seems to work well enough and I just dump the water down the drain as soon as I see sediment in the bottom of the tank.

Hope this helps and enjoy your clean listening!
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
Thx for sharing Steve.
I am sure this will be of interest to some here.
Sounds like one way to go US for little cash.
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