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Advice re: home-brew water

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?eanlg&1132333988&openflup&1&4

Hi, I'm trying to upgrade the ingredients that I use in my cleaning solution (VPI 16.5).
I used to combine 3 parts drugstore distilled water to 1 part Isopropyl alcohol plus a few drops Photoflo.

I'm going to use Technical-grade 99.6% alcohol, and I recently got some Triton X-100 and X-114 to replace the Photoflo (which is supposed to be undesirable).

The last thing I need is good water, especially to rinse.
I did find some $55 a gallon water, but I think that's overkill, and there's the possibility that an opened gallon (which will take me a year to use) will become contaminated due to simply being opened.

This leads me to my question: I'm not sure if the link I opened this with works or not, but it's an extremely thorough water analysis where the author ('Justin time') recommends Rain Fresh bottled water (http://www.rain-fresh.com/stepprocess.htm).

The problem is that this isn't (never was, I'm told) distilled water, nor is it deionized.
Has anyone used this and can confirm that it's the thing to use?
I'm guessing that the 10-step process that is referred to on the Rain Fresh link more than compensates for the lack of distillation and deionization, but I'm looking for confirmation. Is 'Justin time' out there? I wrote an email, but he doesn't seem to have posted here in a long time.

2nd question: does anyone know if either of the Triton's (110, 114) is better?

Thanks for any help.
charlieo
6 responses Add your response
jtimothya
612 posts
 
I can see a 5 gallon container of water lasting me the rest of my life.

Dan_ed, I bet you live longer than that!

Like Rushton, I do 2 rinses per side, and find that is very effective in cleaning the record and reducing noise. Without being profligate its nice not concerning myself with using "audiophile grade" water when the Nerl lab water works great.

I haven't found the NERL SKU 0015 aka "Safe & Sure Ultra Pure Reagent Grade Water" for sale on-line. All of them get particulate filtered down to 0.2 microns, so I'm not sure what the higher grade will yield over the lower for record cleaning. Then again I was surprised how much cleaner Lloyd's Prelude worked vs my previous DD or RRL regimen, so one never knows.
 
Tim
 
rushton's avatar
rushton
2,445 posts
 
Charlieo, I vacuum to dry (two rotations on the VPI) but then do a double rinse with the reagent grade water. I'm having very good results. But, I never trust the vacuum to get the LP dry enough to place directly into an inner sleeve; it always sits for at least an hour for additional air drying.
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dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
What is it going to cost you to set up the equipment to produce water at this purity? How much of this do you really need?

I can see a 5 gallon container of water lasting me the rest of my life.

Oh, and if you haven't already, look into steaming your LPs to get them clean.
charlieo OP
1 posts
 
Thanks for the resposes/info, it was very helpful.

The thing that threw me about Rain Fresh is that Justin_time pretty much states that this is distilled/deionized water, which it isn't.
There is a 'polarized magnetic array treatment' which sounds to me like it might serve to deionize the water.

I might get some 1 liter bottles of the Rain Fresh to mix with alcohol/114, and get some of the Nerl water for the final rinse. There is an option for 6: 1 pint bottles of Nerl (#0015) which is reasonably priced when compared to the larger sizes.
It's in a squeeze-top bottle, which is most likely superior (as far as contamination goes) to the VPI bottles.

Any thoughts about this: I'm hesitant to vacuum the record totally dry (of cleaning solution) before I rinse. It seems that drying might leave residue, which the sebsequent rinse will not remove (can't see water removing dried contaminants, otherwise, we'd use just water as a cleaner). I prefer to get most of my cleaning solution off, but stop short of totally dry, then I rinse and vacuum dry.
jtimothya
612 posts
 
 
I purchased a 5 gallon box of the NERL Reagent Grade Water for $33 including shipping. The supplier I bought from (MedicalMailOrder.com) no longer carries the water, but if you're willing to go for a 5 gal. quantity it can be found much much cheaper than $30/gallon. The box includes a spigot and is easy to use in refilling a dispenser bottle.

I did a quick google and found this: NERL 9805. It is not identical to their Reagent Grade product (9800-5), but very close. Compare the products at Thermo Scientific.

You may be able to find either for less money with a bit more searching.

As always, the Audiogon search is your friend. Read for more answers to your question.
 
Tim
 
rushton's avatar
rushton
2,445 posts
 
Charlieo, I haven't used the Rain Water brand water, but the description in the link you provided looks as though they've processed through a number of good filtering steps (including both absolute filtration and reverse osmosis filtration) that should create a good water to use in your cleaning regimen. Justin_time's post is considered by many here to be pretty well definitive, so I'd be confident in his recommendation.

The NERL Diagnostics Reagent Grade water is perhaps one of the best waters available for the rinse step (which is by far the most critical, and benefits the end results most, in the use of an ultra pure water). As you point out, the cost is high and buying in 1 gallon containers presents some challenge if one will not use it within a reasonable time after opening. Nevertheless, purchasing the 9800-1 which contains four 1-gallon containers does get the cost down to about $30 per gallon. (This is where fellow vinyl nuts living nearby come in very handy. :-) )
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