I would like to express my deepest appreciation and
gratitude to Decibell for pioneering a repair method for our Audio Desk Systeme
record cleaning machines. Many of us had resigned ourselves to considering them
unrepairable and therefore worthless. Following his instructions, I was able to
successfully revive mine. Thank you, Decibell!
What I have written below should be considered an “addendum”
to his work. My purpose is only to further help anyone in our community who
might wish to undertake this repair on their own as I did.
Bottom removal:
The bottom plate serves no other purpose than to protect the
bottom of the internal tank and to hold the rubber feet. It is glued to the
tank bottom with PVC cement in 8 locations; one slightly inboard from each
corner, and one slightly inboard from the midpoint of each side, 8 total. Each
glued area is circular in shape and about the size of a 50 cent piece.
I used a putty knife with a sharpened blade and gently
tapped it into each glue point a little at a time, rotating the record cleaner
as I went, until the cover finally popped off.
Tank bottom “surgery” as described by “decibel”.
Pump replacement:
I was unable to get the exact replacement pump but did find
this one which I thought could easily be made to work.
https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Submersible-produces-Travelling-Gardening/dp/B07234X3D7
This “Comet” pump was the same size but the discharge tube
exited from the top instead of from the side of the pump body. All I had to do
was to remove the piece of rubber hose from the opening at the top of the tank,
cut a 1” long piece of ½” dia. clear plastic tubing found in any plumbing
supply, install it on the discharge tube of the new pump such that it extended
into the same hole as the old one. Then I used silicone aquarium sealant to
seal around this hose connection and also to bond the pump to the side of the
tank. I also put a “dollop” of silicone over the white protective cover of the
wires to secure it to the top of the tank.
When the silicone had cured (24 hrs), I ran the wiring back
through the original opening and secured it to the circuit board of the control
panel. I sealed this opening with plumbers putty.
I also used plumbers putty, available in a small, plastic
tub, to make a “ledge” for the panel cut
out of the tank bottom. After kneading the putty to make it soft and sticky, I
stuck long, flat strips of it to the inside edge of the opening such that about
¼” extended into the opening thereby creating a “ledge.” I place the removed
portion of the panel carefully on this ledge making sure the orientation was
the same as when removed and that the surface was flush with the tank bottom.
Then, using the clear silicone aquarium sealant and adhesive, I filled the gap
just slightly proud of the surface and tooled it flush using my fingertip,
allowing it to cure for 24 hrs.
After curing, I placed the record cleaner right-side-up on
small blocks, filled it with water, and checked for any leakage. I then ran a
few test cleaning cycles with an old LP to make sure all was well. Then I
drained the tank and made sure the tank bottom was completely dry.
Lastly, I reinstalled the bottom plate using the same
silicone as above and allowed it to cure for 24 hrs.
Bottom line:
Many thanks again to Decibell who developed this repair
technique that has allowed many of us to continue using their RCMs without the
huge expense of dealing with the factory.
Fred S.
