Record cleaning machine makes more surface noise?

Since no one else has mentioned this, let me be the first. If your records are very worn and were not properly cared for from the time they were purchased by you or a previous owner, all the cleaning in the world will not make them sound less scratchy. Going beyond the care your records received throughout the years, let's face it, many commercially pressed records had far from perfect surfaces when they were new. In the meantime, I really like the VPI 16.5 RCM. I previously used a Nitty Gritty 1.0. It was OK, not as good as the VPI and certainly inadequate if using a multiple step cleaning system like the Walker Prelude Record Cleaning System which I highly recommend.

A second for the vpi. Was great in the '80's and, now that I'm doing vinyl again, still great. I read another post awhile back describing a similar experience with surface noise after cleaning, and I think the conclusion was that the guy wasn't getting all the fluid (and collected debris) off, I think because he wasn't letting the vacuum work long enough. I'm pretty generous with vacuum time, myself, and I use MoFi fluids, and am a happy camper.

Clean records won't be a waste of money. In my opinion, the VPI 16.5 is a bargain. Durable, Flexible and yes noisy. Reasonably priced though and makes cleaning easier so you'll do it more. I'm using mine with steam now. Indispensible.

Fruff1976,

I use the basic Nitty Gritty, and I get very good results with it, (comparible to the results that my friend gets with his VPI 16.5).

Can you describe your cleaning routine, and what fluids, brushes, etc., that you used? (Also, if you did not buy this new, did you replace the possibly warn and dirty velvet lips around the vacuum slot?)

Just so you know, the Nitty Gritty is typically used for vacuum drying the records only, not really for cleaning them. (At least using my routine for cleaning them.) My routine is to first clean one side by hand using Disk Doctor brushes and Record Research Labs (now rebranded as MoFI) Super Vinyl Wash. (If the Records are really dirty, I first clean them with the deep cleaner, and follow up with a Super Vinyl Wash fluid.) Then I put it on the Nitty Gritty and vacuum it dry. I then repeat this procedure for the other side. (NOTE: Having a flat, clean place to lay the records down and clean them is important.) And typically, once I have a fully cleaned record, I put it in a new poly lined record sleeve.

BTW, What did you do with your broken N.G. RCM? If you think it might be salvagable, I would pay you to UPS ground ship it to me. A friend wants a RCM, and since I had to piece mine back together, (after a bad incident with FedEX ground!), I figure I might be able to fix it.

If you truly don't want to put forth the effort into first manual cleaning records and then drying them, a VPI 17F will do an excellent job, as will the Clearaudio Matrix series of RCMs. (And of course the best of the RCM, the Loricraft's and Keith Monk's RCMs, will not only clean them, but will do so with a minimum of noise. Both the VPI, the Nitty Gritty and even the Clearaudio (albeit to a lesser extent) are rather noisy.

Well, Good Luck in your search for a RCM that works best for you!

I think some of your problem may be static. Any time you spin a LP around and apply some type of cleaning brush you can create static. Doing your cleaning in conjunction with a Zerostat or some other static eliminator should help.