Record Cleaning Machines

@oldaudiophile,

Yes, the pump/filter system is the same one that Tima uses, and if you read this lengthy comment section  Precision Aqueous Cleaning of Vinyl Records - The Vinyl Press you will see where I worked with Tima to develop it.  I have work with a number of people developing similar pump/filter systems - its gets tough sourcing equivalents for people in Poland & New Zealand.

Regarding what method will achieve the best cleaning, as I wrote in the book - "XII.13 The final chapters of this document will discuss machine assisted cleaning methods: vacuum record cleaning machines (RCM) and ultrasonic cleaning machines (UCM). It’s important to consider that machines are generally developed for two primary reasons – reduce labor and improve process efficiency. Process efficiency can mean faster (higher throughput) and/or higher probability of achieving quality or achieving a quality that manual labor cannot produce. Manual cleaning in the appropriate environment with appropriate controls can achieve impressive levels of cleanliness, but the labor, skill, time and probability of success generally make it impractical for manufacturing environments. But for the home audio enthusiast; depending on your attention to details, adopting machine assisted cleaning may or may not yield a cleaner record. However, the ease of use and convenience provided by machines can be very enticing and cannot be denied."

However, make no mistake, if your process throughput is very high; i.e, you need/want to clean 5-6 records at a time - UT is it.  But, if you are not careful with all the details, you may process records fast, but that does not mean that they will be 'cleaner' than a process/system that cleans one at time.  

Devil is in the details,
Neil

@bdp24,

The process you use is very similar to that used by @whart for some years now -  System Notes-Austin, 2017 - The Vinyl Press.  He uses a Monks vacuum-RCM for pre-clean, KL Audio UT for final clean (DIW only) and then dry with the Monks.  I have worked with a number of people using this process with variations in chemistry and equipment, but once dialed are very satisfied - its a proven process that works.  People cleaning many records at a time with good UT tank filtration do get excellent results with just air dry.  

But some (many) people want the ultimate convenience provided by the Degritter,  But some are now using a separate tank for rinse which is easily swapped-in and does elevate the performance of the unit.  

Take care,
Neil

@antinn , this paper is incredible! It has me rethinking a lot of things and looking at purchasing what would probably be a lifetime supply of industrial cleaners, lol.  

Could I ask, if you were to recommend an easy/fast version of your cleaning method, what would that look like? Would a one-step process, for example, even be possible?  Thanks in advance. 

@wavez,

 

One step, of course, its called a $3000 Degritter or maybe a $6000 Clearaudio Double Matrix Pro Sonic.  Convenience is expensive.  There is the ~$500 (w/shipping) Humminguru, but to get good results with it you need multiple steps.

As far as a manual cleaning process, there are the one-step record cleaning brushes that many people use, but that is not what the book is addressing.

A fast easy version is shown Figure 6.  You can skip the acid-wash if you want - but it can prevent you from getting the most out of the process.   But there are details described in Chapter V to make sure you get the results you can; otherwise you will attempt to do me death by a 1000 questions and I am just going to say - Read Chapter 3 on how to prepare the cleaning solutions and read Chapter 5 on how to use them.  The Devil is in the Details.  

Good Luck,

@oldaudiophile before you get too far down the road, you may want to buy a good USB microscope so you can see clearly down into the groove. Once you have that in place you will be able to visually see the differences between clearers as well as hear any difference. I did this several years ago, and it totally changed the way I clean records. 

So many cleaners do nothing more than clean the top surface of the LP and do little to nothing to really clean the groove, especially the bottom of the groove where all sorts of crap resides.