Snap, crackle, pop


After I clean the used record with my spin clean I still can notice pops in ticks. Does that mean the record still has dirt in it or is that just where in tear from the previous owners? I tried cleaning the record in the spin clean again but it really doesn't get any better.
last_lemming

Showing 3 responses by czarivey

Yes and no. Carefully inspect play surface again if there are any scratches.

Spin-Clean isn't efficient to remove the dirt and you may be even pushing it inside the grove even more.
If I face very dirty record, I use protective plastic 'pancakes' with rear-main automotive seal adhesed on each pancake. So labels are between pancakes clamped and than the record is placed onto the dishwasher with disabled hot water and heater. No detergent is added as well. This method cleaned huge jukebox collection of 7" records. I cut about 4 dozen of those pancakes and used epoxy to adhese Chevy 2500 truck rear-main seals on them(perfect size!).
You can get enzyme based cleaning solution at much lower price tag. Once audio comes onto play the price bumps-up 10x at least. It's simply an enzyme based surgical tools cleaner which retails anywhere from $50 to $100 per gallon(check amazon http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=surgical+enzyme+cleaner).
1 gallon can clean about 2..3,000 vinyls depending on contamination and it works indeed best.
Ultrasonic cleaners usually consist of an ultrasonic bath.
To fit 12" record size one should retail at $3...500 range depending on width and electric slow-rpm motor or one with reductor. Also you'll need to put together some frame for the motor. Plywood is fastest and cheapest approach to build it.
With ultrasonic cleaner all you need is distilled water, but if vinyls are highly contaminated, I'd purchase one of those enzyme cleaners in smaller quantities if possible. A gallon would be sufficient for 5k vinyls if not more when using an ultrasonic machine.
Dryer is optional especially when using enzyme cleaner. Vinyls will normally dry out with no residue at all, but optionally i'd build one using blower motor and pipes from the hydroponic gardening equipment.
Purchasing separate ultrasonic transducers and SS bath may save you even more since you don't need heater that usually supplied with any ultrasonic bath
Machines like VPI work and ultrasonic too.
They remove most of the noise if not all. I had experience cleaning scratched records and they reduced the noise very significantly.
After VPI cleaning Go Champs Go record with surface full of scratches, it plays so clean that some songs I played at the radio station