I won the Pinewood Derby when I was a Cub Scout. |
Herman- I found your question(s) most valid, the attacks made in response. This is an open forum and the more ideas and people that participate the better it becomes. Sometimes these threads become a pulpit for prophets, again all good, an open forum. Take what you want leave the rest. If someone wants to make their lifes ambition being the best steam cleaner ever, God bless them. They could be doing a lot more harm. I like to steam clean because it is affordable and easy. I do it to keep my records sounding good, playing good music. I am not interested in spending more time getting one more pop out of my album when I could be using that time listening to records. The music is so much more important to me than the process. |
There is a good example of steam cleaning records on YouTube.com.
On another note, I was sent this message to my personal e-mail, I found it in one of my spam filters.
TO: Zenblaster
Z: Whatever you believe be sure , I am prepaired to take certian action,:stop creating what I view as legal issues against your self. Don't respond. Anything further remarks on your part I will elect be use in a Court of Law. Take this as a friendly reminder.
FROM: Crem1 (a member)
Crem- I have no idea what you are rambling about. I have never spoken to or communicated to you other than through this thread. I suggest you seek medical help before legal.
BTW- I was unfortunately born into a family of lawyers so save your time and money on that front.
Bernard Curtin...zenblaster |
It's near the base, it is lit when the thermostat calls for the steamer to heat up. So it goes on and off as the need for steam is called for. It always goes on when first plugged in until the thermostat shuts it down. |
Most steamers have a pressure relief valve in the cap that allows steam to escape at a certain pressure to avoid the tank from exploding. There is a thermostat in these machines that keeps the steam up to, but not over a certain pressure/temperature. I would not take a chance with these relatively inexpensive machines. You could expose yourself to severe burns. Either your thermostat did not shut down the heating element or the relief valve opened prematurely. In either case I would replace the machine, it is not worth the potential risk. |
As TVAD stated the risk is minimal
If your house is more then 20 years old, chances are that your drinking water is flowing through hundreds of leaded solder fittings on its way to your internal organs. Or, if you live anywhere near a city, the air you breath will expose you to a greater lead risk than the cord of your steamer.
When accessing risk it is important to keep it in perspective. |
I use Perrier, the little bubbles loosen particulate and make it easier for my modified Hoover to remove said particulate from the surface of the record. |
You reside in heady territory.
We are all indebted to you for your contributions to the steam cleaning threads. |
I wonder what a psychiatrist would have to say about us posters on this thread?
Before long we will be steaming our records in a hermetically sealed chamber to avoid airborn particles.
The laws of diminishing returns ? |
On e.g. surfaces of metal, a ships or boat propeller, it will pit the metal after some time, and that so badly is must be replaced. The pitting of metal on boats is caused by electrolysis, not cavitation. Two completely different things. Cavitation is the overspinning of a prop because it is out of the water, or in bubbles. Electrolysis is the pitting caused by metals in the water picking up stray voltage around docks and marinas or from the boats electrical system. Neither would be a problem you would encounter while steam cleaning a record. Capt. B Curtin or |
In short, you and Crem are getting a divorce. |
Changes in the weather cause a need to tweek one's turntable & tonearm. Not apprecating those changes can result in slight smearing of mid-range,
Crem1- If you can detect mid-range smearing during changes in the weather you are an audio GOD. I can not even imagine that level of audible acuteness in a bat. You certainly have been blessed. I will read your future posts with a different view, one of reverence.
Keep up the good work, |
Crem-
Sending your personal e-mail through the Agon steam cleaning thread? Haven't you chided others for moving off topic? Then again, I can see how you would mistake this for your own.
As I asked before and hoped that you would chime in. Do you steam clean your records after every play or 10 plays? How often do you clean each record? JB said that I would be all right just cleaning 1 time initially and then maintaining with a brush thereafter. Wondering what others frequency of steaming is?
Smile Crem and remember- the only compliments that are worthwhile come unsolicited |
I checked out that site from Fremer and was amazed that someone would go to those extremes to clean a record.
A question for you extreme steamers. How many times do you play the record between this procedure? I can't imagine it is after every play so what do you do before playing between steams?
I don't steam my new vinyl, I think that something is wrong if I have to go to that extreme on a new platter, although i do clean them as there are usually some minor stuff on them.I do steam my records if I get a used one with some built up gunk. That is usually the last time my record will see steam as I keep them pretty good with other less invasive cleaning methods that also require much less time. I'll be damned if I am going to spend more time cleaning a recored than listening to it. That's were I draw the line. |
" I have been published in the Audio print world several times & I even got a "thumbs-Up" in the "2003 Recommendations issue of Stereophile"
Crem- Would you provide links to these various publications. I looked through Stereophiles 2003 Recommendations Issue and could find no mention of steam cleaning.
What a ride these last few years must have been for you, congratulations! |
This thread long ago became one lonely mans search for relevance in a in a world that long ago left him behind. The need for attention and adulation would be better served in a forum dealing with mental health issues.
Curiously the laws of chaos and order landed this soul on a lp steam cleaning thread making this an exercise in curiosity and comedy rather than anything regarding the salvation of recorded music as implied. |
In fact, I have had an email correspondence with 'Stltrains' that was informative and...great. Looking at his web personality, and his youtube vinyl-steaming video, perhaps he should take over as 'Steaming Head Honcho'-he certainly seems to have less ego involved, and seems much more directed to simply wanting clean records.
No, no. no, Charlie/Crem is the rightful steam cleaning head honcho, He has spent more time and effort on this than any human and deserves to be Top Dog. My position is that the value of any idea or processes directly corresponds to the quality, depth and breadth of criticism it can withstand. |
Since we all agree that the rinse step is vital to a good cleaning, I choose to use the Casco Nerl Reagent grade water (5 gal- $55-) that was brought to my attention by JohnBrown. Although Pepsi and Aquafina may be a fine company they haven't undergone the rigorous testing for impurities that Nerl has, nor do they claim to. In fact Aquafina was found to be sourced from tap water and has been forced to add that to its list of contents. It may be fine but .....
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As for Mapleshade Audio , read the unwavering , doctumentated support of Steam Cleaning & the offer to give your money back , provided, you meet the requirements as published. I read that as an advertisement. $50 +/- worth of merchandise for $150- caveat emptor |
Many of these small hand held steamers (Perfection, Living Solutions, SteamFast) are now difficult to find. Tvad- Do you know why? Should I grab a spare while I still have access to them? As far as the audible difference between rinses, I haven't developed the ability to hear the minute differences. By using the Casco Nerl I feel that I am doing my part to clean and protect my vinyl without introducing more contaminants than I started with. I don't doubt that some will claim to hear the difference in the products themselves. I still can't get over the fact that others can hear the difference during weather changes re: is it your hearing system that changes or the playback system that changes? But that is another question. |
I had a small travel steamer once, really didn't work worth a damn. It was hardly more than a mister, slightly warm, nothing more. A real steamer to my mind emits steam, which is 212F, and that's hot. Actually steam has nothing to do with 212f, steam can occur at much lower temps. My Perfection steamer is very hot and would burn burn you (and I have) The hot steam reacts with the gunk in the grooves to loosen it better than if it was cold. Just like dishwashers work better at hotter temps. Plenty of others have cleaned records with tap water, Windex and everything else you can imagine, hot steam seems to get the really tough gunk that is easily audible during playback. Sometimes I have to steam a record more than once to get all the visible stuff off the surface and if you can see it you surely are going to hear it. |
