Ultrasonic Cleaning Machine


Hey Gang!  I've been reading a fair amount lately about the Knosti Disco-Antistat Ultrasonic 2.0 record cleaning machine.  What really piques my interest is that it's about a third the cost of the Degritter Mark II.  Anybody out there have any direct experience using this machine?  My understanding is that Knosti does not yet have a US distributor lined up but is trying to establish one.  Hopefully, once this happens, the cost of the machine can be contained.  The other wild card, of course, is the potential impact of these foolish tariffs.  Any feedback would be much appreciated.

oldaudiophile

Showing 2 responses by antinn

Here is the official German site for the Knosti Disco-Antistat Ultrasonic 2.0 record cleaning machine - Knosti Disco-Antistat Ultrasonic 2.0 | Ultrasonic cleaner for vinyl records and here is a good review of the unit with lots of photos - DISCO-ANTISTAT ULTRASONIC FROM KNOSTI - The Audiophile Man.

The unit operating frequency is 46kHz vs the HG 40kHz vs the DG 120kHz.  35kHz (such as the Kirmuss) to as high as 50kHz is all for general cleaning.  The DG 120-kHz targets much smaller particles and thin films that has some advantages over the lower kHz machines along with reduced noise. 

There is no mention of the Knosti power, but with only 1-L fluid volume and the above review made no mention of heat, it's power cannot be extreme.  As the review shows, it has an easily accessible pump and small filter/strainer (of no known micron-size) that operates during the UT process.  The flow rate is not specified nor is the record spin speed specified.  As the review shows the UT is augmented by brushes.  There is no operators manual available on the web to download.

Unlike the HG or DG, there appears to easy option to add a rinse cycle; although I suspect that the record holder is similar to their manual cleaning units such as Disco-Antistat Generation II PLUS Vinyl Record Washer – Knosti which could make a rinse step relatively easy.

The record must first be assembled in the record holder, so this adds two steps - one to assemble and one to dissemble and as others have noted no drying step.  So, compared to the DG and HG, the Knosti is not as convenient.  

@oldaudiophile

Watching the video, the rotation appears to be about 6-rpm, and from this site, Knosti Disco-Antistat Ultrasonic 2.0 | MUSIC STORE professional, the power supply is 12V & 3A = 36-watts as you indicate.  The Knosti appears to be following in the footsteps of the Audiodesk_Pro which while a UT device, the Audiodesk_Pro_Manual-2017.pdf is 4.5-L with very low power (90W) for the volume, both apply brushes to mechanically clean the record surface.

Both units have enough power for cavitation (does not take much power to produce cavitation at low kHz), but the cavitation intensity (which does the deep cleaning) is low, with a lot of cleaning being done by the fixed brushes for the Knosti or the rotating roller-brushes for the Audiodesk.  The use of brushes mitigates the weakness of UT to remove surface fingerprints w/o use of enough cleaning agent in a concentration to warrant a rinse.