Ultrasonic Record Cleaner 40 v 80 v 120 kHz

Thank you all for the reples.

Yes, I agree with you dogberry, one can spend considerably more for a 120 Khz machine vs. a 40 kHz machine, the latter of which can be purchased for $200 from China. 

I am considering the Degritter (120 kHz only I believe) or a machine from Cleaner Vinyl, now selling triple frequency machines.  

https://www.cleanervinyl.com/shop-multi-frequency-cleaners.html  

George Merril also sells an inexpensive machine - $200. He claims it is as good as US. Relies on a jet of water from your faucet. 

Part of me thinks an ititial manual cleaning using the Merril machine followed by a US cleaning at a higher frequency is the way to go. But this is just a hunch. I need to do more homework. 

@jwr159,

First - recommend reading this article awad-reprint II (crest-ultrasonics.com), and the take-away is that for record cleaning, much above 80-kHz has no real benefit.  

Second, if you read this post - Ultrasonic Cavitation & Cleaning Explained | What's Best Audio and Video Forum. The Best High End Audio Forum on the planet! (whatsbestforum.com) pay attention to the basic rules regarding kHz vs power.  Quick takeaway, is that a low powered 120-kHz is not going to clean very well.

If you are going to do the UT-DIY, the best UT tanks are the Elmasonic P-series elmasonic_p_gb.pdf (vwr.com) dual frequency 37/80-kHz with a variety of operating functions and are well powered by real power.  Most people with the Elmasonic P-60 or P-120 operate 10-min auto-cycling between 37-kHz and 80-kHz; then 10-min at 80-kHz.  Some of the other UT tank reported power levels are a bit optimistic.  

But going the DIY path, there is a lot of details to get it right such as the spinner speed, number of records, bath management, filtering, etc.  If you want to explore this further this free book Chapter XIV does a deep-dive - Precision Aqueous Cleaning of Vinyl Records-3rd Edition - The Vinyl Press.

Otherwise, the general precision aqueous cleaning process is based on two steps, pre-clean and final clean.  New records can go straight to final clean, but used records generally need a pre-clean step, and you have many options.  The book above has a simple manual sink method using multiple chemistries, but there is also the option of vacuum-RCM, and combinations followed by UT final clean.  Keep in mind that except for the $$$$ Clearaudio unit, vacuum RCM do not clean the record - you clean the record with the brush and chemistry.  Vacuum-RCM adds convenience with speed to dry.   But, the UT record specific HumminGuru, Degritter & KLAudio all have the benefit of convenience - drop the pre-clean record into the slot and push start and ~10-min record is clean and dry or mostly dry with each having its own pros & cons.  If curious I did a comparison between the DG and KL here Precision Aqueous Cleaning of Vinyl Records-3rd Edition | Page 13 | Steve Hoffman Music Forums.

But, let me stress that as far as I am concerned, there is no best cleaning process.  The best process is the one that is best for you.

Good Luck,

Antinn, wow great post. The links provided are a great resource. Thanks for sharing. By selecting the links you provided, I was able to navigate to your book on cleaning records, V3.1. What a great resource. After reviewing the chapter on US cleaning, I take it you do not have a US machine. I apologize if I missed an explanation in your book, but may I ask why not? Do you feel other alternatives are just as good? Thanks for any words of wisdom you care to share.  

@jwr159,

No I do not use UT. I do not clean enough records, and convenience is not something that is a priority to me. The manual process leverages chemistry (detergents & acid, Liquinox, Citranox & Tergitol) especially the acid that you would not use with the other cleaning processes and with the right brush and the right technique achieves a very clean record. But the manual sink method is technique sensitive and is not convenient and much beyond cleaning 6 records at a time is not practical. It’s pretty much as the book end of Chapter XII states:

XII.16 The final chapters of this book 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.

But, let me stress, as the book Forward states - All cleaning procedures specified herein are presented as only “a” way to clean a record. No claim is made there is only one way to approach the process. In the final analysis, the best cleaning process is the one that is best for you.

Good Luck

Kirmuss sonic results competes with the best ultrasonic RCMs, but it's labor intensive. 

Audio Desk - long term established excellence, but pricier than the comparable Degritter.

Degritter - does it all for the most reasonable price