2. analog
  3. 152714-1640

A Worthwhile Untrasonic Cleaner

I just purchased these two items from Amazon (PRIME)...

An Album Rotation device - holds 5 albums...
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07PNCVMZ3/ref=pe_3034960_236394800_TE_dp_1

An Utransonic Cleaning Tub
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07HNQ26WT/ref=pe_3034960_236394800_TE_dp_f1

The rotation device is extremely well built and fits the tub perfectly. The tub also looks well made, but is a bit noisy, but that is normal from what I have read..

I have just finished cleaning some 30+ albums and found the complete unit is extremely good at getting rid of those crackles and pops - even finger prints and other grunge - with minimal effort

The tub defaults to a wash time of 5 minute (I used 10 minutes) and I reduced default temperature to 20 Celsius, but the ultrasonic process warms the water up, so by the time I had finished some 35+ albums it was 30 Celsius.

Even had a friend come over with 3 of his dirtiest albums - grunge + finger prints - just plain grubby. Ten minutes of cleaning and voila - shiney like new (apart from the scratches) playing the album was almost noise free - probably needed a second wash.

So the total cost for both units was around $450 from Amazon.ca ($370 from Amazon.com)) for the two pieces - which from what I have been seeing is perhaps the lowest price for an Ultrasonic cleaner out there.

Eager to try the unit that arrived yesterday, I only used distilled water - without any additive

What additive does the absolute best job ?
What difference does it make?
Or should I just stick with distilled water?

Thanks for any feedback.

One of the best analogue related value for money products I have ever purchased

At this rate I’ll clean my entire vinyl library pretty quickly AND do some of the wife’s jewellery :-)

If you are looking for something that actually cleans you vinyl well - consider these products.

Regards - Steve



.
williewonka
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
Thx for sharing Steve.
I am sure this will be of interest to some here.
Sounds like one way to go US for little cash.
effischer
561 posts
 
Thanks for the links!  Wish I'd been able to find them 6 years ago; quite a bit less expensive than the V8 cleaner I ended up with.  The rotisserie is higher quality too, but isn't powered.  I can think of a few ways around that, though.  You might want to look into adapting a low RPM DC electric motor for the purpose - it makes the process pretty much set and forget.

I agree that the ultrasonic system is the best way to clean records, hands-down.  I tried the Kodak Photo-Flo sample included with the V8 and it didn't really seem to make much difference.  I've had a gallon of LAST machine cleaning solution sitting around that was purchased many years ago for a vacuum machine that I never ended up acquiring.  That seems to help get rid of mold and greasy fingerprints more completely than pure distilled water.  I add about 500 ml per tankful.

Other folks here have extolled the virtues of ultra pure water in various ultrasonic applications.  I'm not convinced I have to go quite that far - distilled water out of the local grocery appears to do the trick sufficiently for my purposes.  You can search the forums here for more detail on the matter at your leisure.

FWIW, I don't use the heating element at all.  Room temperature seems to work well enough and I just dump the water down the drain as soon as I see sediment in the bottom of the tank.

Hope this helps and enjoy your clean listening!
tablejockey
3,911 posts
 
Thanks for the insight.

I’ve put off purchasing US, and have patiently listened thru ticks/stitches while watching solutions become affordable to schlubs like me

2020 may be the year I finally give in.The Spin Clean will hopefully be officially retired!
williewonka OP
3,075 posts
 
@effischer  - RE:  The rotisserie is higher quality too, but isn't powered. 

Mine is :-) 
- it came with a Wal-wart power supply and there is a small button-switch on the top of the motor unit.

You can see the socket for the power supply from the rear view in the advertisement

Set it and forget it - for however long you program the tub to vibrate for

I've heard putting some isopropyl alcohol in with the water - how much I do not know

Thanks for sharing your experience with the cleaning fluids.

WRT putting cleaning flids on my vinyl I tend to err in the direction of the Rega recommendation - "do not put anything on your vinyl"

Distilled water and maybe some Iso-Alch - That was there can be no residue 

Many Thanks

effischer
561 posts
 
You're entirely welcome and thank you for directing my attention to the power connection - I missed that completely.  I may have to add the WEWU rotisserie to my wish list; the wood stand that came with the V8 works and is fairly pretty, but is also bulky and rather awkward to set up.

On the LAST machine cleaning fluid, it smells like it's a dilute isopropyl alcohol solution.  I've been using it since I already had it.  When I run out, I'll give 91% isopropyl a try.  I've cleaned my entire collection (500+; some had to go through more than once) and the US process has brought back stuff I thought was relegated to simply decorative status.  It also revealed one or two that were actually much more badly damaged/produced than I'd recalled.  Win some, lose some.

I forgot to mention run time earlier; I set my tank for 20 minutes for "normal" second hand vinyl (stuff that appears relatively clean) and 30 minutes for "moldy oldies."  It's all a bit of an empirical process.  I found that 20 minutes wasn't enough to get what looked like pizza grease off one Goodwill find, and 30 even worked on one that had visible mold.

Happy listening and thanks again!
More to discover