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



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williewonka
antinn
395 posts
 
All,
As a suggestion, substitute Tergitol 15-S-9 for the Triton X100.  You can buy this at Talas, one pint is $21.75. The 15-S-9 is very similar to the 15-S-7 that the Smithsonian uses for shellac record cleaning, except it has a higher cloud point which would be better suited for the heated UT tank use.  The Tergital is an Secondary Alcohol Ethoxylate NID and should be superior to Triton X100 which is a Octylphenol Ethoxylate NID.  With the Tergitol 15-S-9 which has lower surface tension and better rinesability, you should not need the Isopopyl Alcohol (IPA).  
anovak
60 posts
 
Yes, that is correct.....the original formula in fact called for 300ml to be added but I thought that I would try just 200ml and it seems to be working just fine.  The chemist I refer to also suggested that he felt this to be a bit overkill with the IPA, although nothing untowards as far as negative effect on the vinyl itself, so I reduced the amount to 200ml in large part just to be a bit more conservative and not go through IPA so quickly.  The original formula is available but I'm not sure I am OK to provide a link to it here.  Can a mod perhaps let me know?  I will be happy to do that, just don't want to get sideways with the rules of this forum.  Thanks for asking, questions are the way I got to where I'm at and I'm very pleased with the outcome!
anovak
60 posts
 
Antinn, that is very interesting.....one of the variants of the original formula was to use Tergitol S-15-3 and S-15-9 (not sure in what combination %) but then it was posited using Triton 100-X would work just as well so that is what I went with.  This is still a process, and I appreciate all observations to improve upon it.  If elimination of IPA is possible, that also reduces the cost quite a bit although it's not hugely expensive.  On the other hand, when considering doing about 15-20 records per tank and then cleaning/refilling with the goal of doing an entire collection of >3,000 records, it might become considerable. Thank you for your thoughts.
antinn
395 posts
 
Tergitol 15-S-3 is not water soluble, it is intended for oils.  Dow has a nice pdf handout with tables on all the Non-Ionic-Surfactants/Detergents, and you can read on the differences.  For the Tergitol, use 0.5 to 1.0% solution concentration, which assuming my quick math is correct should be about 0.5 ounces per gallon.  Note that that that the 'cloud point' is the temperature were the surfactant comes out of solution.
anovak
60 posts
 
"Tergitol 15-S-3 is not water soluble, it is intended for oils."

Maybe that is why that formula also called for the IPA?  I don't know, just a guess so that it might be necessary for the 15-S-3 to become soluble.  In any case, this is way above my understanding of the chemistry involved.  What might you suggest as a formula that will work without the IPA?  Just leave it out, substitute 15-S-9 for the Triton?  Add Hepastat and try that?
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