ultrasound record cleaning machine damaged my records


I recently purchased an ultrasound record cleaning machine. For reasons which I hope you understand I won’t name brands, because I am not wanting to make bad publicity to anyone but to discuss the matter. 

Previously, I had anather ultrasound machine which broke. I cleaned more than a 1000 records with it, with no concerns at all. The machine broke and, due to its steep price, I decided to go for a less costly solution. 

With the new machine I cleaned 7 records. One of themLeonard Cohen’s “New Skin for the old ceremony”. When listening to “Chelsea Hote”, I remarked a distortion that wasn’t there before. IT was clear on the low notes, like the instrument being out of focus or vibrating. I had some old very worn records which had that problem due to bad stylus. At first I started to think that there was a problem with the stylus of my Lyra Atlas. So I went to another version of the same album I have at home, to check if there was a problem with the stylus. Clean passage. No problem at all. 

As on the previous cleaned record I noticed a similar problem, not so apparent, I decided to clean the second version of the LP on the new machine. Playing it i heard  the same distortion on the same music. Checking out all the 7 records I cleaned, I heard issues on all of them, some less apparent ( the mono ones) and some more appparent. 

I couldn’t believe it but the new machine was damaging my records. 

The combination of my atlas and my SME 312 arm gives some “needle talk” - music heard when with everything muted you put your hear next to the stylus on the record. Doing it, I heard the same rumble distortion that was being amplified by the system. 

 

I used distilled water (not a new one but one which was opened for the previous machine) but it was clear clean. I put the exact amount of surfactant liquid on the mixture of distilled water. I kept all the operating instruction rules. I don’t understand what is wrong, but the fact is this machines damages the grooves on the record. 

 

Does anyone had this problem before? Any help provided?

 

Note: I already contacted the dealer who sold it  and I am going to see him next week. It is a very good a solid dealer.  It I’d like to hear your opinion. 

 

Best regards,

128x128pfmaudio

@pfmaudio  You should have contacted the good folks at the CableCo and explained your issue with the pump on the Autodesk.  I did that a few years ago when my pump broke and they upgraded me to the newest model for $1500.  Not sure, but think that's cheaper than getting one of those cheaper options that, like you have discovered, can ruin your records.

If you still have the AutoDesk, I would call Robert Stein at the CableCo and see what he can do for you.

get this, put one drop per gallon of water, it does not leave a residue or damage the record. Have cleaned about 600 records with it. The bottle might last my lifetime. 

 

@elliottbnewcombjr "A picture is worth a thousand words. How many pics to tell Neil Antin’s 145 pages of words?"  Yes, it is and that's why I bought a Degritter.  Didn't Paul Rigby in one of his reviews on the Degritter say he washed a record a hundred times and not only did it not damage it, it improved sonically with every cleaning?  

@vitussl101,

The book addresses many subjects including the science behind cleaning agents, how clean does a record need to be and details for ultrasonic cleaning for those going the DIY route. But the manual sink-cleaning procedure is very simply summarized in Figure 6 – Precision Aqueous Vinyl Record Cleaning Process Summary with a picture of the materials to use in Figure 12 - Step 1: Assemble Cleaning Process Solutions and Materials

Otherwise, the devil is in the details, and oh by the way, the book is now 192-pages.

Peace