Oilman-makes sense to me. What US unit are you using? I had mentioned in another thread that having field replaceable parts would make great sense. Your 'foil test' seems to be one some manufacturers themselves use, which led me to wonder whether there is a purpose built instrument used to measure cavitation intensity. I was in discussion with a manufacturer of large industrial US systems for parts (not vinyl), who was a very solid source of information, but he would not/could not make a custom built machine for me. (I have had both "audiophile" units and like Rush, am interested in optimized performance, rather than simply a cost-effective alternative to those). This seems to be something of a dark art. The DIY/crowd-sourced information is invaluable.
Rushton's DIY approach to ultrasonic record cleaning published by Positive Feedback
Over the past several months I’ve invested a fair amount of time exploring ultrasonic cleaning because I’ve fallen way too far behind in my record cleaning. With over 6000 LPs, I needed a faster way to clean than my trusted multi-step manual wet/vac cleaning process. That manual process got the best results I’ve ever found, but I was not keeping up with my collection and it is just painful to me to play a record that I’ve not cleaned.
In exploring ultrasonic cleaning, my hope was to find that I could complete multiple LPs in a single US cleaning cycle and greatly speed up my rate of cleaning records. My goals were to FIRST do no harm and then SECOND see how close I could get to the results of my manual cleaning regimen.
My past experiences with ultrasonic cleaning demonstrations were completely underwhelming. What I heard did not approach the excellence I was achieving with my multi-step wet/vac cleaning regimen.
What I’ve learned, and now apply in my new ultrasonic cleaning regimen, are multiple elements to the cleaning process that must be used in combination to achieve the best possible results. And these results have far exceeded my expectations.
I’d thought of posting here on Audiogon the summary of what I’ve learned and am now applying as my new record cleaning regimen, but the inability to post images and to apply formatting here caused me to send my summary to David Robinson at Positive Feedback who has graciously published my comments as a guest essay. Please read that essay, and then come back here to Audiogon with comments and to share your experiences:
http://positive-feedback.com/audio-discourse/rushton-paul-diy-approach-ultrasonic-cleaning-lps/
I look forward to some further discussion and sharing of experiences.
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As to which tank to buy, I would chime in that I've read very positive comments about the Sonix IV tanks and the Vibrato tanks. If I had the extra cash, a ~60hz tank from one of these manufacturers would probably be my go to choice. For less than half the cost, the Trusonik tank I have is working well and seems to have a good track record in the field. But, with any tank, we have no idea how long it will continue to work well. Thus the regular foil testing. |
Whart I am using an old Branson unit. I will look at the unit id card to get the specific model number when i get back home. I was able to get this one pretty cheap and it was the dimensions i was looking for. As far as an instrument that could measure intensity, I am not aware but likely there is one. Finally, there are several threads on the Ultrasonic cleaners on DIYaudio but here is one that i used extensively when i developed my DIY version. Several years worth of knowledge and efforts in this thread. http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/analogue-source/218276-my-version-ultrasonic-record-cleaner.html |
rushton, oilmanmojo, Sure the AD cost quite a bit. I do appreciate the time, research, evaluating, building, times 3 or 4 or more you both have put into this issue. I guess one of my sticking points regarding the cost for the AD vs the above... I value and put a price on my time spent on those things. For me, It would be around $25.00 an hour to be fair. So for me, to perform all of your testing, building, etc,.. in the end, the only thing I lack is the ability to clean more than one lp at a time. Also, I haven't had to buy and sell cleaners only to come back to what works best as some have. (Quite a bit of time and money and stress there). I do appreciate the desire of an audiophile to invent a better way. I am like this on certain aspects of this hobby too. Thank you both. |
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