I have used the L' Art du Son before, but never let it do its thing for 4-5 minutes. Always vacuumed right away. I did like the result until I discovered something growing in the unrefrigderated bottle?
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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So I've finally got my Ultrasonic cleaning routine ship-shape. Wanting to do the post ultrasonic cleaning rinses as in the original article, but having sold my VPI 16.5, I decided to make a DIY manual spinning rinse platform. I'm lucky to have a clever & talented spouse who used her woodworking skills & ingenuity to do most of the work on this solution. -Using a $10 wood lazy susan from Ikea, drilled at center about 3/4 way down, at a diameter matching a threaded brass insert that accepts 1/4" threaded rod (which perfectly fits the "5 pointed star knobs" of the Vinyl Stack) -Epoxyed the threaded insert into the center hole of the lazy susan. -Covered the surface of the lazy susan with water resistant peel&stick contact paper -Screwed & epoxyed 3" piece of 1/4" threaded rod into the insert at center -Layered a rubber washer, a 1" tall, 2.5" outer diameter Delrin donut (drilled 1/4" through center), and another rubber washer over the spindle I'll post pics later of the platform & the tank filter/pump setup on my system page, "Silence of the Lamms" https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/133 Now the record can be placed on the spindle atop the donut and then topped with the label-sized protector and screwed down with the 5 pointed star knob from the Vinyl Stack. The label is now 100% protected topside from the sprays of water & chemicals, while the underside of the LP floats to avoid dirt & moisture from below. Manually slowly turning the knob provides a perfect vacuuming surface. With this platform next to my ultrasonic tank, I remove both rinses with the vacuum wand purchased from SqueakyCleanVinyl.com. then place the cleaned LPs directly into a new sleeve. Works simply & effectively. With a 10 minute Ultrasonic cycle time, I can unload/rinse/reload 4LPs and be ready to go with the next four LPs before the cycle finishes. So far, results far exceed my prior routine using the VPI 16.5 along with the Walker Prelude Quartet system. Cheers, Spencer |
This thread has really evolved.... nkonor, Does the VPI delrin pickup tube have better performance vs the standard tube? Regarding the "ole school method" of a lp between to glass plates... I tried it once except I used the sun instead of an oven. Last time I'll use this method. Not willing to sacrifice my vinyl for these sort of tests. I love my Vinyl Flat. Any Audio Intelligent users out there? I bought a "Down With Dirty Concentrate" kit recently. I had been using the standard Enzymatic fluid for years along with my method I described early in this thread. I'm getting better results and a much better feel. By feel, I mean, when spreading the fluid with my nylon bristle brush, I get a smoother action, a noticeably improved feeling (visual too) that the fluid is working on all levels. You know, the feel of a quality piece of vinyl, how it looks, how it feels in your hands when you're handling it? Yes, this (new) concentrate is that equivalent. it seems to cling better and have an improved surface interaction. I had cleaned my Cars "Shake It Up" MFSL a while back using my former AI fluid and my steam, VPI, Audio Desk regimen. I played it again recently and it had several "pops". This is not normal for a MFSL/clean lp. I put it through my same regimen but used the new Down With Dirty Concentrate. The newly cleaned lp was totally silent. It actually looked cleaner. ( I now put a new/newly cleaned lp through a 5 minute cycle on my AD cleaner). I'm using 15 ml per 16oz. of distilled water. This system can make up to 6 gallons of fluid. For me, with my personal method, this is a no brainer! Happy Listening! |
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