Thumbs up for ultrasonic record cleaning

In thinking about all of this again...

There seems to be a concern for the lp to withstand the US bursts from 80hz above, even though it’s obvious that say, 120hz, which creates smaller blasts, gets into the grooves better. Yet we still play vinyl records. This consists of dragging a diamond through a plastic groove...over and over and over. BTW, this creates heat.

I’m trying to figure out the hesitancy that keeps many from the US cleaning method?

BTW, @jtimothya, I enjoyed your article. Very though and insightful. Thanks to @whart for publishing it.

Another thought, I realize some are searching for the ultimate effects of US cleaning. OK. Does it really matter. In our lifetime? Just think of all of the gems we search for in the record shows that who knows how they've been cared for (Ha!), whether it be previously played on a suitcase record changer, maybe with a penny, dime, or nickel taped to the head shell…. yet we bring it home and clean it with a US cleaner and all is fine. I think you're getting my point?

Thanks, slaw.  I think I agree with your above post.

From my perspective, concerns about LP resilence in the face of cavitation bubbles generated at various frequencies is thus far groundless.  That doesn't mean the topic should not be discussed.

But I've yet to see any documented evidence of record cleaning damage at 40kHz up through 120kHz.  Speculation, yes, but no evidence, particularly no photographic evidence.  There are manufacturer claims as a part of an effort to seperate their product from others, but no documentation or evidence in support - at  least that I've seen.  If such evidence (beyond hearsay) is out there, please bring it forward.

On the other hand I've heard report after report of successful US cleaning and intact vinyl.  Given the continuous discussion of the topic on various fora for several years US cleaning appears viable.

Of course there are reasonableness factors.   How long is the LP exposed at a given frequency.  What is the water temperature.  What surfactants are used.  I'm confident someone could find a way to damage an LP using US cleaning if they set out to do so - but that's not oriented to success.  Nonetheless experimentation efforts to learn boundary conditions may be worthy.

In the meantime there is likely more damage from playing dirty records to both physical records and listening enjoyment.  When done right, imo, US record cleaning is at least as effective as any other technique, is probably the most time efficient method available today, and is largely available to the average vinyl collector. 

tima

Jtim, I have set out to damage a record with excessive exposure and temperature. Other than warping the record, I failed. The record was undamaged after more than an hour's exposure to a lab grade machine.

I tested by first cleaning the record by rotating it in an US bath. Then I turned off rotation and let it cook for more than an hour, then rinsed. Any damage would have been clearly detectable upon playing. The damage would have cycled in and out every second or so. No damage was detected.

Therefore, your statement is not accurate. Not only is there no evidence of damage, there is positive evidence of no damage.

Hi Terry - If you meant that my statement about trying to cause damage intentionally did not pan out in this instance, I have no problem being 'inaccurate' about that. :-).  I had not tried to damage a record in the way you described and was speculating.  You are to be congratulated for conducting the experiment and reporting on it!  Although it is a single test, it seems to be good news.

When you say  you "let it cook for more than an hour" I took that to mean you let the record simply sit in the USC subjected to constant cavitation

Was the ultrasonic frequency constant throughout?  What was the frequency?  And what was the water temperature?  I suspect the water temperature rose as the US machine operated.  Did you use only water or a solution?  Can you say what machine you used?

This seems to be relevant news and adds to what we're learning about cleaning records via a US machine.  I'd like to suggest you document your experiment and observations and present that here as a new post for more to see.  Thanks for the follow-up.

@jtimothya

Hello JT. What I was trying to say is, not only is there no evidence of damage from US, there is evidence of no damage from US. Since the latter is a stronger statement, perhaps it is more accurate in some sense. That’s all. Both Slaw and I have done such tests.


From my post of March 6:

Methodology:
1. Wash both sides with VPI 16.5.
2. US clean both sides for 5 minutes.
3. Turn off the motor, so that one sector of the record remained in the US bath.
4. Cooked the record in US for an hour.
5. Removed the record from the bath, and rinse.
6. Play on a high end system, expecting a change every second or so.
7. Observed no change or difference of any kind.
8. Concluded that US does not damage vinyl.

Of course, after cooking in the hot bath for an hour, the record was warped - but that is a function of heat unevenly applied, not US energy.

My US cleaning process:
1. Rotate at 12 RPH.
2. Clean at 80 KHz with Elmasonic machine (German, lab grade).
3. Chemistry is 2.5% VersaClean from Fisher Scientific.
4. Temperature is 45C.
5. Rinse heroically.


I applied my usual US cleaning process for the test, except that the temperature began at 45C and rose considerably, and ceased rotation as noted.

Thanks for your interest.