A Worthwhile Untrasonic Cleaner

Anovak,
The data on Tergitol shows that one of its benefits is improved dissolution rate, i.e. how quickly does it dissolve.  Temperature and agitation improves the dissolution rate, but only up to point.  When the water is close to the cloud point (about 60C for both), the dissolution rate decreases.  Based on what I have read, it should dissolve much faster - first you will be using less Tergitol than Triton, and combined with the improved dissolution rate, it should mix easily.  However, you may want to add in 2 steps if if does not mix easily with one step, but keep in mind at 25C, it may take about 1-2 minutes for it to dissolve with agitation (simple shaking).

FYI, I bought the Tergitol 15-S-9, and the Vinylstack label protector and should (weather permitting) have both  tommorrow to do my own testing with simple manual cleaning.  I got back into vinyl about 4 yrs ago, and have since accummulated about 300 albums, mostly new or like new.  But I have a few new old stock that are very noisy, so I am going to try the Library of Congress method of scrub and rinse to see what I can get.  My library does not yet warrant the cost of a UT process. 

However, from the 1980's to early 2000, I was the U.S. Navy technical authority for precision cleaning of Oxygen and Compressed Gas/Life Support Sytems.  Did a lot or work with the Navy labs and NASA when we were all working to replace the CFC solvents, and ultimately developed precision aqueous cleaning processes using UT that are now documented MIL-STD-1330 and 1622.  So, I have some background; its been over 10 yrs since I was deep in it, but not much has changed, and as they say all that goes around, comes around.  There is a good short article by Blackstone Ultrasonics you can find on the web, with a NASA address, that discusses the UT theory and items to consider.  This was all done 20 yrs ago.  UT frequency, duration, temperature, surface tension and items to be cleaned stacking are critical factors.  Rapid rotation, i.e., more than 1 rpm, will not leave the surface exposed long enough to get the full benefits.  Also, too much duration/power at low frequency can damage the surface.  There is an old test where you place a piece of aluminum foil in the tank; if it perforates, you probably have too much power/duration for cleaning a vinyl record.

Antinn, I would think that getting the tank up to about 30-35deg. C and then turning it on, the transducers that is, as you add the Tergitol should then produce the desired result as far as dissolution is concerned.

Great you are getting back into spinning vinyl!  Good luck with your cleaning method and enjoy the music!

Thanks again for your input.

Anovak,

I received the Tergitol 15-S-9 and have worked out a good manual cleaning process.  Manual clean with a brush, and then two rinses, first with tap water to remove cleaner, and then rinse with distilled water from a spray bottle, overall, uses very little cleaner and very little distilled water.  The Tergitol has the consistency of a light weight oil, and at about 0.35% mixed very fast.  When sprayed on the record, it wets the surface almost instantly, very little foam, and under flowing water rinses very quickly.  But, for an ultrasonic tank where you may not be doing a follow-on water rinse, a 0.5% solution will be way to much.  The product will achieve lowest surface tension with margin at 0.1%, so for your tank size, 5 ml may be all that is required, but as I said, 0.5% will be way too much, even for manual cleaning.  The Tergitol is way more efficient than Triton X-100.

Thank you antinn, I will give it a go.....appreciate your follow up and look forward to comparing results. 

So I wanted to follow up on this discussion as I have received feedback on another forum that I trust will be helpful here as well.  The kind chemist of whom I have spoken previously responded that while a simple solution is indeed convenient, it may not provide the best results.  He states "There is no ONE solution for every record as they vary in types and levels of contamination."  I believe this makes a lot of sense but am still going to give the Tergitol a go as well.  I have many records cleaned now with my present formulation using Triton X-100, Hepastat and IPA in distilled water so it will be interesting to see how those fare compared to some that I will clean with just a Tergitol 15-S-9 in distilled water mixture.  Stay tuned!