2. analog
  3. 143340-22688

Audio Desk Systeme - Vinyl Cleaner – Repair of Water Pump Failure

After the water pump of my beloved Vinyl Cleaner from Audio Desk Systeme stopped working I searched the web and found that I’m not the only one with this problem. But nowhere did I find a blog or post that would describe a repair procedure – other than to mail the machine back to Germany for an expensive repair.

If your machine is still under warranty you should of course send it back for warranty repair. But if your machine is out of warranty (like mine) and your only option is to spend lots of money to get it fixed, you might want to consider repairing it yourself.

The way the vinyl cleaner is designed does not allow any maintenance or replacement of any component located inside the machine without destroying something. The whole machine is glued together! Something I have not seen before to this extent – especially not on a high dollar item like this. Only the components in the upper compartment where the white cleaning rollers are located can be accessed thru the opening in the top cover.

To get started you need to separate the bottom PVC plate from the bottom of the tank. Both plates are glued together. I used a flat pry-bar to carefully separate the bottom plate without breaking it. Shining a flash light thru the water sight glass you can see the blue water pump thru the drain hole of the tank.

To get to the water pump you need to remove the bottom of the tank (or parts of it) which is glued to the recessed side walls.

Use a permanent marker to draw straight lines on the tank bottom – 5 mm inbound from the side walls. The PVC side walls are 5 mm thick. Try to cut slightly inside that line to not cut into the recessed side walls. I used a Dremel with a cut-off wheel.

Once the bottom of the tank is removed you have access to the water pump and all other internal components. To disconnect the pump wires from the main board you need to remove the front panel with on/off switch. Follow the pump cable from the tank and disconnect both wires from the terminal.

In my case it turned out that the pump actually did not fail - it was simply seized up. Once I rotated the little impeller by hand and hooked it up to the 24 V DC power supply in the sink it started to pump fine again.

In case you find your pump to be dead and need a replacement look for “Barwig Tauchpumpe Typ 3 24 V DC”. Price is around 18 EUR (appr. 20 USD) at amazon.de or conrad.com. Unfortunately I was not able to find a supplier who would ship to the U.S.. You may need to be creative – or plan your next vacation in Germany ...

If you use aquarium grade silicone adhesive instead of strong PVC adhesive to put it all together you will be able to undo everything easier in case you need to access the inside of the machine again. 

Feel free to email me if you have questions or need pictures.

Decibell

decibell
mscardina
15 posts
 
@decibell, thanks for the response and pictures. I don't believe the pump stops during the wash cycle for 3 reasons. First, the filter in the rear doesn't have a purpose if the water is not continuously circulating. Second, there is no cover that blocks the water from flowing back through the pump when the rollers come together if the pump were to stop. Finally, there is no water level control as the overall quantity decreases if it is not continuously circulating via the filter trough.

I have also examined my motor carefully and while there was "gunk" at the bottom of the tank, the impeller was very clean which make sense as water is flowing through it and it is sealed very well. Assuming a brushless design, the typical failure would be from overheating as my impeller freely turns.
Post removed 
mscardina
15 posts
 
@oldsalt

Leaking from the fan cover sounds like it is overfilled. The float has a embedded magnet on the non-seamed side and there appears to be a magnetic sensor in the white rod hanging from the top of the float cylinder. Therefore the float will not go all the way to the top so you should not fill it above where you can still see the water level. Also make sure the machine is level.
decibell OP
69 posts
 
@mscardina
Upon closer look you are correct - the water actually continues to circulate thru the filter during the whole wash cycle. The water level in the tank stays high enough that the pump doesn't lose suction. In the upper compartment it overflows into the filter and flows back down into the tank. So depending on how long one sets the washing cycle, the pump actually runs several minutes each cycle. Assuming a wash cycle of three minutes, it would take 10.000 records to reach 500 hrs.
My pump failed after appr. 1300 wash cycles. I usually did 5 minutes each wash cycle - adding up to appr. 108 hrs total. Upon disassembly I found that my pump still worked, after I rotated the seized impeller by hand. Even though I replaced the pump with a new pump (same model), I know that the old pump is still working fine because I use it in a different application since then. Which means that the motor in my pump did not fail. The pump was only seized due to accumulated dirt inside the hydraulic - probably sticky stuff inside the journal bearing.
mscardina
15 posts
 
This is a pump which is designed to work submerged which would benefit from water cooling. In this design, it is not submerged 90% of the time it is running. Therefore, it is prudent to allow a cooling period every few records if doing extended cleaning. My motor failed without any evidence of bearing failure and showed a 120K ohm resistance which tells me there was an electrical failure most likely thermal in nature. Replacement motor measured 28 ohms. I stand by my concern about premature failure due to duty cycle and believe this recommendation will allow the motor to reach its full specified lifetime.
More to discover