Ultrasonic record cleaners

@Harpo75- just a word of caution- isopropyl alcohol fumes can be explosive in an ultrasonic setting. Glad so many people have found Neil. Be well.

Whart - Yes, your cautionary message is correct. You do need to be careful of the alcohol. I only use a small amount in the mixture. About 1/2 a cup in close to 1-1/2 gallons of distilled water in a vented area.
Some people don’t want the alcohol at all and that’s fine too. If not rinsed off the alcohol can dry out the vinyl but it does help clean well. So find a method that you are happy with. The cleaning mixtures that companies sell are usually expensive and are probably 90-99% water depending on the company. Find what works for you and the best that you can afford.

I use mine a couple times a month.  I usually buy 3-4 used records each month and also re-clean a couple or so that need it while I have the water and unit set up.  I do about 8-10 records per tub of water mixture.  Then just dump the water, dry the machine and store it in the garage.  I almost built up a water filter system for about $100 or so which would clean the water down to .5 microns and used a little 12V pump but soon realized it just wasn’t worth it.  6-10 records is as much as I ever do and the small amount of water is cheap so what’s the point.  If you run it more then I can see filtering it.

I think even a cheap ultrasonic cleaning system is much better then the old vacuum type systems. Although it would be great to have a vacuum unit to suck the water and any residue off the record after the process!

I bought the KA-RC1 (Kirmuss) on the cheap but soon grew tired of the process outlined in the manual and the Kirmuss surfactant leaves residue in the grooves. Gave up on the machine for a good while. Then realized I could just use the ultrasonic cleaning device with surfactant added directly to the US bath. I found a recipe online and concocted my own cleaning solution using Triton X-100 and 91% Iso.

Once the record was cleaned with KA-RC1, I rinsed it, twice, with pure distilled water and vacuum dried it with my Okki Nokki RCM. The results were very very good.

I have a very noisy Pink Floyd record. Tried cleaning it many times before (using both Kirmuss solution and Okki Nokki) but couldn’t get rid of the noise but the last clean did the trick. Not a single click, pop or crackle. I had to play the record twice to make my self believe that its the same noisy record.

Hope this helps.

When trying to restore a poorly cared for older record, this is what I have found works best.  I clean the record with an ultrasound bath using whatever cleaning formula you prefer.  I use plain alcohol and water per the Kirmus recommendation, and a few drops of Photo Flo surfactant.  I find the Kirmus machine to be the best bang for buck if you are not a DIYer.  Ignore all the steps, put the records in the bath and push the button.

Next give it a quick rinse with tap water and dry it.  Now for the important part…play it.  The stylus, especially the line contact variety, penetrates deep into the groove and will dislodge stubborn grunge (especially mold) that the ultrasound cavitations may not have gotten to. After a couple of playbacks reclean the record.

It is the post cleaning playback that contributes to the gradual, final restoration of the record.

I'm interested in the Vevor ultrasonic cleaner for the $200 as I would not use it constantly but have a VPI 16.5 also. What do the users of this cleaner have to say about its cleaning ability, ease of use, dependability, use of any surfactant or wetting agent with the water or some other type of liquid?