HumminGuru Orbit Vinyl Record Static Remover

I was an early adopter of the original Zerostat (I’ve had models with white, red, and blue plastic bodies), and suffered with it’s idiosyncracies for years (the pistol needs to be squeezed and released verrrrry slowly. Irritating!).

It was a relief when the Kilavolt No.103 by Nagaoka was introduced, as it is operated with a simple on/off button (3-5 seconds is all it takes). By the way @lewm, the Kilavolt emits only positive ions. Also worth noting is that for maximum effectiveness, Nagaoka advises "spraying" the LP with the disc held in one’s free hand, rather than on the turntable platter. One YouTube hi-fi reviewer (I don’t remember his name, but he is bald, bearded, and tattooed) verified that claim in his review of the Destat III (which I also own. I waited to buy until I found one at a very reduced price).

Which brings me to the HumminGuru Orbit. It emits both positive and negative ions, and must be used with the LP on the platter. It therefore treats only the play side of the LP, rather than both sides. Handheld guns may be used on both sides of the LP, for instance immediately after cleaning and drying on a vacuum machine. As they say on The Shark Tank, for those reasons I won’t be adding an Orbit to my LP maintenance kit.

As for the Hudson "Antistatic" Arm/Brush, it may have some value as a dust remover on LP’s being played, but is obviously incapable of negating a static charge.

As the Kilavolt had been out of production for many years, the Destat III would be my first choice for static removal from LP’s. Too bad it’s price is so unattractive to many.

Lewm.  I only use the static fan for brief moments.  I turn it on, pull the album out and let the fan blow on it to help the sleeve release from the record, I pull the record out and hold it under the static fan for a few seconds, flip it over and hold it for a few seconds and. Turn the fan off.  Then put the record on the turntable.  The static fan isn’t on very long.  Also it has a dial on the front to clean the copper element.  Periodically you just turn the dial back and forth once or twice and that’s it.  Yes you can smell the ozone but it’s only on for maybe a minute or so total.  No big deal.  Seems to work well.  

bdp, I am not sure what you are getting at when you say "Handheld guns may be used on both sides of the LP, for instance immediately after cleaning and drying on a vacuum machine."  It's fine to do that but one cannot assume the LP is going to be free of static charge on the later occasion when you choose to play it, if that was your implication.  Cleaning the LP only helps to eliminate dust and dirt; it does not confer immunity to static charge build up.  Charge happens when you remove an LP from a paper sleeve, even if it was inserted into the sleeve in a presumably static-free state.  Or it can happen in an instant when you yourself are charged up after walking across a wool carpet or etc, and you then first touch the LP.  Dis-charging needs to be done just before play.  (You probably know all this; I am just reacting to what you wrote.)

As regards the Destat. I was prepared to buy one during our annual trip to Japan, last June.  I found out, at least by inquiry in some of the major stores in Akihabara, the electronics mecca of Tokyo, that the device is not even sold in Japan. They'd never heard of it. 

“Which brings me to the HumminGuru Orbit. It emits both positive and negative ions, and must be used with the LP on the platter.”
@bdp24

Are you basing your statement off the demonstration video? Personally, I was thinking to use Orbit on both sides of the record by placing it on my transit platter and then move it to TT for playback. This way I keep my TT mat static-free :-)

@lalitk: Oh sure, the platter one uses with the Orbit need not be the one on which you play your LP’s. I’ve never seen the term "transit platter" before. What’s that mean?

@lewm: My mention of using a static removal device directly after cleaning and drying with a vacuum-style record cleaner was not made to imply that the device should not also be used directly before each play, but merely as an example of one way in which a hand-held static removal device has the advantage over the Orbit. But if only one side of the LP is played (not unusual for me), perhaps the unplayed side should also be "sprayed" with the Orbit before returning the LP into it’s inner sleeve.

Speaking of sleeves, but this time of outer ones: Has anyone else tried the "double" sleeves from Vinyl Storage Solutions of Canada? All too often I find myself struggling to return the LP into the outer jacket, the inner sleeve and LP being only barely smaller than the interior of the jacket. A clever Canadian came up with an ingenious idea: an outer plastic sleeve with two pockets, one for the outer jacket, a second for the LP/inner sleeve. I’ve double-sleeved all my LP’s, and love it!