Durable record vacuum cleaner recommendation?

 It is inevitable that the cork mat on the VPI HW17 will get a bit wet, but it's not a big deal, just incidental. You clean and vacuum one side at a time, so when you flip the LP to clean the other side, the side now facing the platter is dry.  You would not want to support the LP only by the label when dispensing cleaning solution or when vacuuming. I usually keep some Kimwipes handy to dry the edges of clean LPs where the vacuum may leave some drips.

I have used a VPI HW-17 for many years. Yes it’s quite noisy, but it works splendidly. If you are looking for a vacuum machine only to remove any cleaning (or rinsing) fluid from your LPs, the Pro-Ject line of vacuum machines may be a better choice. That is because they have a support platform only as big as the paper center label on the LP, not the entire LP. That platform does not provide support to the entire LP as one scrubs the LP using a cleaning brush.

I see @lewm has advised against supporting only the center label area of the LP whilst (a British term I love ) cleaning or drying, and I agree with him about supporting the entire LP during cleaning. However, for vacuuming the LP dry I don’t see why an LP can’t be supported only in the area of the center label. That’s how the Pro-Ject vacuum machines operate 

If you want a vacuum machine that supports the entire LP---both the VPI HW-16.5 and HW-17 do, you can buy a cork mat from VPI or any number of other companies and use it thusly:

Place the second mat (no pun intended ) on the HW-16.5 or HW-17, then clean & vacuum dry the first side of the LP. Remove the LP and second mat (that mat may now be considered dirty) and place the cleaned side of the LP directly onto the HW-16.5/17’s stock cork mat. Scrub and dry the second side, and Eureka!, you have a clean LP!

The HW-17 features two capabilities not found on the HW-16.5:

- The 17 provides both clockwise and counter-clockwise rotation of the platter, the 16.5 spinning only clockwise. Some people like to clean and/or dry the LP in both directions, not one.

- The 17 features a nice brush which swings out over the platter, dispensing onto the LP any fluid you have poured into it’s internal reservoir, the 16.5 does not. You can fill the 17’s reservoir with distilled water if you so choose, using the brush only to dispense rinsing water and spread it around the LP. You can do so after having used a separate handheld brush to apply any cleaning fluid you wish. Cleaning fluids may be dispensed from a bottle, the HW-17’s reservoir reserved for distilled water.

My VPI 16.5 died after 40 years of reliable service. Still, that one side at a time was a pain. I replaced it with a Record Doctor X which is bidirectional and does both sides. Then I use a Degritter with distilled water only. The RD by itself is pretty good, and it seems well built. I sent back the one sided version. Turning by hand was a mess.

@billstevenson good luck with surgery! Thanks for your input already.

I noticed that the MW-1 cyclone is allegedly quieter, so that is a big selling point. Is it possible to put a small spacer (say 3–5 mm: vinyl, acrylic, leather, wood) on top of the VPI cork platter to give the record a bit more space? Not sure how much hight variation the vacuum tube can handle.

Or can the platter be removed and replaced with smaller diameter one? Is it screwed on or welded?

@joenies Thanks for your procedure. I want to take the record out of US and dripping wet right away onto vacuum. Otherwise any suspended particles in groove have a chance to settle again onto vinyl. I also use RO water (have whole house RO, so is "free") and by quickly removing dirty RO water with vacuum should remove all particles. Listening test have found the RO/Vac cleaned records to be dead quiet. I actually want to do some trials and look at records with scanning electron microscope to see if there are any differences with respect to RO/Vac vs.+DI/Dist.-rinse. I doubt it. 

@bdp24 Re Pro-ject, see first post. Two of those died on me in ~1000 records, so will not buy a third one. But you are right, this is what I am looking for.

Re adding disposable paper on the cork platter, not practical doing 50–100 records in a day.

@howardlee 40 years is pretty good, IMHO. Record doctor with manual spinning is not a good option for cleaning lots of records (50–100/day). Appreciate the pointer, though!

Another + for VPI. I bought a 16.5 in the mid 1980s and used it for 20 years.  Then a friend included a nearly new version along with other LP gear when he quit playing records due to age.  I sold my original to a friend and continued cleaning with the newer one the past 20 years.

I did mount a whisper fan inside the cabinet because I’d feel heat on the spindle when cleaning 5 or more records at a session.  Now cooler, it just motors (revolves) on.

I began cleaning with a Nitty Gritty prior to the VPI but manual was not practical for more than one record at a cleaning session.