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Record Cleaning - Cartridge Damage

I have a van den hul Black Beauty cartridge, and was told (can't remember by whom) that I should never use any stylus cleaner that contains alcohol. The reason given was that the alcohol will degrade the rubber that is part of the cartridge's suspension.

I thought this was a little odd, since I would only brush near the stylus itself, but it did cause me to wonder about the following:

I use a Nitty Nritty record cleaning machine with Nitty Gritty's "Pure 2" cleaning fluid. I am told by Nitty Gritty that this contains about 8% alcohol. I know that the machine vacuums off all the fluid, so I don"t see how this would damage the rubber in the cartridge's suspension. But then, I also would not have thought that brushing the stylus with alcohol would have done anything to the rubber in the suspension. Are "fumes" a problem? Is their any possibility of damage here? I clean my records regularly.

Regards,

Paranoid.
jackcob
chazzbo
1,007 posts
 
Thought a while back I heard that folks at Linn sold a fine grit sandpaper to clean the stylus.To me this makes sense given that it is a diamond.I use most of the LAST products but like others am concenerd that any wet cleaner isn't getting the grime off (think of the heat and pressure at the tip) and worse may do the above damage.Any more thoughts fromanybody else?
lazarus28
339 posts
 
the linn 'sandpaper' is made by 3m. it's green and coarse on one side, not actually sandpaper. from what i understand, most places that carry linn have it. it works quite well.
abstract7
541 posts
 
Has anyone tried lens paper? I know, sounds like another weird tweak, but think about it--if it's got what it takes to gently clean a lens, how would it work on a diamond tip. My experience has been--pretty good. You do need to be careful not to get the tip caught--that could result in the most expensive cleaning you ever had.
gboren
143 posts
 
Try silly putty. You can get an egg at a toy store for $2.00 and it will last a lifetime. Just let the stylus rest on the silly putty under it's own weight for a second and you're done. Recommended by my Linn dealer. BTW there is another thread here where someone tells of spending $70.00 for a similar product designed specifically for styli!
albertporter's avatar
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albertporter
4,949 posts
 
Record Research LP#9 is nothing short of a miracle for cleaning a stylus. It is made from a base of ISO-propyl alcohol, but should not be cause for alarm. This type of solvent is required to remove the baked on crud that attaches itself to the diamond.

As for fear of damage, remember that Musical Surroundings represents Record Research products, (including LP#9). They are also the importer for three very fine cartridge lines, Benz, Koetsu and Clear Audio.

Point being, the small profit in LP#9 would be a poor business decision if it raised warranty costs even a fraction of a one percent. These are literally among the most expensive cartridges in the world. One model is at or near $10,000.00.

As to performance, I have tried the methods mentioned here, with all being effective to some degree. Like Sdcampbell, I do my cleaning with the battery powered stylus cleaner, only I begin by saturating the pad with Record Research fluid.

You owe it to yourself to try this method. You will get an immediate improvement your first cleaning, and will show you what it can do in the first cut you choose to play.
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