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How much fluid do you use

Two years ago after selling my 200 LPs (OUCH)I said to myself I would not get back into analog. Since then I have competly purchased a new system. Then I thought I should give it whirl again, purchased a p-25 at that point I realized anolog blows the other formats out of the water.
I made my comparision w/ my sony scd-1 sacd.Thats when the anolog bug hit purchased a TNT JR w/ SME 309 /benz glider(soon to be replaced by shelter 901) / Bat vkp-5.
Since then have been buying vinyl. Have now about 90 180gr (new) 80 used I purchased a VPI 16.5 resently and have been experimenting. It seems to me about 8 drops works well. I have been reading ALL the posts regaurding cleaning and nobody talks about how much they use. Any tips in this area is very heplful. (ps I know its a dumb question)
thanks David
cylinderking_1
theo's avatar
theo
2,690 posts
 
I agree with you on the vinyl, much better!. I too have a P25 and the VPI 16.5. I recently sold my nitty gritty and I can confirm you made the right decision on the VPI. I use enough fluid to cover about a 1 1/2 inch wide "puddle" from
edge of the record to the center then I let the brush work it in. And i let it actually "suds up" a little.
Good Listening
lugnut
1,190 posts
 
I second Gmc's method. Make your own fluid.
g_m_c
443 posts
 
Now Lugnut, you are getting a bit out there, I am reminded of the Base Commander in the great Stanly Kubrick movie (Dr. Strangelove) that was fixated about not giving up his "precious bodily fluid".
zaikesman
3,017 posts
 
For maximum cleaning (and this is not really a necessity if you're mostly buying new/sealed quality pressings), buy a good hand-held brush such as the Disc Doctor makes, and do your cleaning by hand on a flat surface (or some use the Alsop Orbitrac for this), then use the vacuum machine to remove the fluid, rinse with distilled water, and vacuum again. Heretic that I am, I use good ol' 70% isopropyl alcohol for my fluid (NOT denatured, and cheaper at the Wal-Mart than water). It cleans the records, doesn't leave residue, and I don't believe, no matter what anybody says, that its occasional use has ever damaged any of my vinyl in the slightest. Oh, and I use it liberally enough to thoroughly wet the entire groove surface - otherwise, how are you going to suspend the dirt in solution?
twl
3,251 posts
 
Although I haven't actually tried this, I am about to. I believe I heard somewhere that de-ionized water has a lower surface tension than regular water, and therefore could be considered a "surfactant" like is used in detergent to break the surface tension of the water, and allow dirt particles to be more easily suspended in the water. From what I've heard, the "laundry balls or discs" use a method of de-ionization with the stuff they have inside them, and that is why they work to clean the clothes without detergent. Does anyone out there know about this, and if de-ionized water really does have this property, and if any other vinyl-safe additives may have this property, cheap?
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