ultrasound cleaning?

Dougdeacon,

No problem in at least trying to contribute on this subject.

Although I have strong reservations about using ultrasonics on vinyl, this doesn't mean that a system cannot be designed that is quite safe. Bent Audio and any other companies that are investigating this must be putting a good amount of time and observation into the concept in order to eventually know if their product will be safe or not.

I just have serious concerns that the number of variables that can be missed in product developement will come back to haunt users. Due to the likely high cost of such equipment, those users will be pissed-off bigtime is something does go wrong.

Personally, I'll stick with brushing and vacuuming since it is an already proven technology.

Mr. Kidknow

I agree with Mr. Kidnow in that I think an U/S could be made to work given the right setup, solution, and recipe.

I just question the need. The goal is to clean inside the groove of the record and the brush with suitably sized bristle tips to get down inside will do a more uniform job than the random mechanical agitation provided by acoustic cavitation.

Where the advantage of sonics is seen is when the crevice that needs to be cleaned is too small or odd shaped, or in some other way not practical to clean with a tool.

It is also true that the number of variables is greater and that to develop a cleaning process that would be better than the current proven techniques might take quite a while.

Based on what I know about ultrasonics, I don't see them as being able to remove particles any smaller than a good brush so where is the benefit?

The contributions of folks like Ogsarg and Mrkidknow who can offer salient and knowledgeable information on a not so well understood process is what makes this site great. Obliged.

You are correct in that no cavitation will occur without the U/S energy and no bubbles will be left behind to later implode. Once the power is turned off or the lp taken out, the vacuum dry should work just as well as if it were brushed.