Ultrasonic Record Cleaner

[pre65]

Hi-on another thread ultrasonic cleaning was mentioned as an idea for removing crud from records.

i have found an ultrasonic cleaner that has a tank 300mm long X 150mm wide and 150mm deep.it apparantly will only take an LP at a diagonal but i wondered if i made up a motorised carrier to fit on the tank top and rotated the LP in the solution whether that would do the job.

its not cheap (£150 at the moment) so i would need to be sure it would work.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MakeTrack=true

Philip

[Paul Barker]

Yes it would work but you'd need 2 minutes for every single part of the record to be immersed so 4 minute total then you have to dry record.

I had a look at MY idea but decided not to bother to invent it, I'll let someone else.

You can buy ultrasonic transpoders on eBAy fix them to stainless steel bath of correct dimensions for vinyl. Then you need an oscillator at 40k or thereabouts and a power stage. I wandered about converting a lighting transformer as the oscillator.

People who use ultrasonic cleaners professionally day in and day out will tell you that they do break down, the transponder comes unstuck rattlls itself to bits.

A Jeweler friend has one powered by a pair of 810 valves

I think it was 833's they had in the hospital diathermy. (if you don't know what diathermy is it's a sort of pork scratchings machine).

[Greg.]

Hi Paul,

That's a very humourous yet crude description of diathermy. Diathermy has been around for a long time and it is basically the same as using a soldering iron where intense electrically generated heat is delivered to seal and prevent bleeding from the cut ends of veins or arteries as a result of a surgical incision.

To be more serious, we need to think a bit more about this ultrasonic LP cleaning thing. Your post woke me up to this even though I have previously been very familiar with the use of US cleaning devises used in non hi-fi applications. I believe an adaption to accommodate records would certainly be better in performance than current LP cleaners available. I smell a rat. Why has no-one done the ultrasonic thing before?

US cleaners really do remove every bit of the **** even out of the smallest crevices such as a record track groove. I currently need to be a bit of a non-investment coward, because I don't have the funds, but I do encourage Philip to take this further. Seriously, US cleaning is the best I've ever used. With diving breathing apparatus, and in my professional unit, we used the top of the range equipement which had lots of fine detail parts all of which came out as new after a cleaning treatment. This was kit used in some of the foulest waters our country has which includes polluted and highly corrosive salt water.

I really believe this is the way forward that will improve on any current LP cleaner regardless of price. Basically, if the LP is good but dirty, after cleaning it should sound as good as new. If it's scratched up, after cleaning it'll sound 'scratched up'.

Best wishes,

Greg

[pre65]

Hi-this is more what i wanted to hear.

i have never used anything more than a dust bug to clean my records so my collection is in need of cleaning.

if i go ahead with this machine what fluid would the panel suggest in the tank and what about an afterwash to remove the cleaning fluid before drying,would normal water be ok or pehaps with some wetting agent ?

does the crud just float around in the solution as it is released and do you think my motorised idea is good or perhaps do it manually so say 1/3 record @ 4 mins =12 mins per record.not quick but perfectly clean ?

finally i see that the machine i was looking at has a varyable temp setting,dont suppose it wants to be more than lukewarm.

i might give it a try,if its no good i can use it to clean Triumph engine parts !


Philip

[BOONDI]

Hi Phil, you could try a little isopropyl alchohol in water. Also add a small drip of washing up liquid. The other thing is that you will be able to wash at least 10 LP's at the same time. Just get a bit of 3mm stainless steel rod about 200 mm long and shove it through the hole in the lp......

Shoud save a bit of time......

[Greg.]

Hi Philip,

Looking at the photo's I suspect that adding heat to the solution during cleaning is an option that doesn't have to be used, but I'd check with the seller. The temp control does have an off position and personally I'd not be inclined to heat the solution at all. US cleaning in solution does generate a little heat anyway, but nothing that would compromise the structure of vinyl.

The problem as you appear to have identified is that you still have to find a satisfactory way of drying the LP(s) which will require a rinse after cleaning if you are relying on atmospheric drying. The one part cleaning solutions are fine if used with a vacuum based cleaner such as the L'Art du Son solution I favour, sold by Audiophile Candy. The other option is to make an arbor for your lathe/drill and spin them dry centrifugally. If you do need a rinsing solution I'd suggest it needs to be purified water based.

I remain convinced that although coming to a satisfactory cleaning method with a US cleaner maybe more complex, the end result should certainly be better than the conventional wet and vacuum cleaning method.

Best wishes,

Greg

[Shane]

Having given some thought recently to cleaning machines I also wondered about spin drying. This is used extensively in semiconductor wafer processing where wafers up to 12" diameter are spun up to around 6000rpm and dry in a few seconds. One of the problems encountered is that the airflow across the spinning wafer/record can generate a static charge. Not too much of a problem for a conductive wafer, but could be a problem for an LP. You would also need to introduce a slow-spin rinse stage to ensure that all the suspended dirt in the fluid was washed off and didn't stay trapped in the grooves.

[Greg.]

Hi Shane,

US cleaning really should 'shake' all the crud out of the grooves before you get to the rinse stage. The cleaners operate with an internal cage, a bit like a deep fry chip fryer relying on gravity for inpruties to fall through the cage thus keeping them out of solution when a cleaning process is undergone. To be realistic with this particular application, I'd be inclined to filter the cleaning fluid clean after every use as with th Knosti fluid. You might even want to take on the hassle of draining the cleaning fluid to replace with a rinsing fluid within the cleaner. Time consumming but could be worthwhile (multiple clean) as suggested by BOONDI above.

Best wishes,

Greg

[Paul Barker]

Phil let me know if you aren't going to bid for that one 'cause I would like to otherwise.

[pre65]

Hi Paul-over to you !

i have just bought a new toy (KTM 450 enduro bike) and as i havn't sold my BMW yet i'm a little short.

i am sure this is the way to go for complete record cleaning and please let us know how it turns out.

how many other things could you fit in a container that size ?

Philip