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Rushton's DIY approach to ultrasonic record cleaning published by Positive Feedback

Over the past several months I’ve invested a fair amount of time exploring ultrasonic cleaning because I’ve fallen way too far behind in my record cleaning. With over 6000 LPs, I needed a faster way to clean than my trusted multi-step manual wet/vac cleaning process. That manual process got the best results I’ve ever found, but I was not keeping up with my collection and it is just painful to me to play a record that I’ve not cleaned.

In exploring ultrasonic cleaning, my hope was to find that I could complete multiple LPs in a single US cleaning cycle and greatly speed up my rate of cleaning records. My goals were to FIRST do no harm and then SECOND see how close I could get to the results of my manual cleaning regimen.

My past experiences with ultrasonic cleaning demonstrations were completely underwhelming. What I heard did not approach the excellence I was achieving with my multi-step wet/vac cleaning regimen.

What I’ve learned, and now apply in my new ultrasonic cleaning regimen, are multiple elements to the cleaning process that must be used in combination to achieve the best possible results. And these results have far exceeded my expectations.

I’d thought of posting here on Audiogon the summary of what I’ve learned and am now applying as my new record cleaning regimen, but the inability to post images and to apply formatting here caused me to send my summary to David Robinson at Positive Feedback who has graciously published my comments as a guest essay. Please read that essay, and then come back here to Audiogon with comments and to share your experiences:

http://positive-feedback.com/audio-discourse/rushton-paul-diy-approach-ultrasonic-cleaning-lps/


I look forward to some further discussion and sharing of experiences.

.


128x128rushton
astro58go
542 posts
 
Wondering if you've have ever used the Audio Desk? If so, how does the end result compare between the two methods?

The Audio Desk is more mechanical in nature. It has it's share of detractors. I'm sure that mine will fail at some point. I am still a proponent of steaming as the first step in my own regimen. (I use the enzymatic Audio Intelligent solution as a pre-cleaning agent before I steam.) This allows me to keep the water in my AD cleaner, longer. Steaming does, by it's very nature, introduce the heat that you say is best for good cleaning. My regimen is labor intensive but I'm OK with that. Also, one of the positive effects of US cleaning is that the cleaned lp, has no static charge.

( A valid point to my steaming first, even though I have an AD cleaner... just today, I was playing a lp that I had previously cleaned without steaming years ago and ran in through the AD. It had quite a few ticks and pops. I put it through my AI/steaming regimen, then through a 5 minute AD cleaning. The end result was a quiet lp. This is why I'll always keep steaming in my personal regimen.)

(To put an US cleaned lp through a vacuum drying, seems somewhat counter-productive. But there are always trade-offs.)

I can see how I can convert my AD cleaner to include your filter/pump. Later on, when my AD fails, I'll have that portion to mate with an US cleaner/spinner.
rushton's avatar
rushton OP
2,430 posts
 
Hi Astro58go, I have not used the Audio Desk, but have read about it and talked with people who have. For me, the biggest issues are: it cleans only one record at a time; it air dries; it’s expensive. I presume you can elect to use some cleaning fluids with it.

The quats in the cleaning fluid plus the kinds of detergents are the keys to low static on the records. Neither vacuum drying nor ultrasonic impact the static, but dry brushing certainly can. Humidity is certainly the next. If you’ve not searched the AudioKharma thread on cleaning solutions for "static" and "antistats", I recommend it:
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/record-cleaning-youre-doing-it-wrong.689430/

I’ve always read good things about results from steam cleaning, but that amount of concentrated heat around my vinyl has always scared me, so I’ve never tried it.
astro58go
542 posts
 
I do realize how important filtering is. I do regular maintenance on my AD. This includes: washing the rollers/ filter with a bleach/distilled water solution/nylon brush,  rinsing again and again... rinsing/washing out the tank as best I can with a very diluted bleach/distilled solution and a nylon type brush. then rinsing again and again with distilled water.

Just today, after my last thorough cleaning on May 22, ( yes, I keep track) I was cleaning the filter,... just rinsing it out in my sink, I can see particles in the bottom of my sink. Mind you, this is after all of my careful pre-steaming and such. So, around 5 months since I last did a major cleaning and I can visually see these contaminants in the bottom of my sink.

People that use the AD by itself with no other pre-cleaning methods are not aware of just how many contaminants are on their lps!
astro58go
542 posts
 
In my experience, one cannot damage a lp as long as you are moving at a mindful rate. Common sense mode needs to be used.

The AD (fan dries). I do respectfully disagree that vacuum drying does not cause a static build up. I've experienced this too many times. If one wants to say that static in really caused by the air or humidity in a closed environment is actually the culprit, that may be accurate in a technical sense but what happens with an audiophile in there home is using too many rotations with a vacuum machine does induce static. This is my long  experience.

Again, I'm thankful to you and will be considering mods to include a filter/pump on my AD for now.
astro58go
542 posts
 
"Neither vacuum drying nor ultrasonic impact the static, but dry brushing certainly can." Is not vacuum drying another form of dry brushing?

What, if any difference is there from vacuuming drying vs. dry brushing, other than in the vacuum mode, one is removing fluid? On my 16.5, if I use more than two rotations, it negatively impacts the positive aspect of vacuum drying as it introduces too much static.

I have many times taken a AD cleaned lp to my TT and then dry brushed it, only to have static re-introduced.

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