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Steam Cleaning - RCM or not?

I posted a couple of times yesterday about this over at AudioKarma, but thought I would ask here as well since Audiogon seems to be at the center of the steam cleaning information.

I tried steaming in earnest a few nights ago; I did an LP I've had for years that had had some minor mold on it, which I removed a long time ago with my RCM, but the spore pattern remained. It was gone in a minute with the steam, which I somewhat expected. What I didn't expect was how lifelike this 3rd pressing, orange-label Dynaflex LP suddenly sounded. Amazing!

My question is this; I'm really drawn to the idea of not using my 20+ year old RCM at all because of the noise, which I'm getting tired of hearing after all these years. I'd really like to be just steaming, lint-brushing with my home-made fluid I've been using a while, steaming again and wiping with a couple of microfiber cloths. That seems to work very well, except that I seem to be getting some gunk on my stylus now and again which may be lint from the cloths.

Is this a concern? I actually did this routine a couple of times to one side of an LP and then did the same thing but RCM'd and not microfibered the other side, and I would swear the non-RCM's side sounded slightly more real in each case. Sonically I'm completely okay with the cloths only, but am a little concerned about possible residue and whatever that is showing up on my needle—although my ears are telling me this is the way to go. Anybody else come to this conclusion?
vanmeter
halcro's avatar
halcro
2,289 posts
 
After trying Crem's steam cleaning methods, I was one who decided Cleaning Solutions were no longer necessary.......just a pure water rinse and vacuum after the steam. However I still use a RCM for all the conveniences of rotation and counter-rotation but most importantly, for the vacuuming. I would never consider just simply 'wiping' the record and air drying after the water rinse. At this microscopic level, there will be molecules of dirt and/or contamination lying at the bottom of the water trapped in the grooves. To let it dry there is I feel, counter-productive.
vanmeter OP
33 posts
 
That makes all the sense in the world to me, except other than the occasional white gunk on my stylus, which I suspect it certain mold release compounds, the sound is slightly - just slightly more open without using the RCM, and there's no sense of restriction in sound from not using the vacuum. Maybe I should be looking at what could be wrong with my RCM instead of the other way around!
bogglor
2 posts
 
Hmm, there may be some error in my technique then, as I'm just holding the trigger down the entire time while steaming as opposed to a press / wait / press again cycle. I will remove the attachment and try it with your methodology and see if that improves any. It's important to note that it doesn't drip ALL the time, just on that first blast of steam it's a little more water vapor oriented than steam oriented, but it changes over to all steam quickly. If it persists or I find it defective after trying it your way, I will return the item to TI.

Thanks for your reply and all of your innovations regarding steaming. I am hoping that I can get it down to the science that you have!
stltrains
845 posts
 
Bogglor piece of cake. very easy to do. BTW i hold the trigger down the entire time i'm steaming with the attachment on the steamer its a Perfection steamer. Its normal for the blast of water along with dripping on most occasions. And thats hundreds of lps i've steam cleaned.

I've never had a problem always get super quite, sounding vinyl. The only problem is when a lp is so bad to begin with that the process does not get the results needed to enjoy the record. And all thats lost is your time and a few cents for materials. You will get the hang of it, then it will be second nature to you. IMO nothing beats the sound of a steamed cleaned lp period.
crem1
672 posts
 
Bogglor: Stltrains is describing the technique adapted for a "Perfection Handheld Steam Cleaner" available @ Walgreens but apparently according to posts the name has been changed to "Lifestyles" rather than "Perfection". It an excellent product alined with traditional water boiling units; the MC 1235 does not create steam in the same way. Therefore, it is possible that the spitting that you experienced was the result of holding down the water trigger. The MC 1235 manual cautions that holding down the injector trigger for more than 10 seconds creates spitting. The perfection works differently. The head of steam from the Perfection is released with the hand trigger at a constant rate until it is gone.

The MC 1235 creates steam on demand in 2-3 second bursts with each squeese of the hand trigger that injects a small shot of water into a micro-steamer that inturn creates steam moments following a squeese of the trigger.
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