Thumbs up for ultrasonic record cleaning

Thank you so much, Terry, I will certainly have a deeper look into this.

@psag- I have a Monks too (an Omni). If I had to choose one machine, that would be it. But the synergy of cleaning on the Monks and ultrasonic- in both directions-- brings more to the table. Try it. 

@terry9 @slaw
A bit more tinkering.

My US tank seemed suspect / deficient in a couple of ways so I tried a couple of things to address the problems.

The issues with the tank were;
It took forever to warm up and and
the temp gauge never read above 38c.
Based on commentary from Terry9 and others it seemed the target could/should be around 40c.

So, I did two things.
First, I bought a cute little thermometer from Risepro with a probe that goes in the tank while the gauge sticks to the outside of the tank via suction cup. All of $7 including shipping and it validated that the temp gauge on the US tank was wrong. The temp gauge on the tank was reading low by as much as 5c. So, while I might have seen a reading on the tank of 30c I was probably closer to 25-27c. The net is I think a thermometer is a worthwhile investment.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EYSGV9M/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Second, I bought a submersible aquarium heater to augment the heater in the tank. This was an attempt to both heat the water faster and sustain a higher temperature. While I think having some auxiliary heat source is useful, I don’t think aquarium heaters are the answer. Most of these max out around 93F, so at best it would help sustain about 34c, which is where I seem to be getting to. It’s an interesting idea as many of these are narrow enough to fit in the tank with the albums and fully submersible, but since they all seem to top out around 93F it’s not a true solution. Also, while it provides some assistance in warming the tank quicker it is not a real solution. My unit is only 50 watts, so selecting a unit with higher wattage would help, but there is only so much room in the tank so getting a unit that is physically larger poses challenges. The net, still searching for a solution to my heating issue.

BTW, this is the tank I'm using
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M0328QT/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 

The pump is useful and I’m using it between cleanings and it is definitely able to filter out the particulate, but the water still seems to get a bit murky over time so still learning about this.

Lastly, I’ve simplified my solution. I’m just using 3 ounces of Versaclean - see @terry9 discussion earlier in the thread - and an ounce of photoflow with the remainder of the solution being distilled water. And then I finish off the effort on the Record Doctor.

@phil0618 ,

I already had a thermometer on hand and checked mine over the weekend. My tank temp was 1 degree C over it’s setting. I’m running 45 degrees C which may be on the high side of comfortable for some but I have had no problems.

When I change out water, I’ll heat it up first in a big pot to put less stress on my tank’s heater. Of coarse this only works for that initial newly clean water but every little bit helps I guess.

I've been experimenting a fair amount over the past week.  At first, I was running the tank around 40-43 degrees Celsius, for 3 turns @ 7 mins/turn.  So 21 minutes total.  After reading more on the VPI forums, I decided to try Harry's recommendation of no heat (other than cavitation generated)  and increasing the rotation speed.  So I have been doing 10 minutes without heat @ 4.5 mins/rotation.  Really, there's not much perceivable difference.  It's a bit of apples to oranges or I'd say there is no difference.  Although some records are going to need another bath because they still have a fair amount of pops and ticks.  But this was even the case at 21 minutes.  They are probably just beyond cleaning.  What I don't agree with on the other forum thread is the loss of highs.  Even at high heat for 21 minutes, I immediately noticed the opposite - increased upper treble extension.  So maybe my gear isn't quite good enough to notice a loss in highs or maybe it's simply not happening (I suspect the latter).  I think I've cleaned about 80 records so far.  Still a loooong way to go.