Thumbs up for ultrasonic record cleaning


My Cleaner Vinyl ultrasonic record cleaner arrived today and it’s impressive.

Everything I’d read indicated that ultrasonic was the way to go, and now I count myself among the believers. Everything is better - records are quieter, less ticks and pops, more detail etc.

All my records had been previously cleaned with a vacuum record cleaner and were well cared for. Nonetheless, the difference is obvious and overwhelmingly positive.

Phil
phil0618
BTW, the sonic difference between a 30 minute/45 minute bath is noticeable and welcome in my way of doing things.
I don't have a Kirmuss US cleaner, I have an Isonic Motorized US Vinyl Cleaner. From the pictures that Kirmuss provides it appears that they are using an Isonic US system with their own top to hold the records. 

The Isonic Vinyl system is an excellent machine at a very reasonable cost in my opinion. I purchased my system on Amazon. Here is a link to the Amazon site and also the Isonic site.

https://www.amazon.com/iSonic-P4875II-4T-MVR-Motorized-Ultrasonic/dp/B077HP494C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&a...

http://www.isonicinc.com/motorized-ultrasonic-vinyl-record-cleaner

The Isonic is an industrial grade ultrasonic cleaner. You can clean up to 5 albums at a time. There is plenty of space between your albums to allow for proper cavitation. There are other systems out there that have the albums so close together that I feel hinders the cleaning process. No way can the ultrasonic bubbles get to the vinyl surface for proper cleaning. You can heat the water during the cleaning process. If the Isonic has one flaw it is this. The lowest temp setting is 122 degrees, which is way too hot for vinyl. What I do is turn the heater on for about 10 minutes to warm the water before I start cleaning then turn the heater off when I start cleaning records. The water temp is about 85 to 90 degrees. The Isonic can be set anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes for cleaning cycles. That should be enough for most records. The unit is fairly quiet so it won't disrupt the family. I purchased my machine in February of this year and have cleaned over 500 record with the Isonic with excellent results. I think this is a well built and designed machine. I would highly recommend this machine.
@slaw Just curious if you think Photo-Flo really adds anything to the party.  I eliminated it after shifting from IPA to Versaclean.  Versaclean's principal ingredient is Linear Alcohol Ethoxylate, an excellent surfactant.  Photo-Flo would seem to be redundant. 
benjie-Why do you think Isonic chose such high temperatures?  They would warp the record and melt the grooves at 5 minutes at 140 degrees or thereabouts.  Maybe Kirmuss is smarter by lowering his temps.  Also, other's have commented that 35Khz is too low and that it should be 80Khz.  My friends tell me that lower is better...  This is making a decision more complicated.   I'm almost ready to buy a Monks or Loricraft record cleaning machine which I've used and liked but were too expensive prior to my purchasing the VPI.
No idea why they would have the temperature that high. The Kirmuss unit does not have heater at all. As for the 35 khz,  most units designed for vinyl are between 35 and 40 khz, klaudio and audio desk are good examples. There is a lot of debate on how many khz are required to clean vinyl properly without doing any damage to the record. Like I said earlier I am happy with the Isonic unit,  I think it does a find job cleaning the vinyl.