Ultrasound - Stylus Cleaning

[walpurgis]

Fluid cleaners are to be avoided. They penetrate tubular metal cantilevers and promote corrosion.

[rchinn]

I met someone who was using hospital ultrasound kit to clean record –*killed the labels but the return to sound he said was worth it. Wouldn't stick my stylus in there though.

[Barry]

The electronic stylus cleaners (the ones where you place the stylus down on a vibrating carbon fibre brush pad) are not ultrasonic. I use a Goldring stylus cleaner which vibrates at around 1 KHz. If you turn up the volume (slightly!) whilst the stylus is being cleaned, you can clearly hear the vibration frequency.

Jewellers' ultrasonic cleaners are indeed ultrasonic, consisting of a liquid bath whose contents are agitated by an ultrasonic (usually piezoelectric) transducer. The cleaning action is caused by cavitation, which ought not to be harmful to the diamond, but may well damage the adhesive used to attach the diamond to the cantilever. There is no need to use water, one could equally use IPA, but in general I would prefer to use a conventional electronic stylus cleaner, of the type shown above.