View Full Version : Moth RCM DIY Kit
I've just finished building my Moth Record Cleaning Machine kit
http://www.simister.com/public/rcm1.jpg
http://www.simister.com/public/rcm2.jpg
Pretty straight-forward, but the instructions could have been better - I emailed Moth a couple of times for clarification and they responded both quickly and helpfully each time.
You'd laugh if I told you how long it took me, but I'm not very good at woodwork etc (understatement :rolleyes: ), so I took my time.
Photo of the insides:
http://www.simister.com/public/rcm3.jpg
Off to track down some distilled water this afternoon (bought some Isopropyl Alcohol off eBay - that arrived yesterday) so hopefully first cleaning session later :cool:
Any tips on getting the best results?
Jac Hawk
03-04-2011, 13:23
nice one kieth, erm where is it you live:eyebrows:
No where near you Mike, fortunately ;).
Seriously, I'd be more than happy to clean records for people, but the cost of return postage (and the risk involved in posting) probably makes it a no go?
No where near you Mike, fortunately ;).
Seriously, I'd be more than happy to clean records for people, but the cost of return postage (and the risk involved in posting) probably makes it a no go?
I have one and it cleans my records great "BUT" I would rather work near the planes at Manchester Airport, :lol:
Im sure they must be able to develop a quiet Moth RCM
Regards
I have one and it cleans my records great "BUT" I would rather work near the planes at Manchester Airport, :lol:
Im sure they must be able to develop a quiet Moth RCM, Regards
It's certainly pretty noisy - as this photo shows:
http://www.simister.com/public/rcm_db.jpg
88 dB at 1 metre.
Off to buy some ear defenders. :lol:
Well, the first record has been cleaned.
Mixed my IPA, distilled water and unperfumed washing-up liquid to Marco's "1+9+a few drops" formula and dug out my sacrificial record (don't laugh now) - "The Electric Light Orchestra: A New World Record" :rolleyes: This LP had something spilled on it at a party in 1977. I'd tried to clean it at the time using some bright blue EMI record cleaning fluid, but only suceeded in disolving the crud and pushing it right down to the bottom of the grooves.
Playing it before cleaning, I could only stand two tracks - the crackles were actually louder than the music (maybe not a bad thing :eyebrows: ).
Cleaned it on the Moth and played it again. OMG! other than a few tiny ticks and pops audible between the tracks, it's completely quiet.:stalks:
I know others have remarked on how well vacuum cleaning works, but until you try it yourself you never quite believe it.
that looks really good Keith, any links and costings for us nosey types would be good
Hi Jon,
The RRP for the kit from Moth is £295, but David Brook (Mains Cables R Us) has a special price for AoS members (PM him directly).
The 15mm contiboard plus some extra screws plus glue was £15 from my local joiner/diy shop. The aluminium angle I used to tidy the edges up (optional) was about a £5 and the blue sticky back vinyl was £8 (bought too much - plenty left over). I already had silicone sealant.
Reid Malenfant
03-04-2011, 18:22
Well done Keith, that looks damn fine fella :) As well as proving it's worth on the first spin :stalks:
Most excellent, that's you sorted out :cool:
I've just finished building my Moth Record Cleaning Machine kit
http://www.simister.com/public/rcm1.jpg
:stalks::stalks::stalks::stalks::stalks::stalks:
Looks awesome,Keith.I take my measurements were OK?
I take my measurements were OK?
Spot on David, Thank you - I wanted them so I could order the aluminium angle etc. before I actually received the kit.
Hi Keith,
I am so happy it all worked out, I too just ordered a 25 litre drum of de-ionized water to make up some bottles of fluid, pity they don't supply any as standard but suppose it is a DIY machine after all!
I noticed the full blown Moth RCM is supplied with 50 record sleeves and fluid so what I will be doing for future is supplying all the DIY machines I sell with some fluid and some record sleeves in with the deal, your record sleeves are on the way as a thank you for such a good review, nice photo too!
Hats off to you Keith - I know if I bought a kit it would stay just that, languishing unloved in the garage... Sounds like you saved a few quid, though, and got a unique version into the bargain. Need to sort out my finances and a few other things but a RCM is very high up my wish list.
Well done Kieth. I almost bought the kit but chickened out in the end. I only did metal work at school, wouldnt know what to do with a piece of wood.
This is probably a stupid question but how does it work, most of the record cleaning machines I have seen have the arm sucking over the top surface of a wet record, but the Moth seems to clean the underside of the record so doesn't the cleaning solution just drip off?
Thanks for any info as a friend has just picked up an old machine with no instructions, and whilst looking at it I couldn't see how to lift the arm so that it sat on top of the record and was somewhat confused how it would work otherwise:scratch:
Hi David,
The pipe with the vacuum slot is underneath the record. The fluid doesn't 'drip off' because you don't use that much fluid (about 2ml per side is ample). The advantage of doing it this way is that the bottom of the record is always in the same place relative to the vacuum tube regardless of the thickness of the record - which wouldn't be the case if you vacuumed from the top.
The way I use it is this:
1. place record on turntable and screw down the clamp
2. switch on the turntable motor - the record starts revolving slowly.
3. drizzle a spiral of cleaning fluid onto the record from lead-in to lead-out
4. spread the fluid evenly over the record surface with the brush
5. hold the brush against the record with the bristles facing against the direction of rotation for a couple of turns
6. flip the switch to reverse the direction of rotation and repeat step 5.
7. switch off turntable and turn the record over
8. switch on turntable motor followed by vacuum motor.
9. vacuum for 2 turns then reverse the direction of rotation for a further 2 turns.
10. switch off vacuum motor followed by turntable motor
11. remove record and clean the velvet around the vacuum slot with the brush (with the vacuum switched on) and wipe dry the velvet with a microfibre cloth
12. repeat 1 - 11 for the other side.
The Grand Wazoo
07-04-2011, 16:14
It's as Keith says - you use a small quantity & it's smeared evenly across the playing area. There's enough surface tension there to prevent that small quantity from accumulating into droplet sized drips. Even if you hold the disc vertically for a few seconds, it doesn't seem to flow downwards across the surface too much.
Thanks for the explanation....makes perfect sense it was just all the other machines I had seen had the vacuum part on the top surface of the record.
I will get my mate to fire it up & get some practice in before I let him loose on some of mine:)
How easy is the DIY kit to build?
I'm a relatively experienced DIY'er and this looks like a money saving way to get a decent RCM. rather than blow £80 on a "Spin clean" I think I would rather spend a bit more on a proper machine.
Are there any difficult areas to be aware of?
No difficulty at all based on all the ones I have sold in the past, its a bit of wood! Nothing can go wrong really.
Audioman
20-01-2014, 23:54
Keith. That's the best looking DIY Moth I've seen - nice work. For those challenged by DIY the Okki Nokki is available again (new version I believe) at a relatively small price premium and it's not as noisy!
Paul.
Keith. That's the best looking DIY Moth I've seen - nice work. For those challenged by DIY the Okki Nokki is available again (new version I believe) at a relatively small price premium and it's not as noisy!
Paul.
It's a great device - very effective. I built mine from a kit, and it was very straight forward apart from the self-imposed problem of getting a decent paint finish with a rattle can!. I filled the small gaps between the sides of the box and screw holes, primed and sprayed in the rather fetching ford red shown below.
If you can cut, screw and glue a piece of wood, it is very straight forward.
Here is mine
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8290/7864929824_6f7b7084f1_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/14548229@N07/7864929824/)
20120826_165248 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/14548229@N07/7864929824/) by alexmastersuk (http://www.flickr.com/people/14548229@N07/), on Flickr
How easy is the DIY kit to build?
I'm a relatively experienced DIY'er and this looks like a money saving way to get a decent RCM. rather than blow £80 on a "Spin clean" I think I would rather spend a bit more on a proper machine.
Are there any difficult areas to be aware of?
It's pretty straight-forward, Kevin. I seem to remember that some of the 'plumbing' needed a bit of persuasion to make it all fit properly and the plans provided were out-of-date in that some small holes that were shown as being drilled through (for bolts) now needed only pilot holes (for screws) etc. But basically, if you can make a wooden box of given dimensions and drill a few holes in the right places, then that's all there is to it.
Thanks Keith.
It's basically boiling down to this, or the new Okki Nokki for me.
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