Advice on record cleaning machine

[martinjohn308]

Hi Guys,

I thinking of buying a record cleaning machine without breaking the bank what are your thoughts on which one to buy? Ease of use would be one of the pluses and cost.

Regards,

Martin

[alphaGT]

I cannot say enough good things about the Pro-Ject VC-S.
I previously had a VPI 16.5, but it developed a bad leak, long story, but I swore I'd never have another. Even though it worked fine while it was working. But! I replaced it with the Pro-Ject and it is better in every way. It's like they looked at the other brands, and thought, "how can we improve on their designs?".

I wrote a review on this site somewhere, don't ask me how to find it. But I'll try to condense it. It has a large center hub that covers the labels, so they can't get wet. After you've cleaned Side one, and flip it over you don't have to put the clean side down on a dirty platter, no platter works so well keeping both sides clean. It has a very powerful vacuum. But isn't as loud as the 16.5. Bidirectional too, for extra scrubbing. The vacuum arm is all metal, no cracking or coming apart, it will last forever. Just replace the fuzzy lips every now and again. It does a better job than my old 16.5' and if I have a stack of 10 records I can get through them in less time.

And for some reason it's cheaper in Europe than here in the States.


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[Simon_LDT]

Another vote for the VC-S here, fantastic machine for the money. Can't fault it other than the loudness of the vac but then I've read from many that most other brands are even louder! Plus, you'll only have it on for about 5 seconds per side (I usually do 1 revolution in each direction).

It will even do 7'' records. I've found that if you cover the exposed part of the vac slot when sucking up the juice, it works extremely well - no need for any extra attachments or anything like that.

[struth]

not much to beat a moth imv. sturdy and work well. most are noisy but i just wear earbuds.

[PalsHuffMor]

I believe the Project case is made from mdf. That is a potential problem. I would spend a little extra on a metal case machine like Okki Nokki or Moth.

[hifi_dave]

Moth all the way. I've sold dozens of them and not one has had any faults at all.

[ramsden]

I am fully satisfied with my Nano Meco brasilian home made rcm. You will need some cheap hoover though to make it work. I use old Electrolux Mondo 1600w set up on min. sucking power. This little rcm is doing fine job. Price is less then £100 plus shipping fees from Brasilia. Maybe worthy to look at. Search for "maquina phk". Paulo is honest guy.

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[gsq4848]

I have an Okki Nokki and have had no problems with its functionality. I don't find the level of noise to be anything other than one would perhaps expect when using a vacuum motor.

[GJO]

My Moth was from the very first batch ever made in the early 90's,it's cleaned several thousand records and apart from changing the pads every couple of years,it still does sterling work.

[struth]

My Moth was from the very first batch ever made in the early 90's,it's cleaned several thousand records and apart from changing the pads every couple of years,it still does sterling work.

my pads are still original and still ok. mine is only about 10 tho.:D just a boy

[Dimz]

I have an okki nokki, not bad at all ..
actually it does quite a remarkable job ...

the only issue I had was the liquid sensor (disconnect it) ..

I read somehwhere that new o.n's dont have that sensor anymore due to lot of problems

**btw in case someone has a o.n. with the sesnor
I have mailed o.n about it and they said that its ok to disconnect it and they send me instructions on how to do it [if anyone wants I can mail him their answer]
also DhtRob has a nice tutorial on how you can do it
https://www.dhtrob.com/overige/okkinokki_repair.php

[Cas]

I have an Okki Nokki and have had no problems with its functionality. I don't find the level of noise to be anything other than one would perhaps expect when using a vacuum motor.

+1

[Audio Al]

I have owned both the okki nokki and a Moth , The next level is what i saved up for a Loricraft PRC3 , silent cleaning is bliss ;)

[martinjohn308]

Hi all,

Many thanks to one and all so it's seem that, Project, Moth and Okki Nokki in my price range.

Regards,

Martin

[julesd68]

I thought there had been some design issues with the Project that had been discussed on this forum previously - I would check if those have been sorted out before buying...

[martinjohn308]

I thought there had been some design issues with the Project that had been discussed on this forum previously - I would check if those have been sorted out before buying...

Hi Jules,

Will check it out,

Regards,

Martin

[Simon_LDT]

There isn't anything wrong as such with the Pro-Ject. The early versions (first batch) had the vac armtube made of metal and also the socket it sits in made of the same metal - causing some to get stuck as some users didn't grease them up. Pro-Ject supplied new instructions and a pack of grease for the 2nd batch (which I have). I've had no issues at all with this.

I believe it now comes with a plastic socket that the arm sits in - so no metal to metal contact anymore.

The other small thing is the foam/pad on the clamps, they can soak up the solution and it can end up on the labels (which it should be protecting). Not sure if they changed this at all but it's not a huge issue if you don't get lots of solution right next to it. I removed them and used some thin o-ring material instead which is perfect.

[Cas]

I have owned both the okki nokki and a Moth , The next level is what i saved up for a Loricraft PRC3 , silent cleaning is bliss ;)

Other than the silent running I assume it does a better job of cleaning than the Moth and Okki Nokki ?
So therefore condones it's high price.

[struth]

It cant do a better job than a perfect job. Lol. My moth does, imo, a perfect job. Its only down side is it is noisy. Fluid is not expensive after the initial first buy tbh. Noise can be averted by earbuds. It goes both ways but you have to turn the record twice. Use an old cd to protect label from any accidental splashes. Unless you are doing it all the time its as good as it gets without spending more on it than your actual system

[bobreel]

I'm very please with my pro-ject machine, very effective in reducing pops and clicks. Static doesn't seem to be a problem even several months after cleaning a record.

[alphaGT]

There isn't anything wrong as such with the Pro-Ject. The early versions (first batch) had the vac armtube made of metal and also the socket it sits in made of the same metal - causing some to get stuck as some users didn't grease them up. Pro-Ject supplied new instructions and a pack of grease for the 2nd batch (which I have). I've had no issues at all with this.

I believe it now comes with a plastic socket that the arm sits in - so no metal to metal contact anymore.

The other small thing is the foam/pad on the clamps, they can soak up the solution and it can end up on the labels (which it should be protecting). Not sure if they changed this at all but it's not a huge issue if you don't get lots of solution right next to it. I removed them and used some thin o-ring material instead which is perfect.

I've had mine for less than a year, and the vacuum post is heavy plastic, so no grease or sticking of the arm tube. And the foam lining of the clamp discs, is thin closed cell foam, I've had no issue with it absorbing fluid. So it seems perhaps they have addressed those problems? One of its advantages over other machines is that it is flat on top, any spilled fluid is so easily wiped off, and there are no inside corners for fluid to collect in.


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[WESTLOWER]

Well, The Nitty Gritty RCM, simply the best upgrade you can make once you have a good vinyl front end.
Used to think it was just for nerds.. Now i'm a nerd too!

[Bigman80]

I've read this thread and had similar thoughts to "buy a better unit for better results"

I bought an Album from Cob records in Porthmadog the other day and when I got it home it sounded horrific. I read this thread and bought some ingredients for a cleaning solution for the Disco anti-stat i use. A total of £20 for about 3L and the anti stat cleaner was about £25. After one clean it's actually sounding really really good. I'm sure a thorough soak and then a thorough clean with bring it up to the standard of my other records

I love the cheap and cheerful nature of it and it does a great job.

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