Records noisier after a clean?!

Hi folks!

After hearing a lot of excellent reports about L'Art Du Son I decided to purchase a bottle and give it a go (when you consider how much the concentrated solution can actually make it doesn't seem quite so bad value at £29 per bottle!).

Followed the instructions to the letter in terms of mixing ratios/storage etc.

The distilled water I use is: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Distilled-Wate...item4cf78bc327

Whilst inspecting a clean record close up - and marveling at how new it looked after a spin on my recently purchased KAB EV-1 - my breath showed up on the run-out groove area. I could clearly see light brush lines going around the periphery, where it had been 'cleaned'. Breathing lightly on the uncleaned side of the LP revealed no such lines. Rubbing the cleaned side lightly with a cloth showed no brush lines after breathing on it again (note: I don't usually breath all over my records folks, lest some think I have some strange kind of vinyl fetish... :eek: ).

The cleaned records don't sound quite as clean as I was expecting. In fact I think some have a little more crackle - even those I double cleaned!

I guess one of three things is happening here:

1) L'Art Du Son is leaving a very slight residue...

2) The distilled water I am using isn't as pure as the Ebay advert suggests...

3) The Vacuum cleaner I am using isn't doing a great job with - er- sucking!

I've used the fluid which was originally provided with the EV-1 and have had no problems at all. Quite disappointed as I was thinking L'Art Du Son was meant to be the bees knees of RCM fluids.

Anyone else had this problem? I'm sure it must be something I'm doing wrong rather than anything wrong with the cleaning fluid.

Cheers,

- John

It seems a bit odd this.
I'd have thought the vacuum should suck everything you put onto the record. Is there any chance that what you're doing is causing some mechanical damage to the playing surface?

Get down to your local chemist and purchase 5 litres of purified (medical grade) water. Reclean with just purified water only. If this doesn't work reclean with an alcahol based cleaner. Home made, KAB or buy the Moth or Okki Nokki. These should remove the residue. It may be wise to try the L'art du Son mixed with the purified water first to see if this makes a difference. BTW make sure you clean out all brushes after using the L'Art du Son.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Grand Wazoo

It seems a bit odd this.
I'd have thought the vacuum should suck everything you put onto the record. Is there any chance that what you're doing is causing some mechanical damage to the playing surface?

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I don't think so - the slight residue (which to be honest I only noticed on the non-grooved area next to the label, and then only when I happened to breath on it!) is wiped off easily with a lint free cloth. Perhaps I just jumped the gun here - I guess the vacuum action isn't really optimised to clean the run-outs too. Just checked the velvet pads and all is fine and nothing abrasive there at all. I still think L'Art is leaving a very slight residue however...

John - one thing I noticed when I first bought my Clearaudio Smart Matrix is that I wasn't using enough liquid and was getting variable results like yourself. It's important that, after the application & wipe phase, the surface is still saturated before the vacuum is applied.

This is the fluid I use, in larger quantities, it's excellent and better than Clearaudio and Mint fluids:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINYL-RECORD-C...item3cb7aa59c5

Just asking but did you use any wetting agent? :scratch:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Audioman

Get down to your local chemist and purchase 5 litres of purified (medical grade) water. Reclean with just purified water only. If this doesn't work reclean with an alcahol based cleaner. Home made, KAB or buy the Moth or Okki Nokki. These should remove the residue. It may be wise to try the L'art du Son mixed with the purified water first to see if this makes a difference. BTW make sure you clean out all brushes after using the L'Art du Son.

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Thanks for the reply - According to that Ebay ad I got the water from it's about as clean as you can get @ 1ppm. Judging by the feedback I'm sure someone would have left negative feedback by now if the water wasn't actually that pure. I guess I could JUST try cleaning an LP with the water only, then vacuum, then see if that residue is apparent on the run out vinyl. That would rule out the water.

I did actually try doing a rinse cycle on an LP afterwards but it didn't make much - if any - difference. However, I only had a lightweight carbon fibre brush to hand to disperse that around the LP and perhaps it wasn't rubbing enough to dislodge the residue. I think I need to get a proper brush for the rinse cycle too then, not just the cleaning cycle. Another £17 for a Nitty Gritty brush. Jesus I can see why I abandoned vinyl a while back... it gets so bloody pricey for all the extras unless one is lucky to have pristine records.

Off to listen to a CD :wah:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Reid Malenfant

Just asking but did you use any wetting agent? :scratch:

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Using L'Art Du Son, so it's an all in one solution. Don't think it contains a wetting agent?

I'm not 100% sure but something tells me it'd work a good bit better if it did ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MartinT

John - one thing I noticed when I first bought my Clearaudio Smart Matrix is that I wasn't using enough liquid and was getting variable results like yourself. It's important that, after the application & wipe phase, the surface is still saturated before the vacuum is applied.

This is the fluid I use, in larger quantities, it's excellent and better than Clearaudio and Mint fluids:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINYL-RECORD-C...item3cb7aa59c5

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I'm definitely using enough fluid (one has to leave L'Art Du Son for 4mins to do it's thang, so one needs enough so nothing evaporates).

Thanks for that link - might try that if I find out it is L'Art that's leaving a residue, and not the purified water I'm using.

I'd imagine if it was the L'Art the internet would be full of similar complaints by now.