My Ultrasonic Record Cleaner

[Jac Hawk]

Thanks Berni, The design seems good, i hope it lives up to my expectations

[Patrick Dixon]

Oh I see what's happened. Whatever you've bought is no longer available (because you've bought it) so ebay is trying to suggest something similar. Whatever you've bought doesn't show on my browser.

The listing you’re looking for is no longer available. Check out this similar item we found for you.

You have to click on the not-at-all-obvious link on the word 'listing' to see the thing you actually want. The children at ebay have been busy and messed it all up.

[Jac Hawk]

Well my new Ultrasonic cleaning kit arrived today, i got it off ebay and i must say it seems a well made bit of kit, i've used Bernis formula for the cleaning fluid and bought quality fluids rather than the cheapest i could find, i don't know if that will make any significant difference but my thinking is the purer the products i use the better the end result.

Anyway i followed previous posts, heated the bath up to 40 degrees C then degassed for 5 minutes before cleaning 3 particularly filthy 2nd hand lp's, the kit i bought has a fan attached to dry the lp's once washed so after the cleaning cycle had finished it took less than 5 minutes to completely dry the discs.

The results are really good, i mean i'm not going to turn a turd into a crock of gold, there are still a few crackles and pops, but the lp's that were once unlistenable are now in good listenable condition with the vast majority of surface noise removed as well as the sound produced being clearer and more focused if that makes sense.

So 1st impressions are very good, it's not going to magically fix surface damage and i guess that's the pops and crackles that i can still hear but it is a very easy way to get your vinyl as clean as it's ever going to be

[Berni217]

Well my new Ultrasonic cleaning kit arrived today, i got it off ebay and i must say it seems a well made bit of kit, i've used Bernis formula for the cleaning fluid and bought quality fluids rather than the cheapest i could find, i don't know if that will make any significant difference but my thinking is the purer the products i use the better the end result.

Anyway i followed previous posts, heated the bath up to 40 degrees C then degassed for 5 minutes before cleaning 3 particularly filthy 2nd hand lp's, the kit i bought has a fan attached to dry the lp's once washed so after the cleaning cycle had finished it took less than 5 minutes to completely dry the discs.

The results are really good, i mean i'm not going to turn a turd into a crock of gold, there are still a few crackles and pops, but the lp's that were once unlistenable are now in good listenable condition with the vast majority of surface noise removed as well as the sound produced being clearer and more focused if that makes sense.

So 1st impressions are very good, it's not going to magically fix surface damage and i guess that's the pops and crackles that i can still hear but it is a very easy way to get your vinyl as clean as it's ever going to be

Glad that you are starting to enjoy your new kit Mike. The reduced drying time with the fan is interesting, although the air drying time is also reduced with the hot weather.

You are right... damaged records cannot be fixed. However, very dirty LPs could benefit of a second round of cleaning (peace of mind)


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[Jac Hawk]

The reduced drying time with the fan is interesting, although the air drying time is also reduced with the hot weather.

To be honest the lp's were dry after a couple of minutes, i just wanted to be sure, i think the IPA content of the cleaning solution also helps reduce drying times

[Jac Hawk]

So round 2, after taking Bernis advice, i decided to slightly change the cleaning cycle and increase the time in the bath from 10 to 20 minutes, also i left the lp's spinning for a pre soak for about 5 minutes before turning the ultrasonics on, my thinking being it will allow the warm solution to get right to the bottom of all the grooves before the cleaning starts.

The results were not what i expected after last nights go, barely a pop or crackle anywhere and this is from old 1970's vinyl, ok the quality was better then than in the 80's but even so 40+ years old and it really sounds like it's just been opened and played for the 1st time, very very pleased.

[Berni217]

So round 2, after taking Bernis advice, i decided to slightly change the cleaning cycle and increase the time in the bath from 10 to 20 minutes, also i left the lp's spinning for a pre soak for about 5 minutes before turning the ultrasonics on, my thinking being it will allow the warm solution to get right to the bottom of all the grooves before the cleaning starts.

The results were not what i expected after last nights go, barely a pop or crackle anywhere and this is from old 1970's vinyl, ok the quality was better then than in the 80's but even so 40+ years old and it really sounds like it's just been opened and played for the 1st time, very very pleased.

Great. Interesting stuff!


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[Jac Hawk]

Some Photos of my new kit

[alphaGT]

Hopefully once it’s cleaned, you won’t need to clean it again for a very long time? So, long term damage won’t be an issue. If it sounds so amazing after a 20 minute cleaning, it would seem no damage was done? So, it won’t need to be cleaned again for another 40 years? Or a good while anyway?

Russell

[Jac Hawk]

My view on potential damage caused by the action of cavitation goes back to the post about aluminium foil i.e. if i carefully wrapped an lp in foil then tried to play it on my TT how much damage would the stylus do to the foil? my guess is that it would be considerable, so baring that in mind how much more damage to the vinyl is cavitation going to do, an exploding bubble can't do as much damage as a sharp pointy diamond being dragged over the surface.