Audio Desk Systeme - Vinyl Cleaner – Repair of Water Pump Failure
After the water pump of my beloved Vinyl Cleaner from Audio Desk Systeme stopped working I searched the web and found that I’m not the only one with this problem. But nowhere did I find a blog or post that would describe a repair procedure – other than to mail the machine back to Germany for an expensive repair.
If your machine is still under warranty you should of course send it back for warranty repair. But if your machine is out of warranty (like mine) and your only option is to spend lots of money to get it fixed, you might want to consider repairing it yourself.
The way the vinyl cleaner is designed does not allow any maintenance or replacement of any component located inside the machine without destroying something. The whole machine is glued together! Something I have not seen before to this extent – especially not on a high dollar item like this. Only the components in the upper compartment where the white cleaning rollers are located can be accessed thru the opening in the top cover.
To get started you need to separate the bottom PVC plate from the bottom of the tank. Both plates are glued together. I used a flat pry-bar to carefully separate the bottom plate without breaking it. Shining a flash light thru the water sight glass you can see the blue water pump thru the drain hole of the tank.
To get to the water pump you need to remove the bottom of the tank (or parts of it) which is glued to the recessed side walls.
Use a permanent marker to draw straight lines on the tank bottom – 5 mm inbound from the side walls. The PVC side walls are 5 mm thick. Try to cut slightly inside that line to not cut into the recessed side walls. I used a Dremel with a cut-off wheel.
Once the bottom of the tank is removed you have access to the water pump and all other internal components. To disconnect the pump wires from the main board you need to remove the front panel with on/off switch. Follow the pump cable from the tank and disconnect both wires from the terminal.
In my case it turned out that the pump actually did not fail - it was simply seized up. Once I rotated the little impeller by hand and hooked it up to the 24 V DC power supply in the sink it started to pump fine again.
In case you find your pump to be dead and need a replacement look for “Barwig Tauchpumpe Typ 3 24 V DC”. Price is around 18 EUR (appr. 20 USD) at amazon.de or conrad.com. Unfortunately I was not able to find a supplier who would ship to the U.S.. You may need to be creative – or plan your next vacation in Germany ...
If you use aquarium grade silicone adhesive instead of strong PVC adhesive to put it all together you will be able to undo everything easier in case you need to access the inside of the machine again.
Feel free to email me if you have questions or need pictures.
Decibell
Hi Decibell, @decibell Thank you for all your very helpful information re the AD Pump Motor Fix. Alas, mine just died. Could I please request that you send me the pictures/ instructions for the repair. Also, Thank you again in advance for your helpful kindness. Sincerely !!! My email is : [email protected] |
@decibell First and foremost, thank you for sharing your experience and confidence in ease of repairing what is a common problem. I purchased the Audiodeske on release and had the first replaced under warranty and the that one upgraded to the Pro version at a cost to myself. I thought the pump had failed again so took the plunge to open up the unit. Problem ended up being a resistor that had partially come off the main PCB so just needed a solder to repair. Long story short, I took the opportunity to try and make the unit more serviceable in the future so came up with a fix using CNC cut aluminium plate and gasket that secure by screws - not glue! So far, testing well so will post a step by step set of instructions and video once satisfied it works. |
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Hi Boris, Looks like Keith24 has solved the email issue. [email protected]. Thanks again. Cheers, Scott |
Hi, My Audio Desk water pump is having issues. I was hoping that you could send me instructions and photos of how to get inside the box and fix the water pump. I really appreciate your knowledge on the matter and you sharing with the community. My email is [email protected] Thank you |
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Hello everyone! What an amazing resource this thread is. My audio desk pump died last night! Is there a chance a kind soul can send me pictures of the replacement procedure? My email is [email protected]. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again to decibel for the thread! Adam |
I have been doing more cycles to watch the machine doing its thing. The center pump fills in a different location then the side pump but I think it fills the same way as the other pump and the hole that opens just happens to be close to where the hose is attached underneath. The "hole that opens" is the spring loaded device that moves the rollers and has no effect on both pumps ability to fill the tank . So I think I need more powerful pumps to fill the upper chamber quicker and maybe that will put everything in sync. They are available from China. I wish I hadn’t spent months convincing them to make me 2 that are not part of their normal build cycle but the more powerful pumps are easily available on Ebay. We shall see in a month or so. |
Decibell -- Hi, I posted above. I have a Pro X from 2019 that I bought used in January from the guy who owns Gingko Works who owned it nearly 4 years, cleaned about 100 records and never once drained it. (He did not advertise the machine this way and refused to take it back). I cleaned about 100 records until it stopped filling up. I just finished opening it up and found 2 pump motors instead of one. I managed to get a hold of exact replacements and temporarily seal the machine up with plumbers putty and pressure (bungie cords etc).to test. Holds very well, no leaks. There is a pump that goes to the very center of the bottom of the upper part of the machine that opens then closes in 3 seconds. The rollers also start against the record immediately and the "ultrasonic generator" starts with only about an inch of water. The machine keeps filling from the other pump that uses the edges until the upper chamber is full and the rising water pushes the ultrasonic mist (that’s now above the water as it rises) up and out of the machine. Then it completes the cycle, drains the water and dries. Ultrasystem (USA distributor) or Audio Desk will not help anyone that opens the machine. I doubt a stronger pump will help with the center pump I have no idea what holds that center hole open for the correct amount of time ( I have read about Solenoid failure). but I can get a twice as powerful pump from the same company same external dimensions for the other pump but just guessing if that will work at this point. Glad to see you checking back in. Jim [email protected] |
Hello, I have the same problem. french distributor tells me audiodesk repairs slowly (2 monthes) and for 400 euros, in general. i decided to do it myself. can you send me pics or video ? @decibell thank you so much for sharing --- [email protected]
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@decibell I have an ADS Pro, and the fans gave up some time back. I could still wash the records and use a diaper cloth to manually wipe them dry. Today, the pump gave up too. So now I would have to open up the unit and try to repair it. Would you be so kind to send me pictures of your pump repair operation? If you have any advice on troubleshooting the fans, I would appreciate that too. My email is [email protected] Thank you very much! |
Dear decibell Thank Sir in advance!!! |
My email [email protected] |
Hello Team,
After 15 months of dry storage I took out the AD cleaner now that we moved and I can finally get to my vinyl. It fired right up and after about 10 disks I realized no water ! Can someone share pictures? Pls why not keep the pump outside ?
thanks Bruno |
Hello everyone ! Same problem here. Gave it to the swiss importer, they ask 800€ for repair or alternatively propose a new one for 1900€...not cool. So David, where are you with your repair offer ? I'm very interested indeed ! Mine worked fine for 5 years (around 600 vinyls cleaned) then the pump stopped working. I never cleaned it with vinegar or so, with distilled water tought it wouldn't be useful. Guess I was wrong... Here my email: [email protected] Thanks all for your help ! Audio Desk broken pump community ;-) Cheers, Cedric |
Hi David and all who have been generous with their responses: Looks like you might be in the UK gosh darn it, or maybe I’m in luck and your a transplant. I have the Pro version but a very early one that was purchased in April of 2019 by original owner. Pump just failed yesterday and I think I have made it worse. It’s only cleaned about 200 records. I am the second owner (purchased in 11/22) that did the second 100 records. so it had basically been sitting for years and never cleaned (foam filter was pretty bad) or fluid removed. It took 11 cycles of partially filling and draining to get it to drain clean but I shook it too hard on a few of the cycles and water entered the the upper areas. I took off the panel with the circuit board and dried out the area there was just a drop or two of water (I used a paper towel) and then gently dried with heat gun. I was going to wait a day to let it dry some more but instead I refilled the machine hoping the pump would have freed itself from my efforts. When I restarted it the 2 rollers nearest the front did not rotate at all and a small puff of smoke came up from near the base of the rollers. Pump was not working. I shut the machine off instantly. So I really don’t know if it’s fixable now. I am hoping others will chime in I only have about 400 records to do all of which have already been cleaned with at least one other method. I have HW -17F for over 20 years and working perfectly.. Thanks to all in advance, Jim Decibell et al, my email address is [email protected] |
Hi All, if anyone is interested, I am currently in the process of developing a repair to this machine that not only replaces the pump, but makes it replaceable in the event of further failure (the pump in this should be considered a servicable part in my opinion), upgrades the pump connection to the upper tank, makes the bottom plate removable, uprates the draining mechanism and in general makes the machine serviceable in a non-destructive way. I have also developed replacement rollers for the upper tank that are replicas for the nonsense-expensive ones from ADS, which I will probably look to retail around $15/20 a set (but many may have worked out how to do this already - would love a bit of input here). The upgrade process is being fully documented at the moment, and I may look to offer it as a send-to-me to fix service, or offer the step-by-step instructions as a DIY pack.
I essentially love this machine, It’s really good at what it does, but is, for such an expensive machine, just about the poorest manufactured example of engineering I’ve ever seen in a retail item. But I guess it makes it a fun project when it does actually fail!
So please, reply to this with thoughts on such a repair service, DIY guide or cheaper rollers.
Happy vinyl hunting everyone :) |
Hi Decibell, I had the water pump problem that water is not filling up the top tank. I just managed to cut off the bottom plate and can now see the white pump on the left. Would appreciate if you can send me pictures of replacing the pump. My email is [email protected]. Thanks so much. Maurice. |
Hello Decibell-My friends's AD cleaner's pump has failed. Would you kindly send me some photos of what you did to get to the pump please? My email is [email protected] Thank you-Bill |
hi can you send me pictures to [email protected] mine lasted 6 years of heavy duty cleaning at my record store so I cant complain. I always used there solution and distilled water and every 3 months a cleaning of CLR and that I think is why it lasted so long . I'm sure a vinegar rinse would probably work. I will see if I can do a YouTube of the process |
Yes, it's the Pro model. The thing is I worked with Robert and did everything he told me to do. Looks like it needs to go in for service. He thinks it needs an update mod of some sort. Guess I'll toss it into my car and run it up to his shop one of these days and see what it's going to cost. They are less than an hour away. I just don't want to invest money in a machine that seems to have a high failure rate. On top of that, I'm a service tech, I repair machines much more complicated than one of these but the construction of this thing is horrid, who in hell glues a machine together?
BillWojo |
Bill- one of the AD units I had would get stuck sometimes the rollers wouldn't retract- Robert Stein, the importer (Cable Company) just told me to "reboot" it like a computer- pull power and let it reset. That did fix that problem for a while. If it is a legit US unit, Stein probably brought it in- you might call him- he's a pretty nice guy and did a lot for the early owners to help them out. It could be the chip itself is funky--but that's pure speculation on my part. Stein would know based on years of experience in dealing with these units. Is the model you have the "Pro"? |
I was given one of these by a member because it was failing, it was only about two years old. What happens is the cleaning rollers don't move in and touch the record when the chamber fills with fluid. There is something that drops down in the lower chamber as it's pumped empty that moves levers pulling the cleaning rollers inwards to the record surface. Has anyone found a solution to this issue?
BillWojo |
My mail: [email protected] |
Two of my audio buddies are on their second Audio Desk cleaners as the first ones failed after cleaning maybe 50-100 records as the pumps failed. When they asked the dealer what was happening the response was "your lucky it lasted that long" and they would replace them for $1500 and get them a new one. Well they both did that and one is still working but with daily trepidation and the other one failed again after cleaning maybe 200 records. One of them replaced it with a non-ultrasonic record cleaner. For the price of the Audio Desks they should not be failing like this and they should have a longer warranty. Maybe they knew it was a flawed design when it was introduced. |
H Decibell, Thank you for all your very helpful information re the AD Pump Motor Fix. Alas, mine just died. Could I please request that you send me the pictures/ instructions for the repair. Also, do your pictures show the replacement pump name/ model # etc? Thank you again in advance for your helpful kindness. Sincerely, Scott Elsbree |
A little tip for cleaning the rollers. I washed them with just a touch of laundry soap, gently washed, then thoroughly rinsed all four. I dried them with paper towel, and then used a leaf blower to dry them and fluff them up. They look brand new. I suppose a blow dry would work, but I don't know if there is enough air flow to really fluff them up. I also wash the filter with touch of laundry soap and rinsed, rinsed, rinsed. |
mscardina's post on 9-20-2021 is spot on. The idea of drilling the four corners is a great idea. I used a drummel tool and cut a bit past each corner. The little notches at each corner were the points that were hard to seal. The next time I have to replace the pump, I'm going to move the pump outside the unit by running hoses to bulkhead connectors I'll place on the back of the unit. It'll be ugly, but very convenient to swap pumps. Right now I've done 120 records and all is well. |
@decibell I've had a used unit fail on me - pump issues. I now own a Pro model. Would you be able to send me the pictures and instructions on how to repair the unit, should this happen again? If it does happen again, I will not be purchasing/exchanging for another unit. I will try to get it fixed. Thank you and all the other posters for your very valuable repair advice. Much appreciated. Jeff |
@mscardina I am an Audio Desk System pro owner; I've had a used cleaner fail on me; I now own the Pro model. I saw your advice about cleaning the unit when you change fluid; clean where, exactly - the bottom reservoir tank or the top tank where the rollers are? If it is the reservoir tank, what kind of brush works well? Appreciate your advice, Jeff |
I agree with what everyone says about the design and inability to easily repair the unit, but I'm not a "hater". On the other hand, the machine is amazing at cleaning records. Even the dryer works great. I put records in a rack for about thirty minutes just to be sure they're dry. When I go to the record store now, I buy the ones that don't sound good at a very discounted price. I clean then up in the machine and they're good as new. |
