I just bought a LP length ultrasonic cleaner and bought a rotator assembly which fits on the side and suspends the LP above the label. It works great. I use a little dawn dish soap and 'photoflo" surface tension reducer so that the water flows off with no waterspots. Works really well. I cleaned about 250 LPs in a weekend, two at a time. About 25 minutes rotating in 90F solution. Really reduced surface noise. Total cost for the rig, about 450.
Ultrasonic record cleaners
I have a modest lp collection, mixed bag of original college age purchases, used records before the current renewed interest, and some newer albums to replace some older issues from the p mount needle days. Have a vpi 16 machine and audio intelligent form 6 fluid. I’m not finding a significant improvement on my noisier issues. The price of ultrasonic cleaners have come down to a price I would consider. Appreciate the experiences of those who have purchased the ultrasonic machines, are they superior to my vpi and are the less expensive models effective?
TIA
- ...
- 131 posts total
I use the Vevor ultrasonic cleaner. With a 3V PS for the spin. This gives me a little over 1 minute rotation. And my solution is TRITON X-100 , HEPASTAT 256, ALCOHOL (IPA) and Purified water. With a Purified water rinse. Great results with "normal" dirty vinyl. Extra dirty require a pre manual clean. Then vacuum the rinse water. New vinyl now always cleaned first before playing. |
@rvillanova Sure, I used Triton X-100 and 91% IPA to prepare the concentrate.
40 ml Triton X-100 48 ml 91% IPA Then add 22ml of this solution to Kirmuss cleaner. Once 5min clean cycle done I take it out and rise with distilled water and vacuum dry, twice. When distilled water is applied to US cleaned record the first time, you can see the surfactant wetting the grooves. After the second rinse with distilled water, the drops will just bead up.
Hope this helps. |
@antinn and @whart thanks again for your contributions on getting the best out of our vinyl. I can say unequivocally that adding ultrasonic cleaning to a mechanical regimen such as a vpi has merit. Best is to use both, as they work differently and and are additive. I learned a HUGE pearl today, thanks to Neil: that ultrasonic baths that have been sitting unused for 24 need an additional degassing cycle in order to be most effective. I hope everyone else caught that as well. Me thinks a small, but crucial cog in the cleaning wheel. Thanks again, Neil! |
- 131 posts total