Durable record vacuum cleaner recommendation?


I am looking for a durable record vacuum machine. Any recommendations?

Ideally will also do 10" and 7", and be on the quieter side. Should be able to handle some volume without breaking.

Background: my Project VC-S is busted; vacuum motor got noisy to 95dB at 1 m, a bit much, IMHO. ~$250 motor part with no returns and no guaranteed compatibility is a non-starter. This is already a replacement unit for one with bad gears for the platter. So Pro-ject is out of the running.

In the last couple of months, I used the unit quite a bit (around 1K records vacuumed) as I got an ultrasonic and go through my entire collection.

Thanks for any leads and recommendations, particularly if you have run a few thousand records through your unit with no issues.

oberoniaomnia

Ditto on the HW17. I've had mine since the early 90s. No problems ever except periodically replacing the wand that does the suction and the brushes.  Both of which are sold by VPI at very reasonable prices. It's not quiet, but I have never understood why that matters; I clean my LPs in my basement workshop.  I don't try to listen to music or TV or to my wife while I am cleaning LPs.

My Loricraft PRC-4 Deluxe has lasted 13 years so far and has never gone wrong. Before that I had a VPI 16.5 and found the plastic wands kept cracking and breaking where they plug into the tower. It was a lot noisier too.

I used at VPI 16.5 for 9 years with only replacing the tube seals and employing some different brushes.  It is rugged and reliable, but I would not say it is quiet. 

Thanks everybody. VPI gets a solid recommendation. I see one problem: when I take record out of ultrasonic, it is wet on both sides. The VPI has a platter that supports the entire record (12") not just the label. So the platter will get wet every time I put a new record on.

Or is it possible to get a label-size platter? @joenies How do you deal with that as you also do Ultrasonic followed by vacuum?

Re noise, yes, it is a vacuum cleaner. Well understood. What I am experiencing with the PJ is well beyond a vacuum cleaner.

The Loricraft is a bit over the top, IMHO. The point suction arm is of no concern to me after ultrasonic cleaning. And price is also a bit steep.

Below is a photo of one of the cleaning stations at the Packard Campus in Culpeper, which is the intake facility for the Library of Congress. The photo was taken in late 2014. (The facility is not open to the public)

I have been using a big Monks Omni for the past decade, which is supplemented by the older version of the KL. I had a VPI that started life as a 16 and was converted to a 16.5 It would not die. I gave it to a friend at the beginning of 2017, along with an assortment of brushes, applicators and fluids.