Record Cleaning Using Vacuum Machine for Cleaning and Ultrasonic for Final Rinse

I too follow Neil’s method, now doing a pre-cleaning of used records, holding the LP above the sink while gently running a cleaning brush around it after having squirted the surface with a diluted Liquinox solution. I hold the LP above the sink by means of one of those devices sold on ebay: the device is a pair of plastic discs slightly bigger than the center paper label on LP’s---each with a rubber gasket on it’s inner side, and a wooden handle with a bolt that passes through the center hole in the LP, a nut on the side opposite the handle with which to secure the two discs onto the LP.

From there the LP goes through the same regiment as non-used LP’s:

1- A cleaning on the VPI HW-17 (a spare mat having been placed on top of the HW-17’s mat for the cleaning and drying of the first LP side), applying one of a variety of cleaning liquids to the LP via a handheld bottle and spread via a handheld brush, then vacuum dried. Repeated on the second side, the spare mat having been removed before the cleaned and dried side of the LP is placed onto the 17 platter’s cork mat.

2- Then into the DIY ultrasonic cleaner that is filled with distilled water into which has been dropped Neil’s recommended amount of Talas brand Tergitol 15-S-9.

3- Then back onto the HW-17 for a final rinse of pure distilled water dispensed from the 17’s internal tank and spread via the 17’s swing-out brush, followed by two revolutions of vacuum drying. By the way, I have two VPI vacuum wands, one used for the first drying, a second only for drying after the final rinse.

I sure wish this level of LP cleaning had been possible when I first started buying LP’s in the early-60’s!

@billstevenson,  Bill, I am not sure if you took what I wrote in Chapter XIII out of context.

The records are vacuum dried because Neil reported finding 10%-30% residual solids left on the record surface using air drying techniques.  So it is important to get the debris off the record while it is still suspended in the cleaning fluid.  I use a microfiber towel to dry the turntable on the Cyclone between each side of the record during drying.

The blower-style vacuum-RCM (such as VPI) does not suck-up all fluid from the surface.  Anywhere from 10 to 30% is essentially dried/evaporated in-place.  So, it's important to final rinse after using cleaning solutions.  It's OK to use the vacuum to remove the cleaning solution and even if some is dried in place, the Alconox Liquinox pre-cleaner and the Tergitol 15-S-9 rehydrate and go back into solution when you rinse.  There is no reason to use a microfiber cloth to remove the cleaning solution.  

Let me show what happens with Tergitol 15-S-9 when its applied at the recommended 0.05% concentration = 500-ppm which also equals 500-mg/L (same as 0.5-mg/ml).  Let's assume you are applying 7-ml of fluid to the record surface:

1. If of 7-ml applied 0.05% Tergitol the worst case 30% dries in-place, that's 2.1-ml and at 0.5-mg/ml, 1.05-mg of Tergitol residue is on the record.
2. 7-ml of rinse water is applied, and now the 1.05-mg Tergitol is diluted to 1.05-mg/7-ml = 0.15-mg/ml.
3. If of the 7-ml rinse water (with some Tergitol) applied the worst case 30% dries in-place, that's 2.1-ml of 0.15-mg/ml Tergitol and now the Tergitol residue is down to 0.315-mg.  
4. Assuming the 0.315-mg is uniformly spread across the record, the residue thickness is ~0.0315-microns and this is down at inherent surface roughness making it inconsequential.  
5. If you wanted to be very conservative, you just do a 2nd final rinse

Hope this is of some help,

Take care,

Neil

I was in a hurry and did not explain myself well.  The record is taken out of the HumminGuru after the final rinse and placed back on the Cylcone turntable.  The top side is vacuum dried.  The record is removed and turned over, but before placing it back on the turntable to dry the other side I use a microfiber cloth to dry the turntable.  This just takes a few moments and prevents the dry side of the record from picking up any moisture.  Some people have expressed concern about using a RCM with a full size turntable because when the record is turned over if the turntable is contaminated in any way foreign material and moisture could transfer and adhere to the just cleaned and dried side.  With just a little care this possibility is easily prevented.

@antinn how do you get from mass of pure dehydrated Tergitol to film thickness of 31 nm? Tergitol is something like a C33 hydrocarbon chain and generally hydrocarbon chains are around 1 nm thick (e.g., sugar). I failed to find any information on volume of dry Tergitol.

I guess you could calculate number of molecules in 315 ng of T (MW ~550-650 depending on T variant), assume size of around 1 nm2, convert LP surface to nm2, divide LP nm2 by #of T molecules and get stack of T molecules per surface area and assume that stack has unit height of 1 nm.

@billstevenson,  Bill, thanks for the clarification.

Take care,

Neil