ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
So I made my prototype record cleaner.
Works good and cleans better than most "professionals" pads I´ve tried
It fills up with 0.6 L liquid (my mix), Records I have hand cleaned gets cleaner with the microfiber pads i build, the labels are protected with the nylon pads and O rings
The only problem is, the nylon pads only works for LPs, I made them very close to the label on LPs (102.5 mm.OD to middle of Oring) this wont work on singles as some of them are cut very near to the label, and the label is smaller. so 2 sets of nylon pads are needed, not a problem, but more work. On the other hand its better as i can make the LP pads a little bigger. Here a cleaned LP. I know you cant see its clean on the pic, you will have to trust me.
This record is about 30 years old, and has been played frequently, say 2 times a month or more. after cleaning (I thought it was clean) it is clearer in sound and less knicks and knacks, this I´m sure is because of the microfiber fabric, if I ever use a bought flannel pad again i will cover it with microfiber fabric, it just clean more profoundly. A main cleaning once a year and then the normal clean with a pad before playing will do.
Only problem now is, the basin started leaking after 7 records, so I will have to find someone to make the basin, and then put my magic hands to it
Collecting Vintage B&O is not a hobby, its a lifestyle.
Very nice and low tech as well. Sometimes keeping it simple and easy is the best way.
But now I am thinking cheese omelette .... the eggs ... I must be hungry.
wow, looks great, only having this conversation yesterday with a friend of mine who suggests we go half on a record cleaner together but too damned expensive, what do you put in your mix to clean
Søren Mexico: I made them very close to the label on LPs (102.5 mm.OD to middle of Oring)
Nice work Soren as always, having the lathe is the hard part for most people.
We often have to make tanks of various dimensions to photograph fish/amphibians that cannot be photographed in their own environment. Its always glass glued with normal mastic.
"Stick" with trying to re glue.
bidstonhall: wow, looks great, only having this conversation yesterday with a friend of mine who suggests we go half on a record cleaner together but too damned expensive, what do you put in your mix to clean
1 Liter mix = 25 % ISPA 75 % distilled water, 1 teaspoon dishwasher soap. If the records are very dirty and havent been cleaned for years or comes from smokers home, I increase the ISPA to 40 %
Here is an affordable cleaner, it has no protection for the labels, but is the same system as mine. I would cover the brushes with microfiber fabric, any record I have cleaned with flannel or brushes gets cleaner if cleaned with microfiber.
If and when I build the next one, it will have a double basin or I make 2 basins, on the second basin I will build blow air tubes to blow off water and dirt rests. The vacuum type dryers, only dries the records, the low air flow just dries the record and leave dirt rests on it. Blow air will blow off liquid and dirt rests, Drying the record with microfiber after cleaning, will do the same, but with blow air it will go faster.
valve1: Søren Mexico: I made them very close to the label on LPs (102.5 mm.OD to middle of Oring) Nice work Soren as always, having the lathe is the hard part for most people. We often have to make tanks of various dimensions to photograph fish/amphibians that cannot be photographed in their own environment. Its always glass glued with normal mastic. "Stick" with trying to re glue.
My lathe is German Meuser from 1957, one of the best lathes ever made, bought cheap and refurbished by me, but as I am slowly winding down I will sell it and get a smaller one, just for fun. The workshop, now 170 M2, will be in my garage, some 20 M2 So the Meuser have to go, sad, it has a precision of 0.01 on 300 mm. A new one will have to be "tweeked" to do that
The one in the pic is not mine but similar
hi, tried googling ISPA with some strange results? by microfiber do you mean magic eraser pads
bidstonhall: hi, tried googling ISPA with some strange results? by microfiber do you mean magic eraser pads
ISPA = Isopropyl alcohol, Microfiber is the fabric (cloth) NOT Magic Eraser
that's great, got it now, am determined to try and put something together by way of a record cleaner, many thanks for your help
Søren Mexico: Here is an affordable cleaner,
Here is an affordable cleaner,
That's funny, because as soon as I saw the first picture on this thread, I thought, "Hey, Soren built a Spin Clean!"
The Spin Clean is fairly well regarded in the publications I read.
The guys at the used record store I frequent just use Windex and a microfibre cloth.
Dom
2x BeoSystem 3, BeoSystem 5000, BeoSystem 6500, 2x BeoMaster 7000, 2 pair of BeoLab Penta mk2, AV 7000, Beolab 4000, BeoSound 4000, Playmaker, BeoLab 2500, S-45, S-45.2, RL-140, CX-50, C-75, 3x CX-100, 3x MCL2 link rooms, 3x Beolab 2000, M3, P2, Earset, A8 earphones, A3, 2x 4001 relay, H3, H3 ANC, H6, 2014 Audi S5 with B&O sound, and ambio
I, too, looked into making a record cleaner machine. However, I think I have an alternative that only requires a record player, rubbing alcohol (91%), and cotton square makeup pads. Needless to say, given that I use pure alcohol, this is NOT for shellac records.
What I do is place the record on the turntable platter and moisten one corner of the cotton pad with the alcohol. Spinning the platter backwards by hand, I apply the moistened pad corner to the record with a fingertip and slowly move the pad from the inside of the record to the outside of the record as the record spins. When I use my normal turntable, I remove the belt to make the platter easier to turn.
After one cleaning, I look at the pad and determine if another cleaning is record. If not, I usually turn on a light over the record to quickly dry the record. If another cleaning is needed, I move to a clean corner of the same cotton pad and redo.
I have bought used records that have needed (6) cleanings until the cotton pad was clean. I'm very glad that I cleaned this record before playing them!
One advantage of this cleaning method is that additional pressure can be applied to one small area vs. cleaning the entire width at one time. Another advantage is that because only a "point" is cleaned, if the record is warped, applying pressure with a fingertip can account for this.
David
I use a direct drive turntable I picked up cheap to spin the record I am cleaning. On that step I use a good carbon fiber brush and a home brew cleaning fluid similar to what other people use -1 part 99% Isopropyl3 part distilled water1 or 2 drops of a wetting agent (Kodak Professional Photo-Flo 200 solution)
After I brush the cleaning solution on the spinning vinyl, I remove the record and vacuum off the fluid using a KAB record cleaner.
So far I am pretty pleased with the process but I would like to try out a bath style cleaner like Søren's or Spin-Clean. Then dry the vinyl with the KAB device.
-sonavor
Since last post, I have been busy checking about Vinyl cleaning. After an extensive search and a lot of reading, I have decided to go for an ultrasonic cleaner. My wish is to keep the price below USD 500.
The cleaner can also be used for cleaning mechanical parts and jewelry, so the FS should be happy too. The cleaner comes with a basket for cleaning small parts, as I have a spare RX record platter I will try to clean that one too. Who knows, but maybe one can use it to clean slider potis and switches too. I´m getting excited about the possibilities.
I will order my parts and pic them up in TX in October, and if I get the time to build, it could be my Xmas present
I will start with an ultrasonic cleaner like this one.
The tank size is 300 x 150 x 150 mm. this should be sufficient to fit for LPs as the record will only go into the tank to just below the label.
I should be able to fit 4 LPs, on a shaft, with 25 mm distance to the tank wall (recommended by the supplier).
The shaft with the 4 LPs will be driven by a 12 VDC 130 mA, 5 RPM motor, this I will step down to 1 RPM, with slow turning I may not need label protectors, I will have to test this. I will make 2 shafts with an easy change mechanism.
The recommended cleaning time is + - 6 minutes, so with time for changing shafts, I should be able to clean about 36 LPs per hour. The cleaning fluid will be distilled water, to start with, with only 5 % Isopropyl, and the Kodak Photo Flo, that John recommend. For static electricity elimination I will test with dish soap instead of the Photo Flo, or maybe both of them. For drying I will try first with air drying and maybe a wipe with microfiber cloth. When dry all the records will be stored in new sleeves.
Rich please post your link to the ones you recommended (I´m tired of searching)
For daily cleaning I will then only use a carbon fiber brush. And then once a year clean with the ultrasonic cleaner.
I really like the Mobile Fidelity inner sleeves. The link is to the Mobile Fidelity site but you can buy them from a number of distributors. That is a really interesting project Søren.
Søren Mexico: Since last post, I have been busy checking about Vinyl cleaning. After an extensive search and a lot of reading, I have decided to go for an ultrasonic cleaner. My wish is to keep the price below USD 500. The cleaner can also be used for cleaning mechanical parts and jewelry, so the FS should be happy too. The cleaner comes with a basket for cleaning small parts, as I have a spare RX record platter I will try to clean that one too. Who knows, but maybe one can use it to clean slider potis and switches too. I´m getting excited about the possibilities. I will order my parts and pic them up in TX in October, and if I get the time to build, it could be my Xmas present I will start with an ultrasonic cleaner like this one. The tank size is 300 x 150 x 150 mm. this should be sufficient to fit for LPs as the record will only go into the tank to just below the label. I should be able to fit 4 LPs, on a shaft, with 25 mm distance to the tank wall (recommended by the supplier). The shaft with the 4 LPs will be driven by a 12 VDC 130 mA, 5 RPM motor, this I will step down to 1 RPM, with slow turning I may not need label protectors, I will have to test this. I will make 2 shafts with an easy change mechanism. The recommended cleaning time is + - 6 minutes, so with time for changing shafts, I should be able to clean about 36 LPs per hour. The cleaning fluid will be distilled water, to start with, with only 5 % Isopropyl, and the Kodak Photo Flo, that John recommend. For static electricity elimination I will test with dish soap instead of the Photo Flo, or maybe both of them. For drying I will try first with air drying and maybe a wipe with microfiber cloth. When dry all the records will be stored in new sleeves. Rich please post your link to the ones you recommended (I´m tired of searching) For daily cleaning I will then only use a carbon fiber brush. And then once a year clean with the ultrasonic cleaner.
Hi Søren,
I have that exact Ultrasonic and it does a great job, although the basket wasn’t well designed and the cover will not fit properly in the basket is in place.
With jewellry it is best not to use the basket as it can scratch the 14K and 18K gold, but a rod over the top with hooks works perfectly!
No question it will clean your records like never before.
I never tried it for this purpose as I was/am concerned about messing up the label.
It WILL clean switches etc. and is fantastic on stainless steel and brass.
Jeff
Beogram 4000, Beogram 4002, Beogram 4004, Beogram 8000, Beogram 8002, Beogram 1602. Beogram 4500 CD player, B&O CDX player, Beocord 4500, Beocord 5000 T4716, Beocord 5000 T4716, Beocord 5000 T4716, Beocord 8004, Beocord 9000, Beomaster 1000, Beomaster 1600, Beomaster 2400.2, Beomaster 2400.2, Beomaster 4400, Beomaster 4500, Beolab 5000, Beomaster 5000, BeoCenter 9000. BeoSound Century, S-45.2, S-45.2, S-75, S-75, M-75, M-100, MC 120.2 speakers; B&O Illuminated Sign (with crown & red logo). B&O grey & black Illuminated Sign, B&O black Plexiglas dealer sign, B&O ash tray, B&O (Orrefors) dealer award vase, B&O Beotime Clock. Navy blue B&O baseball cap, B&O T-shirt X2, B&O black ball point pen, B&O Retail Management Binder
Søren Mexico: Rich please post your link to the ones you recommended (I´m tired of searching)
Here's what I do. I put the record itself in this.
I never put the record back in the cardboard jacket. If the record came with a plain inner sleeve, I usually just throw it away. If the original inner sleeve is worth saving (photos, lyrics, etc.) I do of course save those. The whole kit, i.e., record in new inner sleeve, cardboard jacket, original inner sleeve if worth keeping, is put in this.
This outer poly sleeve is not the fanciest, but it is very thick and extra wide to easily fit LPs with the folding gatefold jacket.
Soren: I just bought another 100 of each this past week. (Elusive Disc has a sale EVERY holiday. Wait to buy from them during a US holiday.) How about I send you a sample of 5 or 10 of each so you can give them a test? Send me a PM.
sonavor: I really like the Mobile Fidelity inner sleeves. The link is to the Mobile Fidelity site but you can buy them from a number of distributors. That is a really interesting project Søren.
This is the sleeve I buy when the one I linked to above is sold out. Also sold by Elusive Disc.
Hi Rich
Just ordered the ones John recommended, 50 pcs, and some small items, I have a person coming down from Kansas and shipped to her. So no need to ship samples, last time I ordered per snailmail it took 4 weeks to get here. Also bought this one for dry cleaning
You are extraordinary cautionary with your records, I will give it a thought for my growing 180 gr collection, most of the old ones are not worth it.