Dirty Vinyl! DIY Record Cleaner?

[seti]

The Kaiser gave me two Thorens TD115 turntables. One of which I got to work by buying a tonearm off of ebay.de. The other I canabalized for the best parts for the working TT. Instead of throwing out the other thorens TT why not turn it into a record cleaner. The broken one does not spin up to speed but still spins enough for cleaning. I am not a vinyl expert but I thought there would have been such a thing as a record cleaning cartridge. I haven't been able to find one. I noticed that the record cleaners out there are not complicated. There are several DIY versions of the nitty gritty and VPI cleaners. What I found interesting is I can buy the VPI upgrade parts to use to turn this TT into a cleaning turntable. I just need a small wooden cabinet to put the table on and to house the vacume cleaner. The VPI parts include the part to attach the vacume, vacume tubem, brush and clamp. The turntable chasis will need to be modified a little.

Here are the parts for the VPI cleaner.

What do you guys think? Possible or an exercise in futility? Advice and suggestions appreciated.

[thebes]

Can't see any reason why it wouldn't work. I don't think you really even have to build the box. Just use some rubber or a trash bag to isolate the power supply from water. Just put the record on, use the brushes and cleaner and then used an old vacuum cleaner with the sucker attached and go to town.

[seti]

Can't see any reason why it wouldn't work. I don't think you really even have to build the box. Just use some rubber or a trash bag to isolate the power supply from water. Just put the record on, use the brushes and cleaner and then used an old vacuum cleaner with the sucker attached and go to town.

I want it in a self contained box. Perhaps an old Victrola cabinet thats been parted out would work. I also like the parts for the vpi because a vacume tube lays across the record. I figure a shop wet vac that could suck the paint off an old chevy could suck the dirt out of album grooves.

Thanks Thebes

[Guest David H]

From what I have read, a shop vac is far to powerful for this application. Try not to damage any good vinyl.

[Blvdre]

Seti

I can get my hands on a small vacuum pump that would probably be appropriate, and it runs off of +24V (wall bug). It's not a wet pump though, so you'd have to have a waste bottle between your cleaning manifold and the pump (and empty when it nears full to avoid flooding the pump.) The pump is about the size of a discwasher record brush. Just a thought.

[rscotth]

You'll aslo need a motor with alot of tourque, as when you apply cleaner and the brush requires alot of force to get all the dirt, and then a very powerful vacum to get the record completly dry. At least thats how the VPI I have works.

[seti]

From what I have read, a shop vac is far to powerful for this application. Try not to damage any good vinyl.

Hehehe I was kidding Thanks

[seti]

Seti

I can get my hands on a small vacuum pump that would probably be appropriate, and it runs off of +24V (wall bug). It's not a wet pump though, so you'd have to have a waste bottle between your cleaning manifold and the pump (and empty when it nears full to avoid flooding the pump.) The pump is about the size of a discwasher record brush. Just a thought.

Thanks for the offer. I actually have a very small vac that should work really well for this application. THANKS!!!

[seti]

You'll aslo need a motor with alot of tourque, as when you apply cleaner and the brush requires alot of force to get all the dirt, and then a very powerful vacum to get the record completly dry. At least thats how the VPI I have works.

I hadn't thought about that... I thought the 78 speed might work. At least that isn't too much of a chore. Thanks

[rscotth]

The way my VPI works is;

place record on plater

apply small amount of cleaner

tun on high torque motor

use brush and some elbow grease to clean record

3-4 revolutions, remove brush and begin vaccum

In oder to get deep into the groove i apply alot of pressure to clean deep. I don't think a TT motor would do the trick. You'll get some benefit but not a real deep clean.

The high price of the VPI is all in the motor and vaccum. I got a bundle deal from music direct in Chicago. You might want to give them a call and chat with a sales guy about record cleaner. It was enlightening for me, as I used to use the old discwasher system which, as I learned, does more harm than good.

Hope this helps you.

Scott

[colterphoto1]

I think you're on to something. Have some more pizza toppings and mull it over....[*-)] [:S] [8-)]

[Blvdre]

Seti

I can get my hands on a small vacuum pump that would probably be appropriate, and it runs off of +24V (wall bug). It's not a wet pump though, so you'd have to have a waste bottle between your cleaning manifold and the pump (and empty when it nears full to avoid flooding the pump.) The pump is about the size of a discwasher record brush. Just a thought.

Thanks for the offer. I actually have a very small vac that should work really well for this application. THANKS!!!

No problem. Sounds like the little guy might not have enough pull anyway.

[rcarlton]

How about his little honey for an inexpensive record cleaner?

It can be found at Walgreen's. I use distilled water. It is out of stock because audiophiles have been buying them.

Here is a YouTube description of the cleaning process. Another video using this cleaning method.

[Groomlakearea51]

No effects from the steam temp? Just curious[]

[rcarlton]

No effects from the steam temp? Just curious

None that I can tell. I hold the tip ~4-6" from the record. Works pretty good for me! It has cleaned up several of the records you have given me. Not 100% quiet but getting there.

[bliss53]

I built my own record cleaner that worked well for along time. I used an old ice cream machine motor, a modified vacuum cleaner crevice tool, Two ratchet sockets, a small oreck vacuum, two pieces of round acrylic, epoxy, velvet, and a nut and bolt.

First I used a dremel tool to cut a slot length wise in the crevice tool. The length of the slot spans the record grove area. Then I squared off the end of the tool and glued a wooden plug in the end. I used contact cement to cover either side of the slot with velvet. I drilled several breather holes on the tool to control the amount of suction.

I cut two pieces of round acrylic the diameter of a record label and drilled a record sized hole in the middle. I epoxied a nut in the bottom of one of the 9/16 sockets and a bolt in bottom of the other. The record goes between the round acrylic and the nut an bolt get spun on to grip the record.

The 9/16 socket happened to fit on the plastic hex drive of the ice cream machine.

I fit the record in between the two acrylic/socket assemblies and thread the other acrylic/socket side on through the hole in the record. I insert one of the sockets in the motor. Spray the cleaning fluid on the record. Give it a light brushing and vacuum. I then flip the record inserting the other socket and repeat.

I will post a picture when I get home.

PS: The ice cream maker was salvaged from the local dump. It died. I am looking for another one with the same 9/16 drive. In the mean time I got a nitty gritty and it works just as well with a higher wife acceptance factor. If I find a motor I may end up selling the machine parts less the vacuum.

[bliss53]

How about his little honey for an inexpensive record cleaner?

It can be found at Walgreen's. I use distilled water. It is out of stock because audiophiles have been buying them.

Here is a YouTube description of the cleaning process. Another video using this cleaning method.

Mapleshade sells a similar system for $150. Probably worth a try.

http://www.mapleshaderecords.com/audioproducts/deepcleaningsystem.php

[BLSamuel]

I think somewhere, probably on my home laptop, I have some sort of directions for building a record cleaner using an old turntable. They recommended a high torque model such as an old direct drive Technics. I think I also have a recipe for record cleaning solutions, maybe a couple including one from the Library of Congress which used a chemical that is very hard to get but you'd need very little. I'll try to post those things if I can find them and don't forget.

I think this was basically fire up the turntable, maybe clamping the album down, spray on the cleaner, apply a good brush (maybe VPI?) and then vacuum it off which was basically a crevice tool plugged at one end with a long slit cut in it. Not as elegant as a VPI or Nitty Gritty but a lot cheaper.

HarryO gave me a Kenwood TT that needs a little work and even told me how to get it back in operation when he was cleaning out his boneyard.... Good enough shape I may try getting it up and running and put on my old Shure M97HE-AH (I think they still make replacement styli for the M97HE models?) and use for copying some of my mother-out-laws old kind of beat up albums to CD. Things I'm a little leary of playing with my V15type5MR.

Now I'm worried that the old Discwasher did more harm than good!? I can somewhat believe that though as why it does pick up a lot of dust, it probably also pushes some things in deeper.

My understanding of wet cleaning is that the brush loosens things up and then the crap floats and the vacuum pulls it all away and dries the record. No experience but supposedly can clean up a bunch of grunginess besides the dreaded ticks and pops.

I'll have to check out the steam cleaning approach - conceptually sounds good as long as the heat doesn't cause problems... Our firewall at work won't let us go to youtube.

I've also heard that the Spin Clean works pretty well but you have to dry the album after it passes through the solution and velvet pads for cleaning ... seems vacuuming would get rid of the crud better. The Spin Clean is available at Garage A Records http://www.garage-a-records.com/products.php?cat=118 Very nice gentleman. When I was searching for a new cable for my Dual CS5000 I actually found it at a couple of sites but they both (maybe this one but I can't recall if they had the Dual cables) recommended just to get any decent cable and solder it directly to the connector pins. I probably should've added RCA jacks but just went direct with the soldered cable to replace the wasted original cable. Very nice guys. Convinced me not to buy the OEM cables they had as in their opinion they were rathy chintzy.

Please keep us informed and thanks to all for the great ideas. Maybe it's time I get back to that record cleaner project I've been thinking about for several years.

[InnerTuber]

I use one of those perfection steamers when I drag out ugly (yard sale) vinyl. It works fine and doesn't hurt anything near as I can tell. Now if you stuck it right against the record and went away to watch a DVD it might, but you can control it all by varying the distance. I try to keep the paper label dry and that's tricky as the water drips across the center sometimes.

How to make a cleaner - http://www.teresaudio.com/haven/cleaner/cleaner.html seems good to me.

For cleaning solution I goto Walgreens or CVS and order 99.99% pure isopropyl alcohol (about 3 bucks a bottle). Regular off the shelf is 70% or so. Mix with 50/50 distilled water (or you can order special water). A drop or two of non sudsing detergent preferable without scent. You can buy something fancy there too I suppose. You can go lab grade and pay lots more.

It's cheap and evaporates well, leaves no film. I use a tiny bit of laundry detergent, and I mean tiny. Like a small dab of the stuff that accumulates into detergent goo on the soap dispenser.

Blob it on and wipe it off. Hope I'm not doing something stupid, but so far so good.

[kfoss99]

For cleaning solution I goto Walgreens or CVS and order 99.99% pure isopropyl alcohol (about 3 bucks a bottle). Regular off the shelf is 70% or so. Mix with 50/50 distilled water (or you can order special water). A drop or two of non sudsing detergent preferable without scent. You can buy something fancy there too I suppose. You can go lab grade and pay lots more.

It's cheap and evaporates well, leaves no film. I use a tiny bit of laundry detergent, and I mean tiny. Like a small dab of the stuff that accumulates into detergent goo on the soap dispenser.

Blob it on and wipe it off. Hope I'm not doing something stupid, but so far so good.

The local record store owner told me he uses 50/50, rubbing alcohol and water, I used the regular 70% on a couple stacks and it works well. I take a spray bottle and spray down an old white t-shirt and wipe off the record. Best part is it dries very quickly.

I clean against the groove, from inside out. Is it better to go with the groove, around the record?

Thanks,

Karl