Record Cleaning Machine

adrian4454 wrote:Darn it, u sure about that? Gonna redo everything again. Anyway, thanks for the info.

Yup... just read the battery water bottle label. They usually list the conductivity or ionic content specs .

I had actually mulled to build a DIY RCM based on the LP revolving in an ultrasonic cleaner bath. Looks like an attractive project merely for some fun factor to build something. Just that I've not got around to source for a wide enough basin to dip the LP to its innermost track.

cmboy wrote:I had actually mulled to build a DIY RCM based on the LP revolving in an ultrasonic cleaner bath. Looks like an attractive project merely for some fun factor to build something. Just that I've not got around to source for a wide enough basin to dip the LP to its innermost track.

You could buy that hand operated plastic vertical basin LP cleaner, in which the LP is held vertically so that its grooves are dunked into a narrow but deep plastic basin.
Forgot whats the name of that LP cleaner, but you could easily adapt the bottom narrow basin to be fitted with an ultrasonic generator and vibrate the liquid basin.

You'd still have to manually spin the vertial LP all the way though but thats probably part of the fun chore of the DIY ultrasonic LP cleaner.

I think i saw it at Audio Perfectionist at Jaya-1 sometime ago. Again, forgot whats that brand.

MF, is it the Disco Knosti?

the brand didnt sound like that, but a search on Google revealed this "disco knosti" to be very similar. Could even be from the same OEM.

Yup, Same principle: vertical dunk bathtub. Hand rotated.

You know, I think Audio Image sells an organic based secret mixture... I got a bottle of that stuff with my cleaning machine...

Dude, the more i stare at that Audio Image cleaning machine ... the more I see it's resemblance (or knock off!) to the VPI 16.5 machine!

JediSavant wrote:You know, I think Audio Image sells an organic based secret mixture... I got a bottle of that stuff with my cleaning machine...

So whatcha gonna do when u run out ?


Bad boys bad boys! Whatcha gonna do, Whatcha gonna do,
whatcha gonna do when they come for you!

JediSavant wrote:You know, I think Audio Image sells an organic based secret mixture... I got a bottle of that stuff with my cleaning machine...

Jedi...

The RCM being sold by Audio Image, do you manually scrub the record or is it part of the RCM ARM, switchable between the Suction arm ?

cheers

I'm not a fan of scrubbing any record.

The RCM comes with an applicator nylon bristle brush that one uses to spread the cleaning fluid evenly over the surface of the record. I do this by first liberally spraying record love juice over the surface, taking care to avoid the label, and then I hold the brush over the record while it spins forward, and then backwards. I let the fluid sit for a while, to marinade and really get the love juices working, before setting the sucker to hoover it all up.

Marinade? I will fire up the BBQ set heheheheh...

I could bring a gaz blowtorch to crisp things up a bit!

The Audio Image RCM is a "copy & improve" over the VPI 16.5 machine.

Improvements are: It has a much higher torque motor, and more heavy duty as well. You can clean 100 LPs in a row the whole night thru without it breaking a sweat or overheating whereas a 16.5 would have cried blood after approx 10LPs in a row already.The vacuum suction is also much stronger on the local RCM.

Other than that, it uses the same VPI nozzle, and also comes with the OEM VPI nylon bristle brush locally fitted with a wooden handle for more ergonomic use.

Best part of it all, it's CHEAPER than the VPI 16.5

Pay less. Get more.

Mugen / Jedi.. .thanks.

Yes, understand it's an improved version and had a demo session as well. Quite impressive. My manually cleaned LP's never come close to the LP that was cleaned by this RCM.

Went over to "AI" for somethig else but got enticed with this home brewed contraption and the Vinyl cleaner. "Home brewed" is what got me interested... ....

Cheers

Here's an interesting article on how to really get them old ones cleaned and playing again....

http://www.dagogo.com/View-Article.asp?hArticle=977

Hi I am new in Vinyl and having bought the RCM from AI 1 month ago. I must say that this RCM is very efficient. It is event better if you use the record cleaning liquid sold by Nova HIFI.

You must mean the DiscDoctor product. It's a lot of money for what is essentially liquid organic cleaning solution which you have to dilute as well. They also have rinses and other goodies too.

I think I'll set on DIY build a RCM sometime this year, if thats my resolution this year. Either the ultrasonic kind if I can find the right parts, or using components from a defunct Kenwood TT. See how leh!

The motor must generate enough torque to overcome the sucking force of the vacuum... BwwwAhaaaahaaaarrrr....

Nope, the motor must generate enough noise to overcome the wife's force of vacumming me into oblivion...haw! haw! haw!

After weighing the options to either go on a DIY route or otherwise, getting the AI RCM made more sense.

Aesthetically, simple & practical. The internals are what matters most, good vacuum suction and the torque of the motor compensates for the vacuum suction. Has a forward and reverse option compared to the earlier release. ( being used by AI for Vinyl cleaning duties )

The DIY solution provided was good, guess must be a mixture of a bit of this and that. A 1.5 litre bottle can last a while and reasonably priced.

My vinyl's are much much cleaner compared to it being hand washed. There is so much difference playing the washed vinyl on my rig....less pops...clarity...weighted.

Now to getting a good cartridge.....

cheers

I see that your Chinese New Year break will be productively spent getting your collection up to audiophile vinyl quality!

Did you get some inner sleeves with which to store your newly cleaned records??

Hi Jedi...

Thanks to you.

Did not wait for CNY holidays....was rearing to go with the RCM. Got it a dedicated IKEA Table with storage space for the accessories and liquids. So no messing & loosing of items.

Did not get any, as I have surplus stash. Will go get some more from AI soon to accomodate for my new arrivals.

My vinyls never sounded sooooo goood. No regrets and would recommend to any Vinyl addicts. ROI in the long run rather then outsourcing.

cheers

JediSavant wrote:Better to buy local dude... Product support also easier! Just beware going to Audio Image as it's quite the den of poison...

I am planning to get the RCM soon for my 100+ LPs. Went to Audio Image last week but my bad they're closed. It was public holiday! . So, what kind of other poisons they sell over there? Any image of the RCM you've got?

Cheers.

They have a wide range of analogue goodies. Used turntables, some quite tempting and interesting. Cartridges. Cool amplifiers like Exposure, Odyssey... etc etc etc...

but the RCM looks a lot like a VPI one. No big deal there. It's a functional machine that does it's job very well. No fuss.

Ah! I wish I knew about AI few months back then...

Scuba...

You will not regret getting this home brewed contraption....my LP's are getting a good shower before their play session ....no more POPS...never sounded so good.....

Worth every penny....

Mind you....it's one very very HEAVY Hardware.



cheers

Pops, clicks, n ticks!

But i went there last saturday afternoon, shop was not open...

Always best to call ahead before visiting them.

03-79563077

Usually open from 2pm onwards to 7pm, that's been my experience.

Scuba...

A working day would be best to visit AI. ( was in a same predicament ) Call before you pop in. ( As Jedi's message )

cheers

Few times called the number but no answer la.. only heard fax answering machine. Saturday, weekdays... went there, is not even open. sama saja. haha.

Made me thinking, what & how good is their after sales service?

Call after 2pm... They never open before 2pm... As per my previous post.

Thinking about which I better go pick up some spare brushes and a vacuum tube.... and goodness only knows whether will get poisoned by other stuff there... dangerous place...

JediSavant... Yes, i did. Pld update if u manage to call them. Cheers.

He just came back from an overseas trip on Sunday. I don't think he opened yesterday (normally) but he was open today. Best time to call is after 3pm. Often he is busy doing some work so will take time to pick up the call so you need to let the phone ring for some time.

Thanks for the news WongKN

Guys got Adrian audio image hp no ? Been trying to contact him regarding the rcm but nobody pick up the shops tel no.

I opened up a brand new sealed LP today. It as filthy with dust and a smearing of mould-release compound all over the place. It took 3 washes per side before it was ready to be played.

The lesson? Every serious vinyl collection should have an RCM accompanying it.

hi Hasnul...

Any success in getting in touch with AI ?

cheers

wingman wrote:hi Hasnul...

Any success in getting in touch with AI ?

cheers

Hi wingman,

Sorry for the delay. I gave up back then & forgot about this thread. So today i tried my luck to call AI again........ Still fax tone sound only ! How to visit AI if like this.

his mobile is 016-6001218...

JediSavant wrote:his mobile is 016-6001218...

Thanks bro. Manage to contact him at last.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B000BFXIVW/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

Has anyone tried the unit above?

Am sure it is nowhere near Audio Image's machine in terms of quality & effectiveness, but wondering if it does a decent job fer the price?

Owned and tries a few RCM

Started off with this:

1)http://www.needledoctor.com/Spin-Clean-Record-Washer

Ok for not so dirty or mouldy disc but with no suction sometimes just move the dirt around cannot clean deep between the grooves

Then jump to Okki Nokki, value for money must have clean around 150 to 200 disc on it. Worn our the brushes. My routine is to scrub and suck first 2 rounds with 2 different types of detergents first water soluble based followed slight alcohol based lastly rinse with distilled water. Imagine 3 rounds per side very tiring.

Recently got this http://www.audiodesksysteme.de/index.php?kat=10_17_15
one round - washed both sides, very clean, stylus no longer picks up and dust ball after wash. It is also fully automated. Downside not really hardy and support wise have to send back to Germany and long down time. So pray hard. The word to describe it is " it is a super and wonderful machine when it works."

wylee,



How much is that unit from germany?

puchongvinyl wrote:http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B000BFXIVW/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

Has anyone tried the unit above?

Am sure it is nowhere near Audio Image's machine in terms of quality & effectiveness, but wondering if it does a decent job fer the price?

DJ style la yobbbbbbbb....machine kaki hi end byk $ guna

wylee, if you had bought that ultrasound cleaner from the shop at Jaya One (Nova Audio?), then for nearly the same price (According to the personnel there) you could have bought the Loricraft RCM that uses a string to clean the records. Oh, by the way both the Loricraft and audiodesksysteme ultrasound unit costs nearly RM10k. The string system has distinct advantages of being much better for one, quieter (silent more like it), and does not overheat at all. Based on the Ketih Monks / earlier models that const about double that of RM10k. Truth is, if you want affordable the lip, slit type of vacuums are nearly as good. You can start with the Oki Nokki or the Moth that even comes in a kit and then more expensive. But the trick is knowing how to 'scrub' the records and then vacuuming it. But for poor folks like me, it does make me wonder if my record collection is worth RM10k,...sigh.

samazzah wrote:wylee, if you had bought that ultrasound cleaner from the shop at Jaya One (Nova Audio?), then for nearly the same price (According to the personnel there) you could have bought the Loricraft RCM that uses a string to clean the records. Oh, by the way both the Loricraft and audiodesksysteme ultrasound unit costs nearly RM10k. The string system has distinct advantages of being much better for one, quieter (silent more like it), and does not overheat at all. Based on the Ketih Monks / earlier models that const about double that of RM10k. Truth is, if you want affordable the lip, slit type of vacuums are nearly as good. You can start with the Oki Nokki or the Moth that even comes in a kit and then more expensive. But the trick is knowing how to 'scrub' the records and then vacuuming it. But for poor folks like me, it does make me wonder if my record collection is worth RM10k,...sigh.

I did started and subsequently moved from the Okki Nokki to the Audio desk, the problem with OKKI is that, after a while there is just too much work to get decent results. Despite my love for the analog sound of vinyl, the present of ticks and pops really drives me up the wall and does not help my blood pressure at all. Currently buying a lot of second hand lp which makes a good RCM indispensable. I don't know about your washing routine but the audio desk does not requires any preparation work at all as the bath reservoir is always ready for any ad hoc washing in the middle of any listening session. I had a few record which was consigned to the rubbish bin but after the Audio desk it became bearable again.

Can't argue with you about the hassle of using the usual slot type of RCM. Also, like yourself, am one who buys second hand records from time to time. Just wish my collection was worth the money. Old hand me downs, 2nd hand, some 'collector's item', etc. But that makes me wonder why I bother about vinyl in the first place - it can sound incredibly good in some circumstances but not always.