Record Cleaning Machines

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cyp21

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I would like to buy a record cleaning machine and would'nt be able to afford anything above £300 uk pounds including shipping to Cyprus.
Machines that have caught my attention are Nitty Gritty 1.0 and Moth kit both for sale on ebay about £300.
Has anybody actually built a Moth Record Cleaning Machine kit as the instructions are supposed to basic and im not a D.I.Y person.

I found this link on the Nitty Gritty machine video (also other cleaning equipment)
http://www.garage-a-records.com/proddetail.php?prod=1.0

Any opinions thoughts or comments.
 
hi cyp

as a first port of call, I would reccomend getting a big bottle of moth liquid, or following an internet recipe (you need only 1) car battery water 2) isopropyl 3) a photographic wetting agent - and you have all the ingredients to make litres of it.

then, simply buy a second hand ''wet vac'' machine (I use an old gobliin). twenty minutes of amateur DIY work - (nothing harder than a 14 year old kid could do) and you have a DIY machine that does the same job.

To put it in perspective - my goblin and all the tweaky bit - £20 ... moth £300... result .... same job.

If you go through all that and are happy, great, if not you could stillbuild a moth.

If you want me to explain how to convert a goblin (or similar) wet vac into a vacuum machine for your records just send me a PM. It really is dead easy.
 
Hello

I built a moth and couldn't use it due to the amount of noise it made, but fairly easy to build though.
 
here's mine - would not be without it.
Just ordered some more clear audio cleaning pad strips from Coolgales - they wavered the postage;)
Cleaned close on 200 LPs on the original pad / strip.

It works really well!







Vax is no noisier than the missus doing the Hoovering but I think i will try to get a pro medical pump/vac if not too expensive.
 
vincula said:
I can recommend this one:

http://artesaniaaudio.galeon.com/cvitae2433454.html

Absolutely "Made in Spain", a really top quality item at a reasonable cost. I've seen both the Clearaudio Matrix and this one demo'ed at the dealerand it beats the German hands off:D

Regards,

Vincula

Disclaimer: I've got no personal relation with the manufacturer whatsoever.
Click to expand...

So how do you find out price and delivery with no email address!!!!!
 
I cleaned a few records yesterday with the wifes vacuum cleaner. It's a Polti steam jobbie. I could do with some kind of DIY jig to hold the nozzle just above the record to suck all the droplets off, or maybe one of those parquet flooring brushed heads would do the trick?

Anyway it turned a David Silvian double lp from unlistenable to pretty good. And a Dexys Midnight Runners lp came out very well after being Polti'd.
 
i would say handheld - round with the cleaning pad with / fluid and then a vac with a soft felt pad over the nozzle, straight onto the record would be better than many other ways.
A Vax or wet/dry vac would be best. It's about getting the fluid / washing action into the grooves and then getting the gunge out - that's where you cannot beat a vac solution.
 
Re Record Cleaning Machine

Would it work it you put the record on a fast spin motor, clean as normal then start
slowly reaching top speed this will throw the cleaning fluid and dirt away .
 
In theory yes. The spin would have to be fast and fling all the liquid and crap off before evaporation took place - still not sure it would work effectively it would stream over the grooves, crap perhaps stick...
Would have to clamp the label pretty hard to do it and the spinner is not trivial + would not want it to 'let go' with you in line with it.

Better to vac out...
 
DIY RCM now got warm cosy and quiet!

Acquired a great little compressor / sucker 600mmHg and moved the RCM into the listening room.

Now can clean a disc before use if I feel like it and it take no time at all.
Better suck than the Vax and quiet at 40dB! - that's quieter than a top dishwasher!

Here is the sucker.



The air/fluid separator


The deck as seen below in operation...



Arguably prettier and more compact than most RCM's and still cost less than 1/4 or1/3 the price!

Net set is to have a little cab to hide the bubbins below and operating switch on deck for the sucker.

DIY rules;)



speedy.steve said:
here's mine - would not be without it.
Just ordered some more clear audio cleaning pad strips from Coolgales - they wavered the postage;)
Cleaned close on 200 LPs on the original pad / strip.

It works really well!







Vax is no noisier than the missus doing the Hoovering but I think i will try to get a pro medical pump/vac if not too expensive.
Click to expand...
 
Hi Steve

That's a great job!

I simply use a modified wet vac (with a bit of DIY on the crevice tool). It works perfectly, yet is of course as noisy as a vacuum machine, so I tend to 'batch-clean'.

I am most intreagued by the ''wire'' on the bottom of the tone-arm in your diy cleaner. It looks like the loricraft approach. Can you shed some light on what you've done here?

It would be of interest to many I feel. Of the commercial cleaners, I personally rate the loricraft, and it looks like you have achieved much the same.
 
It is a thread - got the idea from a Keith Monks demo I watched / he did for me at Bristol a couple of years ago.
The cotton is between the sucker nozzle and the vinyl.
2 functions - cushions the nozzle on the vinyl, allows an air gap so it doesn't suck fast and stick.
He had a constant feed system - I just pull 5mm or so out each side so it's new each side the sucker sucks the tread up to the jam jar eventually - that's quite many cleans though!. I use a slightly thicker silk thread - more exclusive so must be more hi end:D

I just manually guide the nozzle over the disc - Mr Monks has a fancy mech system...

I made a video of cleaning procedure of a side but it was too big for webshots to take. Will try again on much lower res...

Without this baby I think I would have given up on vinyl long ago!

Found this...
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgu...2&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:8,s:13&biw=966&bih=544

and this

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgu...&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:14,s:43&biw=966&bih=544

In fact type record cleaning into google and I am there a fair way down...
http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=2498

I called it amazing at the time as the way it sucks a dry line was amazing to me.

More info there about it and bigger pics.

Goodness have I been using it since May 2009! Time flies when you are having fun...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
so the thread goes 'inside' the tube which goes to your vacuum pump?

do you punch it through the side with a needle or something to get it out the other side?
 
oceanobsession said:
Hi steve is this the pump, (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Airbrush-Mini...gSupplies_EH&hash=item4cf1e445de&x=42&y=9)

also the jam jar do you have one pipe at the bottom and one at the top to catch the liquid.
Click to expand...

that's the one - came in about 3 days flat!

Both tubes are in the top of the jam jar. The liquid falls to the bottom and suck air goes off to the pump.

My way of sealing the hose connectors is - small one off the to the deck - another nozzle off a desoldering pump set in super glue in a rubber grommet sealed in in super glue.
Big one is a Coke bottle neck and cap (one either side of hole in jam jar cap), seal made by 'O' ring. Could use silicone sealant etc - push fit connector off a defunct fuel filter for the larger PVC hose off to pump.
I made the bigger one like this as it used to connect to the Vax.
You could just make a suitable hole for the 1/4" or so hose connector and seal it in.
 

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