I should clarify that what I do now for new or not very dirty records is 5 minutes with distilled water + a drop of Ilfotol, then 2 minutes rinse with just distilled water. As mentioned, I bought two half-liter bottles and reuse the liquids until I spot dirt in them. It’s working very well, but probably it would work well without the Ilfotol May depend on the kind of dirt, I guess fats or similar are solved better with a wetting agent. (At least that’s true for my eye glasses in the ultrasonic bath).
I use tap water, albeit we have a water softener and a dash of dishwasher rince aid. Done about 250 records in the 10 days or so ive had mine. Nice clean, shiny records.
Lps may appear clean and shiny, but can be still noisy. I can’t figure how you can use tap water and have ultra silent records after cleaning.
Strange for me.
The amount of lime scales in tap water left on the record surface is most likely tiny compared to the inevitable dust. And he even has a softener for the tap water supply which probably removes most of that, anyway.
Same for me, actually (lime remover in the tap water supply in the building).
Nevertheless I would use distilled water to avoid buildup in the RCM, just like in the electric iron (not that I’m using this insane invention ) and to be on the safe side with the records.
But if his records aren’t noisy after cleaning it’s difficult to argue with it …
Thanks for the heads up about this machine @Suedkiez. Took delivery a few weeks ago and been very happy with it since. Here are some photos of mine, with the spares kit. I posted about my experience in another thread, linked below too.
Ok here’s my underwhelming experience so far.
It arrived, unpacked, setup and inserted first album on auto. All went well, a little moisture on the surface meant I put it through a dry cycle. Must admit I did not hear a difference, but it was a 2nd hand album.
Couple days later, the machine would not complete a cycle as something was causing the power adapter / switch to short. The charming people in HK sent me a new switch after studying a video I made of the issue. The replacement switch arrived this week; yesterday I could not get the machine to complete a cycle - only part of the album rotated. Also noted that this time no moisture was left on the vinyl.
This morning I tried again using the automatic cycle, which completed on several albums. However, I think I’m missing something as they don’t seem to be being cleaned. There’s no moisture on the surface of the vinyl, and I can’t hear a change in SQ. In fact, a wipe with a cloth was more effective.
Any idea what I’m doing wrong, or am I expecting too much?
I don’t know what’s going on specifically. In particular what “only part of an album rotated” means. Maybe @Camphuw can clarify
However, maybe a few things to keep in mind:
There are different kinds of surface noise and a cleaner cannot work magic. Some albums I recently purchased were simply poor pressings with surface noise. No cleaner can change this.
However, noise related to dirt, pops caused by dust, etc. should definitely be improved by cleaning.
I’m surprised by “they don’t seem to be being cleaned” as for me it’s even visually obvious that they are cleaned
SQ improvements of records that are already reasonably clean should not be expected to be night and day
“A wipe with a cloth seems more effective” makes me think that I may be missing something in the description, because this is completely contradictory to my experience.
I had that happen a week or so ago, temporarily removing the filter in the bottom of the reservoir worked for me for the odd album that refused to turn. I cannot claim it was my idea, another forum member posted about it!
@Camphuw says : « several albums don’t seem to be being cleaned « . Is it because of the looks of the lps or because the sound quality hasn’t improved ?