DIY Vinyl Cleaning Machine with Rotary Brush.

Chipmunk

New Member
One night when I played my beloved Eric Clapton vinyl, I found I cannot stand anymore the popcorn noise and unlimited dust….
Under the influence by few cans of beer, I pop up the idea of DIY cleaning machine……
I had no confidence to start the plan until I found DC's DIY thread in Audiokrama.com
You guys were wonderful sharing all ideas and photos. Thanks DC and all.

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I have very limited tools. A Bosch 9.6v drill, a 15years old Dremel ….etc.
Both top panel and platter were 2cm thick Acrylic. Cut by the shop. Printed black color on the bottom.
Most of the parts were from my rest-in-peace RC helicopter, It helped a lot on those Hinge, bearing and shaft area. Here is the youtube link to show how it works: -

http://youtu.be/9-b3NmYM710


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It was killing me to open such big square hole by dremel and a file. Thanks for the protection paper which helped for marking.

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This Nidec DC motor with gear box costed me usd 80. It has plenty of torque to drive the heavy acrylic platter.
Very steady and compact. With the gear box, it turns about 40rpm at 12v.
Here is the motor and gear box info web page for your reference.

http://catalog.nidec-servo.com/digital/english/general/b_dme/
 
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The wooden body is simple. I ordered it from a door making workshop. Ply wood frame covered by nice swiss pine wood.

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Work in progress…..
The acrylic top panel was painted black on bottom and mounted with 1mm thick Aluminum angle around 4 edges.
The platter speed controller and the motor were being mounted on the spot.

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The 1mm thick aluminum angle. Very easy to handle.

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The speed controller (kit #67) from DIY Electronics, about usd 20 bucks each.
I just extended and mounted the vr to the top panel.

http://www.kitsrus.com/index.html


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The main control panel. 2 VRs for the rotary brush and platter speed control. The bottom switches are on-off and direction.

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This "Audioquest" carbon fiber brush really has a grounding contact under the cover !!
(The shop owner says if I am willing to pay, the factory can print my name on it…..)
It was mounted on a rotary arm and grounded to AC receptacle for static discharge. The arm has a spring loaded vertical shaft. I made a small notch and use a ball bearing to lock the arm into its working position.

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The geared 12v dc little motor drives the rotary brush.
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I decided to add this rotary brush at the last minute. The most difficult part was not the bevel gear but the brush itself!!
It was hard to find a soft yet strong brush hair at this size. Walking through the hardware shop and I found this 3M windows weather seal with hairs and back sticker. I got a 10mm diameter PVC bar. The window seal was then fixed at one end by screw and keep rolling on the surface. I also made a shorter hair one and a ScotchBrite one. The short hair one (at middle) works the best.
The brush turns about 50prm.

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The bevel gear is a 1:1 ratio pair.
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A small pin was used to fix the rotary brush working position.
Oh yes, I love carbon fibers……..

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An ugly way to spring load the main shaft.
 
The platter shaft holds by two 8mm diameter bearings. To ensure the platter is perfectly horizontal,
I used 3 small ball bearing spread 120 deg by a thin slide of PVC pipe. It was placed between the platter and top panel.
I got this idea from "Elcoholic". He showed this nice idea in his "VPI Clone" thread, thanks man !!

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The round stickers and foam rim will help avoid the dirty uncleaned side transfer the dirts to the cleaned side.
Thanks "teknokem" in youtube.

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The VPI vacuum tube mounted on the swinging arm. The bearing blocks were from my rc helicopter gear box.
A little piece of square magnet mounted at back to hold the swing arm at "up" position.
The little oil damper helps to slow down the vacuum tube before it touches the vinyl surface.

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The fluid collection tank. The vacuum fitting has a silicon elbow bent upward.
The fitting connected to the 1000w vacuum which is 15ft away by a plastic tube.

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In case I need to replace the vacuum tube from the PVC clamp…...

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A funny look across the side of thick acrylic. I only painted on the bottom because I like the acrylic gloss surface.

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I was happy in the test run, 6-8 rpm will do the job.

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My good friend in this project.
 
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Some say I am crazy spending 300 bucks for this project. I think it is worth for the 2 months labor.
The static discharge brush really works. I cannot say 100% removing all static but at least 98% more quiet than before.
Now I feel comfortable to buy more used vinyl. Guitar sound is much different than before.

Thanks again for audiokrama.com, DC and all who shared the DIY projects,

Have a good day!
till next time….

Frank.
 
WOW!

That is some RCM!!

An amazing engineering project to be sure. Thanks for the explainations and the great pictures.
 
Holy Cow!!! That has got to be the most serious RCM I have seen so far. You have certainly taken the concept of cleaning a record to a new level. Wow! :)
 
My vote for "best engineered DIY project of the year". The machine looks good, too!:thmbsp::thmbsp::thmbsp::thmbsp:
Where do you source the carbon fiber board?

BTW, thanks for documenting your build so well. The pictures are top notch and the descriptions are easily understood.
 
Stunning work! Bravo fine sir for such a uniquely engineered masterpiece. Wow, just wow!!!! Thanks for sharing your beautiful work.

Mike
 
chipmunk said:
I had no confidence to start the plan until I found DC's DIY thread in Audiokrama.com

That was built without confidence? :)

Rock on.. it is beautiful and looks like it is functional.
 
Um. Wow! That is really an awesome machine. Who on earth criticized you for a $300 investment in that? The finished product is worth several times that! Very, very well done. Thanks for showing off your handiwork.
 
Appreciate everyone's warm comments. I feel so comfortable to share in AK here ! : )

westend:
I got the carbon fiber board few years ago in a local RC model shop. an A4 size cost about 40 bucks. Try to search the on-line RC shop, they may have it.

Of cause I have to tell the rotary brush idea was from Hannl in Germany. They have a more clever design which the brush share the power from the edge of platter. Thats way beyond my workmanship tolerance. And the price is almost like a 2nd hand car here.

It was a very enjoyable project to me. glad it function too.

Frank.
 
curious if those are sewing machine gears?
I've worked on my wife's machine, and was struck with the similarity.
 
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