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DIY record cleaning machine (RCM) consolidation and resource thread

New RCM coming next week. Can't wait!

RCMs are so expensive. Jee whiz... Had I enough cash on hand I'd have chosen a Nitty Gritty fully automatic. I reseached VPI's as well. I did a lot of research and finally chose the Okki Nokki RCM. All reviews pointed to this machine cleans the heck out of records.

S.J.
 
Ok - I have my own preconceived notions about what to build...but I see so many really cool builds here. Brilliant engineering.
My question is, which approach(s) do the best job?
The automated builds are awesome, but do they do the job on a dirty LP?
What has proven to be the best way to provide the vacuum stage?
 
I just bought enough parts to build my own version of the "Vinyl Magician". It's the unit that uses a rotating cake table you can get on Amazon for about $20. Then I bought PVC 1/2" gray irrigation pipe for the wands, a combination of electrical and plumbing PVC for the 90 degree elbow and base hook up. I ordered 4 12V AC 10 RPM clock type timing motors from off Ebay for $8 a piece and put a proto together and it's working. I have several small shop vacs here so I tried everything from a 1 1/2 HP 2 gallon Craftsman to a 4HP 5 gallon Shop vac ($29 last Xmas). The small vacuum works ok and doesn't overheat so far, but I like a little more power and I found I can use the same wand I made with no plug on the end with the 5 Gal. Shop vac. That thing really pulls the stuff! I also use a bypass (calibrated vacuum leak) on the input suction end to the RCM and it still pulls plenty of vacuum and allows enough air flow to not overheat. I also have a foot switch ($15) I can use for the vacuum that I had for some shop equipment. I have two switches I'm going to use on the base of the RCM. One ON/OFF for power and an momentary open contact to reverse the clock motor since it it bi-directional.

What is nice is that the whole RCM is very light and small, and stores easily, and the Shop Vac can be used for other things. What's cool is I use so little home made cleaner fluid and distilled rinse water that hardly any makes it into the Shop Vac tank. I've cleaned 6 or 8 records in a row and only a small puddle in the tank. A lot seems to evaporate as it gets pulled through the 9' hose.

I'll post some pics when I can. I'm working on a Technics SL-1700 MK2 right now and it is grass mowing season here already!:o
 
DC said:
Great! I added it to the list (and cleaned up the list a bit).
Click to expand...
Thanks for all your work. Now I'll have to update my thread. I just finished a mod that dispenses cleaning fluid and rinse fluid. I use small immersed fountain pumps feeding irrigation 1/4" drip lines with drip heads on retractable arm that swings over the record. Works great! The big advantage over my old sprayer technique is now the labels stay perfectly dry.
 
I've been looking into purchasing an rcm for a while now, but finally decided to do it myself. Its a very, very basic design, based on the Nitty Gritty 1.0. Its a manual turner, I'll be adding a decent motor next, the outlet at the side connects to a vacuum cleaner, inside the box sits a jar working as a liquid trap.

The tube coming out of the top has a connector at the end with a silicone end where I glued one layer of velvet and then covered with another, holding in place with a cable tie.

Its small, looks quite nice I think and works incredibly well. I'm really impressed with its performance.

I've been using 2 washes, one with a large pad, vacuum off, apply another and clean with a carbon fibre brush, vacuum off and that it. Takes a couple of minutes start to finish. I manually move the tube across the record slowly each time, outside in, then inside out.

Anyway, for those with no technical expertise, this is a piece of cake.

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sorry, crappy cell phone pic.. wanted to get a pic up.


kab ev-1 hooked to a small sears shop-vac with push on off switch. used an old platter from a yamaha yp450.. the yamaha's tonearm holder worked perfectly to hold the record "scrub brush"... works awesome..
 

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Here is my DIY RCM

Just thought I'd share mine. Total cost should be less around $250. That includes the recently ordered VPI platter hub. Soon it will be full auto. Currently spinning the platter manually. Will be replacing the platter as well.
Reservoir is from a 99 Toyota Camry. The only new parts are the vac, VPI wand, PVC pipes, VPI brush and the custom made mahogany handle for the brush. Here are some pics.:thmbsp:













 
I am having the hardest time trying to find a cheaper motor to run the platter on my RCM. ANyone have any recommedations or links to a proper motor. Radio Shack guys know nothing when you go in there. I just need some direction. I have an old Technics turntable from the seventies thatI am using a top. The box is cut and ready. Any advice or direction would be good and much appreciated.
 
FunkDoctor said:
I am having the hardest time trying to find a cheaper motor to run the platter on my RCM. ANyone have any recommedations or links to a proper motor. Radio Shack guys know nothing when you go in there. I just need some direction. I have an old Technics turntable from the seventies thatI am using a top. The box is cut and ready. Any advice or direction would be good and much appreciated.
Click to expand...

I have a spare 5 rpm motor. Check the pictures that I posted ( photo 7 & 8) ,you'll get an idea how it looks. I think it's best to use the VPI hub for this motor. It has a 5/16 shaft.
 
Wondering if anyone has considered using compressed air to dry a record after wet cleaning?

I'm NOT thinking that the goal is to simply accelerate evaporation, but rather to actually blow the air off the surface, thus;
- reducing the amount of dissolved solids that might have been left if evaporation had played any role in the drying process.
- avoiding touching the record
- avoiding leaving any dust from a drying towel

Thoughts?
 
FunkDoctor said:
I am having the hardest time trying to find a cheaper motor to run the platter on my RCM. ANyone have any recommedations or links to a proper motor. Radio Shack guys know nothing when you go in there. I just need some direction. I have an old Technics turntable from the seventies thatI am using a top. The box is cut and ready. Any advice or direction would be good and much appreciated.
Click to expand...

Go to Goodwill/SA and pick up an ice cream maker. Several DIY cleaners have used these and they work great. I even managed to pick up a 2 speed.
 
Hofy said:
Go to Goodwill/SA and pick up an ice cream maker. Several DIY cleaners have used these and they work great. I even managed to pick up a 2 speed.
Click to expand...

I've not had good luck with the ice cream maker motor I used for my first RCM. It spun too fast, about 37RPM. A two-speed might work, if the slow speed was slow enough. The VPI machines spin at 18RPM, so if you are using a VPI wand, that might suffice. I use a VPI wand, but I think my vacuum motor (small Sears shop-vac) is a little slower than the stock VPI vacuum motor, so I reduced the spin speed (see below) to about 8RPM and got good results.

FunkDoctor said:
I am having the hardest time trying to find a cheaper motor to run the platter on my RCM. ANyone have any recommedations or links to a proper motor. Radio Shack guys know nothing when you go in there. I just need some direction. I have an old Technics turntable from the seventies thatI am using a top. The box is cut and ready. Any advice or direction would be good and much appreciated.
Click to expand...

I got my motor from overseas on eBay - not expensive, but not quick. Direct eBay links are not encouraged in this forum, but if you search "12vdc 15rpm motor" you'll see what I mean. The gear-reduction design means that the torque is still effective and useful when you lower the voltage to lower the speed. (I tried every voltage from 12v down to 3v and settled on 6v, which gives the 8RPM, and seemed to give just the right balance between effectiveness and efficiency; I usually only vacuum for two revolutions and it's dry and ready for play.) Most of these motors have a simple shaft output and coupling that to a record player platter and bearing may be tricky. I elected to simply directly couple the shaft in the center of a hockey puck. It was a relatively easy solution and provided the added benefit (in my opinion) of leaving the underside of the record unsupported, reducing the risk for cross-contamination of the cleaned record side (a la Nitty Gritty). I've used it this way for several years (and hundreds of records) and have not (yet?) been motivated to change it.
 
FunkDoctor said:
I am having the hardest time trying to find a cheaper motor to run the platter on my RCM. ANyone have any recommedations or links to a proper motor. Radio Shack guys know nothing when you go in there. I just need some direction. I have an old Technics turntable from the seventies thatI am using a top. The box is cut and ready. Any advice or direction would be good and much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Here a video of my RCM.
http://youtu.be/faGxXy75PKk

Check out some updates on my RCM here:

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=527500
 
DC said:
I've not had good luck with the ice cream maker motor I used for my first RCM. It spun too fast, about 37RPM. A two-speed might work, if the slow speed was slow enough. The VPI machines spin at 18RPM, so if you are using a VPI wand, that might suffice. I use a VPI wand, but I think my vacuum motor (small Sears shop-vac) is a little slower than the stock VPI vacuum motor, so I reduced the spin speed (see below) to about 8RPM and got good results.
Click to expand...

I will have to check what the actual rpm of my platter is. The motor has a gear on it the matched up with the gear on the platter. It may take me a few days to get measurements.

I did the eBay search and that is not a bad price for a motor. I had to pay almost $10 for one of the ice cream makers I got.
How long did it take for your motor to arrive? I usually get stuff from asia in 2 weeks or less.
 
Hofy said:
I will have to check what the actual rpm of my platter is. The motor has a gear on it the matched up with the gear on the platter. It may take me a few days to get measurements.
Click to expand...

I didn't measure, I just ran it for 60 seconds and counted the revolutions. :)

I did the eBay search and that is not a bad price for a motor. I had to pay almost $10 for one of the ice cream makers I got.
How long did it take for your motor to arrive? I usually get stuff from asia in 2 weeks or less.
Click to expand...

It was a few years ago, but I think it took around two weeks, maybe a little more. It was not bad.
 
Rek-O-Suk RCM

Even thou my vinyl collection is small, I've felt the need for an RCM. I've been cleaning on a towel, and then drying them with one and it's a real pain. Also a vacuum motor just became available, I.E. mine died. Beater bar had zero bristles on it. Took the vac apart and it had the perfect motor as it will be easy to mount.

I'm going to do some off the cuff stuff on this one and there will be no turntable parts used (because I couldn't find any!).
Some notable features will be;
Platter drive will consist of bike parts and a 4WD actuator motor.
Built in separator tank w/drain.
No hose construction.
Small, portable size and minimum weight.

Plans have kinda been made on the fly as I realized early I had to flip it to put the controls on the left to free up my scrubbin' hand.

Here's some of the parts and the running platter drive (aprx. 14rpm). Has plenty of torque.



 
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