DIY RCM for the "challenged "

ARJohn

Super Member
In response to a thread for a cleaning service I am putting this up for all of us non shop guys. I live in an apartment with no work shop , so had to make it very simple . Reading on here about others design I did the following .

tore out the guts from a Sear's belt drive , leaving the platter as a spinner . $8
Bought a red Shop Vac that came with 1 crevice tool , $25
Bought a set of 4 self stick Nitty Gritty pads , $20
Splurged on a VPI brush , figured they make a good machine brush must be good ? $40
Also got a bottle of VPI fluid as my first try . $15 ?
Then had to figure someway to spin the lp by hand , since no workshop I went all out on a JA Michele clamp ( the R version which fits the Thorens tables BTW ) $70 .

So off I went , I later added a 2nd wand and a dionized water rinse and think this is an important step .Rinse does make a difference .
A spiffy cardboard box for the shop vac to help deaden the howl .

My method requires holding the took over the record at the proper angle etc and spinning slowly by hand with the knob of the clamp . Switch wands , flood with the DI water and spread with one of the those paint pads I had lying around . Vacum again and into a new poly sleeve . 2 spins will dry the LP , if I don't get the angle right might be 3 or 4 .
As for the wands I put the nitty gritty pads on the flat side and marked the ends of the slot , drilled a hole using a drill the same width as the slot in the pad and then a carpet knife and steel ruler to slice the plastic and join the 2 holes . Stick on the pads , cover the opening in the end of the tool with tape , use a pencil to make a hole in the tape to relieve some of the suction and allow air flow as the shop vac really sucks , enlarge as required .
there are many choices for cheaper brushes than the VPI one , lots of threads on here . The sticker for me was the clamp , but I use it on my turntables also so that justified it to me .

this system works great , lots of manual work though , and holding the wand in one hand while spinning with the other means I don't do more than a few at a time . But for the moment I am happy with the results but would like to improve someday with wand holders maybe . Look at it as RCM for dummies maybe ? I have seen many nice machines made on here and envy the quality of the design and work . I'm somewhat basic as far as skills go so this was the best I could come up with for now , but as I said it does a great job . So for all you other shop challenged guys , don't be worried .
 

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It's that simple, and if you do your job use competent commercial solvents RRL, Disc Dr AIVS etc. sorry the DIY home brews all pretty much suck (some worse than others some actually quite destructive the better ones are simply ineffective)
I think the old shot thrift store DD tables are nice as they have those little stroboscopic rim nubules
which give your hand considerable purchase.
Anyway get your cleaning routine down and you'll do at least as good a job as any VPI, Nitty Gritty of Clearaudio $$$ RCM, to actually do better work with an RCM you're looking at a Loricraft or older Keith Monks vacuum pump single point recovery RCM and those are truly superb but pricey

Fred J
 
It's that simple, and if you do your job use competent commercial solvents RRL, Disc Dr AIVS etc. sorry the DIY home brews all pretty much suck (some worse than others some actually quite destructive the better ones are simply ineffective)
I think the old shot thrift store DD tables are nice as they have those little stroboscopic rim nubules
which give your hand considerable purchase.
Anyway get your cleaning routine down and you'll do at least as good a job as any VPI, Nitty Gritty of Clearaudio $$$ RCM, to actually do better work with an RCM you're looking at a Loricraft or older Keith Monks vacuum pump single point recovery RCM and those are truly superb but pricey

Fred J

I am using the Nitty Gritty stuff now , as I got the big jug on sale . Never tried the home brew and chemistry was not a strong suit for me either :D
 
good job and way to take the plunge. i STILL have to get one going myself, but will most likely mount it on a piece of countertop or something if i can find it on sale.

what do you use the VPI brush for, i don't see a real need for it in your pic?

similar to this one, which also looks like yours.

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=192217

The vpi is the scrub/wash brush , spreads the wash fluid and then does a lite scrub . Again lot's of people have used cut down paint brush's of various sorts for that .
 
The vpi is the scrub/wash brush , spreads the wash fluid and then does a lite scrub . Again lot's of people have used cut down paint brush's of various sorts for that .

There are numerous approaches that work best for different folks, I'm a long term RRL
solvent user I agree with Brian Wetzels (the developer of RRL) approach which is the least destructive most efficient and ultimately effective technique is to let the solvent do the work
it was designed to do, which is to dissolve, loosen and lift the films and particulates so they can be removed by the vacuuming, I couldn't agree more the scrubbing is entirely ineffective and indeed destructive all that's actually being accomplished by scrubbing is smearing the crap, rearranging it and to one degree or another damaging the vinyl as the pollutants are more or less electrostatically / magnetically attracted to the vinyl substrate, vinyl is a thermoplastic, records are not plates or pots or pans, at any rate the surfactants in the solvent dislodge and lift the crud but to actually remove it requires the powerful lift of the vacuum to actually remove the gunk, rinsing just doesn't hack it, it can't overcome those ionic forces.
One of the many issues with DIY or inadequate commercial solvents is the quantity and type of surfactant(s) used which are often in the form of insoluble salts that are extremely difficult to ever actually remove, it's a case of the cure is much worse than the disease
the Kodak Photo Flow and similar photographic wetting agents commonly used in the
log accepted DIY/ home brew RC solvents are prime time culprits of this sort.

The Surfactants used in RRL are enough to do the job of disrupting and lifting the gunk
but not enough to provide a complete wetting effect so it's necessary to spread the solvent and get it down deep into the groove to do it's job

I've found the recommended carbon fiber brush accomplishes this best, however it came to my attention that the AQ CF brush that I'd been using has a varnish over the fibers which is eventually loosened and then re-deposited on the records being cleaned so I now use the cheaper no name generic type CF brushes I also use the MoFi version of the Disc Dr brush or pad, and I recently ordered a listener select Osage brush on advise
of Mark 51 an expert AK person.

Regards Fred J
 
I have been tempted by some of the more exotic brands , but have only used the VPI and NG so far . At first I did not do the rinse but found that sometimes there was audible noise left on the disc , so started the rinse with a 2nd wand which I hope made sure that there was no residue left . I do let the cleaning agent soak , 15 or 20 seconds per side after spreading .
If a local shop would carry some of these brands I would try them , but I really try to buy from a brick and mortar shop as I would hate to see them go .
But again I can't stress how happy I am with the result on old and new vinyl over the old discwasher . I just use a CF brush when playing cleaned LP's now .
I have had some used disc's that had some foreign material on them and actual worked that area with the VPI brush , it did remove it . There was a thread on here about different brushes with microscopic pics of the bristles , the pad ones by the brand I can't think of at the moment seemed to be very fine . Then there was the ultrasonic cleaning thread . And the wood glue method , which I have tried on few problem disc's . It does work , but is very time consuming and a real PIA ! So for the moment I will continue with NG and keep a lookout for the higher end brands to try next time . thanks for the info .
 
I have been tempted by some of the more exotic brands , but have only used the VPI and NG so far . At first I did not do the rinse but found that sometimes there was audible noise left on the disc , so started the rinse with a 2nd wand which I hope made sure that there was no residue left . I do let the cleaning agent soak , 15 or 20 seconds per side after spreading .
If a local shop would carry some of these brands I would try them , but I really try to buy from a brick and mortar shop as I would hate to see them go .
But again I can't stress how happy I am with the result on old and new vinyl over the old discwasher . I just use a CF brush when playing cleaned LP's now .
I have had some used disc's that had some foreign material on them and actual worked that area with the VPI brush , it did remove it . There was a thread on here about different brushes with microscopic pics of the bristles , the pad ones by the brand I can't think of at the moment seemed to be very fine . Then there was the ultrasonic cleaning thread . And the wood glue method , which I have tried on few problem disc's . It does work , but is very time consuming and a real PIA ! So for the moment I will continue with NG and keep a lookout for the higher end brands to try next time . thanks for the info .

John

It sounds like you're already dialed in, as in if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Regards Fred J
 
this system works great , lots of manual work though , and holding the wand in one hand while spinning with the other means I don't do more than a few at a time . But for the moment I am happy with the results but would like to improve someday with wand holders maybe

If it cleans vinyl it's great. Looks like you did a nice job. :thmbsp:
 
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