VERSION 1.0
My original RCM was a modified ice cream maker and a modified shop-vac wand (hand held). While this got the job done with very little monetary investment, I was already thinking about working out a few kinks and making improvements. (If you read the discussion, you will see that I was concerned that the rotation speed was too fast for a thorough vacuuming - it took many passes for the surface finally to be clean and dry.) However, for the first time I was hearing what clean records could really sound like.
Here is the original thread: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=194765
VERSION 2.0
Here, I essentially took the VERSION 1.0 parts and built them into an empty Victrola cabinet. Other than that, it was virtually the same concept. Original thread: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=243806
Soon, I became again concerned about the need for so many revolutions to vacuum the record clean and dry. I reasoned that some evaporation was happening along with the vacuuming, as the fluid is volatile and it was taking so long. Conceptually, evaporation was not what I wanted happening. To try to solve this, I built another wand, but with two channels. This was very bad. :thumbsdn: What happened was that there seemed to be too much of the mooshy pad touching the record (and absorbing moisture) and not enough airflow. The records were a sloppy mess. I adjusted everything I could think of - the opening on the end of the wand, adding notches at the ends of the channels, covering one channel up, reversing the nap of the fabric - it was just all wrong. :tears: And don't talk to me about suction! There was so much suction that unless the set screw was very tightly threaded on to the spindle, the record would unscrew it and stop dead. There was plenty of suction.
Though I had seen countless photos of DIY wands that looked like this, with seemingly satisfactory results, I began to reason that mine was performing poorly due to there being no curve at the point where the channel met the record surface, like the VPI vacuum wand and so many DIY wands made from PVC tube. I decided that I was done trying to DIY this part of the project - I purchased a VPI 16.5 vacuum wand upgrade/replacement kit and began considering how best to attach it.
In the meantime (many moons), I had (have) been spinning the record by hand for the "suck cycle" and it was (is) clean and dry in one revolution, probably 20 seconds or so, using my original wand.
VERSION 3.0
I have been reading several threads lately about home-mixed fluids vs. commercial fluids (For the record (ha!), I use both.) and I started thinking that I want to find a better alternative than the spray bottle I have been using for my rinse-water application (Absopure steam-distilled, in case you are curious) because I always get a little overspray on the label. This is fine if I am going to play it right away because it will have plenty of time to air-dry before I put it away. However, I have been cleaning a lot of records at once lately and waiting for the minor overspray on the labels to dry before I put them in a new poly-lined sleeve has cramped my efficiency.
Today, well, yesterday, actually, now, I went to Meijer (a Michigan-based retailer) and found plastic Ketchup and Mustard bottles (made in the US, Illinois, I think) for $.99 ea. (I have been trying to purchase domestic products when I can, paying particular attention to the small things, too. Ask me about Harbor Freight Tools, sometime.
) Anyway, I checked them for air-tightness (they passed) and bought them, along with a new bottle of Dawn detergent, now with OXI enzymes or something. Once home, I mixed up a new batch of schmootz and cleaned a record, messing around with the motor-spinning vs. hand spinning. I decided now was the time for action; I descended into the Pit of Despair, otherwise known as the workroom in the basement, determined to discover which was the weak link in the chain: the DIY wand of yore or the galloping motor. I emerged with sawdust in my hair, victory in my heart, and ... The Verdict: "Like, it was both, or something, I think." Hmmm ... :scratch2:
For all the gnashing of teeth over the shortcomings of the 16.5, more than countered by its genuine praise, VPI sure got one thing right: there is no little amount of magic at the contact point of their wand and my records. Perhaps they discovered just the right curve, just the right width of the slot, just the right diameter of the tube, just the right depth and nap of the cushion, or the combination of all of them is synergistic, but it is a tremendous improvement, even at warp spin. I am satisfied that my record-cleaning exploits will continue faster, more efficient, and more thoroughly accurate than before. (Please note that there is no dancing banana here.)
VERSION 4.0
I cannot bring myself to drop $50-$60 (or more!) at Grainger Supply for the OEM Dayton 18-20rpm motor(s) that VPI uses in their machine(s), but VERSION 4.0 indeed will include a slower motor, possibly even a reversible one, and maybe a real platter. However, I really like the hockey puck mount as there is no contamination of the clean side of the record by flopping it down on the platter that the dirty side just came from. :thmbsp:
(And I am sorry about all of the smileys. I was lonely.)
Here are a few photos:
Innocuous, eh?
Exposing oneself ...
The Business Area:
Under the Hood:
Original wand on right; later abomination on the left:
Congrats for making it this far ...
My original RCM was a modified ice cream maker and a modified shop-vac wand (hand held). While this got the job done with very little monetary investment, I was already thinking about working out a few kinks and making improvements. (If you read the discussion, you will see that I was concerned that the rotation speed was too fast for a thorough vacuuming - it took many passes for the surface finally to be clean and dry.) However, for the first time I was hearing what clean records could really sound like.
Here is the original thread: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=194765VERSION 2.0
Here, I essentially took the VERSION 1.0 parts and built them into an empty Victrola cabinet. Other than that, it was virtually the same concept. Original thread: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=243806
Soon, I became again concerned about the need for so many revolutions to vacuum the record clean and dry. I reasoned that some evaporation was happening along with the vacuuming, as the fluid is volatile and it was taking so long. Conceptually, evaporation was not what I wanted happening. To try to solve this, I built another wand, but with two channels. This was very bad. :thumbsdn: What happened was that there seemed to be too much of the mooshy pad touching the record (and absorbing moisture) and not enough airflow. The records were a sloppy mess. I adjusted everything I could think of - the opening on the end of the wand, adding notches at the ends of the channels, covering one channel up, reversing the nap of the fabric - it was just all wrong. :tears: And don't talk to me about suction! There was so much suction that unless the set screw was very tightly threaded on to the spindle, the record would unscrew it and stop dead. There was plenty of suction.
Though I had seen countless photos of DIY wands that looked like this, with seemingly satisfactory results, I began to reason that mine was performing poorly due to there being no curve at the point where the channel met the record surface, like the VPI vacuum wand and so many DIY wands made from PVC tube. I decided that I was done trying to DIY this part of the project - I purchased a VPI 16.5 vacuum wand upgrade/replacement kit and began considering how best to attach it.
In the meantime (many moons), I had (have) been spinning the record by hand for the "suck cycle" and it was (is) clean and dry in one revolution, probably 20 seconds or so, using my original wand.
VERSION 3.0
I have been reading several threads lately about home-mixed fluids vs. commercial fluids (For the record (ha!), I use both.) and I started thinking that I want to find a better alternative than the spray bottle I have been using for my rinse-water application (Absopure steam-distilled, in case you are curious) because I always get a little overspray on the label. This is fine if I am going to play it right away because it will have plenty of time to air-dry before I put it away. However, I have been cleaning a lot of records at once lately and waiting for the minor overspray on the labels to dry before I put them in a new poly-lined sleeve has cramped my efficiency.
Today, well, yesterday, actually, now, I went to Meijer (a Michigan-based retailer) and found plastic Ketchup and Mustard bottles (made in the US, Illinois, I think) for $.99 ea. (I have been trying to purchase domestic products when I can, paying particular attention to the small things, too. Ask me about Harbor Freight Tools, sometime.
) Anyway, I checked them for air-tightness (they passed) and bought them, along with a new bottle of Dawn detergent, now with OXI enzymes or something. Once home, I mixed up a new batch of schmootz and cleaned a record, messing around with the motor-spinning vs. hand spinning. I decided now was the time for action; I descended into the Pit of Despair, otherwise known as the workroom in the basement, determined to discover which was the weak link in the chain: the DIY wand of yore or the galloping motor. I emerged with sawdust in my hair, victory in my heart, and ... The Verdict: "Like, it was both, or something, I think." Hmmm ... :scratch2:For all the gnashing of teeth over the shortcomings of the 16.5, more than countered by its genuine praise, VPI sure got one thing right: there is no little amount of magic at the contact point of their wand and my records. Perhaps they discovered just the right curve, just the right width of the slot, just the right diameter of the tube, just the right depth and nap of the cushion, or the combination of all of them is synergistic, but it is a tremendous improvement, even at warp spin. I am satisfied that my record-cleaning exploits will continue faster, more efficient, and more thoroughly accurate than before. (Please note that there is no dancing banana here.)
VERSION 4.0
I cannot bring myself to drop $50-$60 (or more!) at Grainger Supply for the OEM Dayton 18-20rpm motor(s) that VPI uses in their machine(s), but VERSION 4.0 indeed will include a slower motor, possibly even a reversible one, and maybe a real platter. However, I really like the hockey puck mount as there is no contamination of the clean side of the record by flopping it down on the platter that the dirty side just came from. :thmbsp:
(And I am sorry about all of the smileys. I was lonely.)
Here are a few photos:
Innocuous, eh?
Exposing oneself ...
The Business Area:
Under the Hood:
Original wand on right; later abomination on the left:
Congrats for making it this far ...
) and I was concerned that they be airtight. I had resigned myself to being content until I stumbled across something when a friend mentioned the Ketchup and Mustard containers. I was inspired - they work great and were priced right!
