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My DIY RCM Experiment

M

micksf

New Member
I've been inspired by the good people here on the forum to build my own RCM, and so here's my take. I am by no means a skilled craftsman, but I did the best I could with my limited skill set. I think it turned out pretty good and it works great. I'm still making little tweaks but its a solid machine.

I initially intended to purchase a professional version of one of these things but they start at about $600 and I read numerous accounts of them overheating or breaking down, so I wanted to build a solid version using quality parts, keeping my budget around $200.
 

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Here is a parts list (no association to any vendor or manufacturer). I got most of my kit from Grainger, a big box store and my local hardware stores.

Motor - Grainger - Part # 3M153, $93. You could easily save $30 and go with a non-reversible motor, but I figured this was going to be my biggest expense and went big.
Here is the non-reversible version - 3M099, $63

Motor Capacitor - 2MDV3
Switches - 2VLU3, 2VLT7
Power Cord - 1FD91

I also got some rubber motor mounts, but I’m not sure if they are completely necessary. And I used an 1” long set screw-type coupler to connect my motor spindle to a threaded rod.

The PVC for the internal vacuum parts came from a big box hardware store. I just dug through the bins until I got the pieces that I thought would work. I got the wand parts from a local hardware store that caters to contractors. The wand is made of three copper pieces, 1" for the down piece, 3/4 ". for the wand, and a 1"-3/4" angle. Total cost was about $15. The wand was slotted with a dremel (about the width of of the dremel blade). I cut a black rubber cork and glued it in the end, and painted the group black. It slides into a piece of 1-1/4” sink pipe nicely. I've seen people making the wand out of PVC and I think that would work just as well I would guess. The tubing I used to connect the two PVC end points underneath is a bit stiff and it puts a bit of pressure on them, so I may replace with something more supple down the road. It's working so we'll see.

The front plate is the cover of a project box I had laying around.

On top of the platter I have a piece of neoprene that I got from the fabric store. I taped it down with two-sided carpet tape but it’s not sitting flat all the way around creating a couple high points when the album hits the wand, so I’ll be experimenting with some new materials. Unfortunately my wand doesn’t go any lower without a modification so I need the height the neoprene provides. Off to another store to find something creative.

Also, I cut a scrap piece of laminate for the top so any liquid spillage could be easily cleaned up. If you do this, I suggest you read up on tips for cutting laminate to reduce chances of cracking it. I cut it face down and applied tape on the top surface over the intended holes.
 

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Here is a basic diagram of my electrical wiring. I am not a electrician so I did some web research to figure out how to put this together. It may look complicated to a layperson but by wiring one thing at a time and its really quite simple, and took me about an hour.
 

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Yep, forgot to mention the vacuum source is a 2.5hp wet/dry Shop-Vac.

Thanks guys, appreciate the responses.
 

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Outstanding result there :thmbsp: very inspirational to someone like me. Thanks for sharing Mick.
 
That's fantastic! Taking the basic mechanics and building on it. A great DIY for many of us. The build and assembly is super clean from what I see. I think it's great when someone expands on a hobby to include more than one in a project. :thmbsp:
 
Wow! Really nice work and thanks for sharing all the photos and the wiring diagram. I'm curious how the platter is attached to the motor spindle; Do you have any photos of how you did that? Is that a hockey puck hold-down I see? How does it work with the motor spindle? Lastly, did you put something on the underside of the wand to protect the record? Again, you did a really nice job and thanks for sharing!
 
Great job! Looks like your 'experiment' is a roaring success.

I have always wondered about the best way to keep the label(s) dry. Has that been a problem for you?
 
Looks great! Once you get it tweaked, give us your impressions of RCM cleaning.

BTW, I use Sparkle to clean, then rinse with distilled water.
 
AvFan said:
Wow! Really nice work and thanks for sharing all the photos and the wiring diagram. I'm curious how the platter is attached to the motor spindle; Do you have any photos of how you did that? Is that a hockey puck hold-down I see? How does it work with the motor spindle? Lastly, did you put something on the underside of the wand to protect the record? Again, you did a really nice job and thanks for sharing!
Click to expand...


Thanks, the platter mount was one of the more tricky situations, and I will probably continue to improve on that but it's working for now. It's simply a 1/4" threaded rod attached via the coupler. Then I have a small spacer just above the coupler to raise the platter off the surface of the box, next is a lock washer (below the platter) and a thin 1/4" nut above the platter. I also cut a small piece of hollow tubing for inside the platter hole, just to reduce the extra play a bit between the rod and the sides of the platter hole. Centered it best I could and tightened. It's working great but I would like to figure out a way to center the platter quickly if I had to disassemble for any reason. It took a few tries to get it centered.

And yes, that's the famous hockey puck method I've seen here on the forum. I used some more of that hollow tubing to line my center hole, since the first version was leaving hockey puck bits every time I took it off the threaded rod. The tubing totally solved the issue.

As for the wand, I've got some super fine velvety material wrapped around the tip and the base. If the wand ever comes close to touching the record the material only hits the lead out/in grooves. The material is shallowest pile I've ever seen, and it's real purpose is to line the inside of camera bodies. It's what makes it black inside (no light leaks) a modern camera. I had some laying around for a mild camera repair I did a while back. It's reasonably priced if you can find it in small sheets, I only used it at 1/2"wide x ~ 2" long wrapped on each end of the wand - so you can imagine how long a 6" x6" sheet would last you.
 

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micksf said:
Thanks, the platter was one of the more tricky situations, and I will probably continue to improve on that but it's working for now. It's simply a 1/4" threaded rod attached via the coupler. Then I have a small spacer just above the coupler to raise the platter off the surface of the box, next is a lock washer (below the platter) and a thin 1/4" nut above the platter. I also cut a small piece of hollow tubing for inside the platter hole, just to reduce the extra play a bit between the rod and the sides of the platter hole. Centered it best I could and tightened. It's working great but I would like to figure out a way to center the platter quickly if I had to disassemble for any reason. It took a few tries to get it centered.

And yes, that's the famous hockey puck method I've seen here on the forum. I used some more of that hollow tubing to line my center hole, since the first version was leaving hockey puck bits every time I took it off the threaded rod. The tubing totally solved the issue.

As for the wand, I've got some super fine velvety material wrapped around the tip and the base. If the wand ever comes close to touching the record the material only hits the lead out/in grooves. The material is shallowest pile I've ever seen, and it's real purpose is to line the inside of camera bodies. It's what makes it black inside (no light leaks) a modern camera. I had some laying around for a mild camera repair I did a while back. It's reasonably priced if you can find it in small sheets, I only used it at 1/2"wide x ~ 2" long wrapped on each end of the wand - so you can imagine how long a 6" x6" sheet would last you.
Click to expand...

I'm confused.

Does this mean the wand does not touch or 'scrub' the record?

What is the process for cleaning the records? Do you just put fluid on the record, turn on the vacuum, then the fluid is sucked off the record by the wand, which is about 1/8" to 1/4" distance away from the record?

Maybe I'm not reading your description correctly....
 
I was wondering also, about the wand touching the record. What exactly does the scrubbing of the record before the vacuum sucks the spent solution off? Do you use a paint pad or something similar?
 
tubewade said:
I was wondering also, about the wand touching the record. What exactly does the scrubbing of the record before the vacuum sucks the spent solution off? Do you use a paint pad or something similar?
Click to expand...


I manually scrub the records with a brush/pad. this unit does the vacuuming of of particles that are raised and suspended in the fluid, much like the Okki Nokki or the VPI 16.5.
 
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Fantastic Job, it looks very well made indeed :thmbsp: Thanks so much for sharing. I think I have found a new project for the new year. :D
 
Awesome job.

It's almost better that the wand doesn't touch the record to avoid redistributing anything left on the wand from record to record. You can buy the Nitty Gritty replacement wand (velvet?) strips online - if you need them. I bought some to replace my Okki Nokki strips.

Now, after all your hard work and excellent write up with the parts list, someone is going to derail the thread by stating that by using an external vacuum your design is crap because it's just recirculating the dust. I've seen it happen!
 
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