$100 RCM - Record Cleaning Machine ***

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Budget-RCM-...ly-the-Shop-Vac-Now-with-Video-/151778557259?

So I have much to report about this RCM. First, I should tell you that I experienced a bit of frustration when it initially arrived (this delayed my review). Things can (and do) go wrong when you buy a product, from eBay or elsewhere. Having something go wrong is not a reflection of a seller, how the incident is dealt with is. So here goes part one of the story.

I anxiously set up my new machine and got out a record to clean. When I turned on the vacuum, I observed that it wasn't really drying the record the way I anticipated. I was having to towel dry the records afterward and this wasn't what I was expecting. This was on Saturday afternoon. So I sent Nick (the seller and designer) a message on eBay's board expecting to hear something maybe on Monday. I don't think it was ten minutes before he got back to me with several suggestions. None of those helped, so I started checking the thing out piece by piece. What I found was that the end of the wand (the part that contacts the record) had a piece of plastic blocking what seemed to be a hole for the air to flow to that part. The wand wasn't vacuuming the record at all, it was just pushing the fluid around. I snapped a picture and sent it to Nick and he confirmed my speculation. He was apologetic almost to a fault and did everything he could do to take care of me. He said a replacement part would be shipped immediately and he gave me a financial consideration for my inconvenience. He also offered a full refund in case I was put off, but that certainly wasn't an option I felt need to exercise. What he didn't know is that as he was typing all of that, I was working from his confirmation and got into the barrel with an Exacto knife. Though it took more than a little effort, the plastic was thin enough that I was able to remove it through use of the knife, a screwdriver to pry and needle nosed pliers to remove the offending material. So I contacted him back to let him know I had remedied the situation. Instead of saying "oh, good, now I don't need to send a replacement" as many sellers would, he wrote back suggesting that since the first one was now functional, that I might want my replacement in a different color to easily differentiate. Nick is an awesome seller!

BTW, I had planned to get a $15 shop vac from Home Depot, but they were out of stock. I found that Walmart sells the pictured Stanley for $20. I usually don't shop the evil empire, but it was in stock, smaller, and a good color match (a closer match than the flash on my camera makes it look). Well worth the extra $5 to me.

Now to the review. I had previously been hand washing my records in the kitchen sink with a label protector, Sporacidin mold cleaner, a paint brush and tap water. I had also tried a friend's Spin Clean, but was convinced I was getting far better results with the sink. These are my frames of reference for using this product.

There are pros and cons for this machine vs hand washing. The first big pro is time. I can clean at least five records with the machine in the time it takes to do one by hand. The first big con is the noise. I can't clean records with this machine after the kids have gone to bed. Then there is the issue of fluid. I used a LOT of cleaner and water with hand washing. On the machine, if you let the fluid pool on the record (as was my practice) the edges of the labels soak through. So really crusty finds may still get a hand wash first. To help offset this, I went from a wash/rinse regimen to a three step process. I am first cleaning with less of the mold cleaner, with less dwell time due to the lowered amount of fluid but more brushing because it is so much easier with the record being on the platter (and it keeps the record from drying with soap on it). Then after vacuuming the soap away, I am using a 50/50 iso/distilled mix, brushing it then vacuuming. Lastly a rinse with pure distilled water and a third vacuum.

This method is giving me results as good or perhaps even better than the hand washing. It is so much quicker and easier that it is clearly preferable in my mind. As I alluded to earlier, I believe that this RCM is far superior to the popular budget option, the Spin Clean. It isn't even close IMHO.

To give people a pragmatic idea of what to expect with the machine, I make a test subject of a Brian Eno album that came from the thrift the day before. I recorded a 30 second clip before cleaning and after. Links to those files are attached. I then took those files and ran them both through ClickRepair at default settings. In the left channel, the before file had 37760 repaired samples as opposed to 24416 for the after file. This represents a 35% improvement in clicks on the record for the moment it took me to clean it. Probably more than 35% when you consider than some clicks are scratches which can't be cleaned out. The right channel started with 32288 samples before and 25852 after, representing a 20% improvement.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am really cheap and don't drop a buck and a half lightly. I am VERY happy with this purchase.

Wav files...

https://mega.nz/#!tplQkJ5Z!yZJLTCcKZ55yALxUIg49aeWGCpwI7QXFoVV6gy0Ix7o

https://mega.nz/#!xgEDkZbL!GiE2Lx5aAcV5xgHpAbILOUA8C_Kolm5TOzOZoN46xs8

 

Thanks for the review! I have been eyeing the KAB, which is also a budget model, requiring an external vacuum. IMO, this is the only way to go, because, if the motor ever burns out on a $500+ model, you're up S%$t Creek. Your model has the advantage of having the pressure release valve, which can accommodate any model of vacuum; however, from watching the video he posted, the turning mechanism seems not very supple (i.e., you really have to put some grit into it). Any thoughts?

 

Looks interesting. I've got a Spin Clean and I have mixed opinions about it. It works fine on thin vinyl but you have to be very careful with heavy vinyl. If there's any debris left over in the pads after cleaning them they will scratch the thicker records.

 

hum I think my vacuum would be a bit too large for it. bet higher hp vacuum would clean even better

 

That looks absolutely terrific! Did you have to pay more for the yellow finish?

 

I haven't noticed any issue that way at all.

 

He will do any color he has on hand at no additional charge. I have no idea if he can special order colors and what that would cost as he had this yellow in stock.

 

I used to think there was a point where there could be too much suction. This is not true, more the better. More comes out of the groove.

 

I know with my little vac I keep that valve completely closed. The water immediately under the wand gets sucked up, and the adjacent water "bends" a little toward the vac. This seems about right to me.

 

this is a cool setup. makes me want to test one out alongside my spinclean....maybe it can make the pops and clicks go away on my Pink Floyd album......

 

Floyd albums, providing the are ok pressings and undamaged, have in my case shown dramatic improvement with dramatic suction from a vacuum.

 

And that is hard to say on this one....it was a second hand record, appears to be a very early pressing of Wish you were here. The microline stylus has made a big difference but still getting those pops and clicks in some spots

 

I paid a high price for it in a record store too. didn't think it would be as noisy as it is.

 

Wish you were here is a bitch. Mine is noisy as well. Animals is also a bitch, just the lay of the land.

 

Damn. I honestly really thought the microline would kick its ass. Oh well....that's the only one I have yet to get really great sounding using the spin clean. Hate that noise.

 

IMO, this little RCM looks every bit as effective as machines costing many times the price. If I didn't already have a Moth RCM I would certainly be in the market for one of these. Ok so you have to spin the record by hand but that's no big deal and, in many ways, adds to its flexibility.

I really like the design of this. Using 3D printed parts rather than old plumbing bits is just genius!

I want one..!

 

Man, this looks great. Thanks to the OP.

 

Much of your comparative baseline of this unit to the Spin Clean is that you say you're "convinced" that you are getting far better results from your sink than a Spin Clean. No offense, but looking at your described methodology for sink cleaning, I am frankly highly skeptical of this claim/perception and thus find your conclusion regarding this RCM vis a vis the Spin Clean suspect at best.

Is there any objective measure you're using to come to this conclusion or are you just putting your finger to the wind and presuming/guessing regarding the Spin Clean?

 

I posted this many years ago.

My record cleaner consists of an old turntable (power plug removed so no electrical concerns) and a Bissell Little Green Carpet Cleaner. The Little green comes with two wands - one has a rotating brush, the other a fixed brush. I removed the brush from the fixed brush wand and added a strip of velvet using double-sided tape to the areas that would come in contact with the record.



My procedure is:

1) put the uncleaned record on the turntable
2) squirt a small stream of diluted Mobile Fidelity Super Deep Cleaner on the record and scrub the disc using a Disc Doctor Miracle Record Brush. (I have two brushes - both labelled: one for the record cleaning solution, the other for distilled water.)
3) Let it sit for a few minutes.
4) Vacuum with customized Bissell brush. Note: this brush is used exclusively for record cleaning. The second wand is used only for carpet cleaning. They are stored separately.
5) Squirt some distilled water on record and scrub with the second Disc Doctor Miracle Record Brush.
6) Vacuum with customized Bissell brush.

The vacuum is designed for liquid. It is reasonably quiet - you could get away with using it in the basement if the kids are asleep upstairs. You can also use it for its designated purpose - small carpet cleaner - just keep the wands separate. This may also be a plus in discussing the proposed purchase with your household's Finance Department.

 

Sure - that any record cleaning method involving a vacuum cleaner is better then any record cleaning method that doesn't involve a vacuum cleaner, and nobody that has used both disputes this.

 

That is a funny criticism given that I backed up the usefulness of this system by providing analytical data AND recorded samples. I also have done the same for my sink cleaning in the past, but don't have those figures in front of me (though they were similar to the stats I got from this RCM). No, I did not have access to my capture system to run tests when I was working on my friend's Spin Clean at his house, but I should think that the manner in which I presented the rest of the information proves me capable of more than "putting your finger to the wind and presuming/guessing", but thanks for the condescension.

You may be highly skeptical if you like, but I can tell you as someone who really wanted the Spin Clean to work, someone with a love of vinyl and no budget for an RCM, that I was sad when I found it to be largely ineffective. A year or so ago, when I had the opportunity to audition it, I wanted it to be the solution. It simply wasn't.

Look at it this way... Would you clean your car (if you could) by submersing it a side at a time into fluid that was used to clean other cars? Do you wash your dishes in the sink without giving them a rinse? The ability to use clean fluid at each stage and to remove it almost completely is so obviously superior that it shouldn't even require data to substantiate. I'm sure this is more than just my "suspect perception".

 

You're welcome. When I have a very positive experience with a product, it brings me joy to share my findings with like minded individuals.

 

Looks pretty good. I suppose it's perfect for a Canadian DIY project that the spindle hub is a real hockey puck!

My big question are: how much are replacement brushes and is "closed loop nylon" vinyl safe as a brush? Nylon?

 

I have been using nylon brushes for years. That is what I used for my sink cleaning. You can message the seller to get a quote for new wands. My guess would be $25 or less as he sells a wand only system for that price.

 

This is an inventive way to quantify the effects of the RCM. Very cool. It reminds me of the Kirby salesman using my old vacuum to clean an area on the carpet and then using the Kirby with a special filter fitted to clean the same spot. Naturally, when the filter was removed and examined, it was covered with crud my old vac missed.