Question for UK residents with RCMs

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Porkpie, Nov 19, 2017.

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  1. Classicrock

    Classicrock Senior Member

    Location:
    South West, UK.
    Most that have tried TRO think it much better than L'Art Du Son. I have left a mixed plastic bottle of the later on kitchen surface out of direct sunlight for a year and it looks OK with no mould formation.
     
  2. Porkpie

    Porkpie Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    I changed my mind at the last minute and ordered 5ltr of TRO, which turned out much cheaper than I thought (500ml is £18 but 5ltr is £48!). My Pro-ject vc-s mk ii gets delivered tomorrow and a mofi brush and then hopefully TRO will be here for the weekend so I can give it a spin. I’m keeping my knosti for pre-cleans of any especially dirty second hand records before they go in the RCM.
     
  3. Dubmart

    Dubmart Senior Member

    Location:
    Bristol, England
    £50, now that is expensive, but at the end of the day it's like asking people which soap they prefer, they all do the same job and what matters is that you use it at all, any RCM with any recognised solvent, detergent or enzyme based cleaning fluid is going to be a huge improvement on not cleaning or hand cleaning and will likely be the most cost effective upgrade there is for your vinyl playback.:righton:
     
    Last edited: Nov 21, 2017
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  4. Dubmart

    Dubmart Senior Member

    Location:
    Bristol, England
    The Right One appears to be diluted isopropyl with added surfactant as a wetting agent, unless there is some magic ingredient then you can make something similar for a much lower cost at home, isopropyl, Kodak Photo Flo and water, personally I've moved on from solvents except for specific forms of contamination.
     
  5. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    I've been through a lot of different fluids and I totally agree.
     
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  6. GyroSE

    GyroSE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    May I suggest you try to get L'Art du Son. Vinylcenter in Stockholm usually sell this cleaning solution for a very good price and I believe you can also find MoFi record brushes there.
     
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  7. Leonthepro

    Leonthepro Skeptically Optimistic

    Location:
    Sweden
    Thanks! Do I need a rinse solution too?
     
  8. GyroSE

    GyroSE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    I never rinse my records when cleaning them. But if you want to rinse the records then I suggest that you go to the pharmacy where they sell Aqua Purificata (I believe only the pharmacy store Apoteket has this in their assortment)- you also use this when you dilute L'Art du Son so you're going to need this anyway.
     
    Last edited: Nov 21, 2017
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  9. Leonthepro

    Leonthepro Skeptically Optimistic

    Location:
    Sweden
    I was looking to get the Record Doctor V vacuum machine so I suppose I wont exactly need to rinse. Too bad they dont sell it anywhere in Sweden though.
    But Lart du son seems much cheaper than MOFI, especially because you can buy in Sweden, I think Ill try that.
    Tackar!
     
  10. GyroSE

    GyroSE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    Yes I believe it's very hard to find the Record Doctor V in Sweden. You easily can find the Okki Nokki or the Pro-Ject VC-S record cleaning machines though but they're a bit pricey compared to the Record Doctor V RCM.

    Varsågod. ;)
     
  11. Porkpie

    Porkpie Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    I’ve been using isopropyl/water/ilfotol mix but I wanted to try something else. I read a lot of posts on LADS that were positive but was a bit put off by some stories of it separating in the bottle or leaving a coating on the record so I decided to go for TRO. The estimate was 40 records cleaned with 500ml, so therefore 5ltrs should clean 400, working out 12p a record, and as I have about 350/380 it seemed like a good choice. If for any reason I’m not happy with the results I can always switch back to my current mix.

    Thanks for all the advice above from everyone!
     
  12. Dubmart

    Dubmart Senior Member

    Location:
    Bristol, England
    I think LADS is more stable these days, I do know someone who had it go completely off a few years back and it wasn't nice, but even when they printed a best before date on it I never had any issues, like I said mix what you need and keep it dark and cool you'll be fine, both neat and diluted it doesn't like heat and light.
     
  13. Porkpie

    Porkpie Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    So it’s basically the Gremlins of cleaning solutions :winkgrin:
     
    Last edited: Nov 21, 2017
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  14. Leonthepro

    Leonthepro Skeptically Optimistic

    Location:
    Sweden
    Better not use it after midnight.
     
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  15. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    I had a bottle I took with me when I left the UK for Canada. I put it in the fridge in 2011 and I only just finished the bottle and the expiry date was 2013. I forgot I even had it for quite a while and wound up using other solutions. No issues with it till the end.
     
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  16. Dubmart

    Dubmart Senior Member

    Location:
    Bristol, England
    I think storage is everything, I've seen friends undiluted mixture go "stringy" and as mentioned earlier one friend had a mixed batch that "went off" I seem to recall it had a horrible smell, in both cases they'd left the containers in sunlight and possibly near an additional heat source. I've bought multiple bottles at a time to save on postage and left them in their bubble wrap and in a cool dark place for a long time, no problems, likewise mixed solution left for months in a cool dark place with zero problems, it does need a good shake at times though.
     
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  17. Porkpie

    Porkpie Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    I’m usingbthe camel hair brush that comes with the pro-ject as I liked the brushes in the Knosti, and also a MoFi cleaning brush (pad). How do you guys clean the pads afterwards?
     
  18. Leonthepro

    Leonthepro Skeptically Optimistic

    Location:
    Sweden
    You gotta buy a Brush Cleaning Machine :D
     
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  19. Echoplex

    Echoplex Forum Resident

    I use a lint roller on the MoFi brushes.

    After repeated usage, I replace the pads on the MoFi brushes periodically.
     
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  20. Classicrock

    Classicrock Senior Member

    Location:
    South West, UK.
    There is some difference in this formula as well as a 'magic' ingredient that the inventor won't divulge. As far as I know only he (Paul) and David Brooks know what it is. It certainly spreads different to other liquids and any remaining fluid rapidly evaporates. I'm guessing the mystery ingredient might be the type of surfactant used. It does result in quiet background on initial playback without any other cleaning procedure. It's a good deal better than anything I have made up in the past (as well as Okki Nokki and Tonar) and more convenient.
     
  21. Porkpie

    Porkpie Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    I'm still not clear on rinsing, there seems to schools of thought - one is that if using an enzyme based cleaner you should rinse, the toher is that with IPA based solution you don't need to rinse. However, with a vacuum powered machine surely there isn't anything left to be rinsed off, right? Then I read an old thread here where someone was claiming that even with IPA solutions you need to rinse. I get it if you're cleaning by hand but with an RCM I don't know why that would be necessary.
     
  22. Simon_LDT

    Simon_LDT Forum Resident

    Location:
    England, UK
    I've been using The Right One for about 2 years now and it is well worth the cost. Definitely get a 5litre size as it will last ages and for around £50 it initially seems expensive but will easily clean 100's of LP's making it very cheap per record. No need to rinse either.
     
  23. Leonthepro

    Leonthepro Skeptically Optimistic

    Location:
    Sweden
    I thought it was the other way around, that enzyme cleaning didnt need rinses. But I suppose its a good thing to do in both cases, just to make sure everything gets off.
    A combo of Lart Du Son and this MOFI super wash https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003TYF6M6/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I2TKO68KBMZ289&colid=2XLVW05JYDQ3R should do the trick. At least thats what Ill try when my RCM arrives.
     
  24. rl1856

    rl1856 Forum Resident

    Location:
    SC
    Anything other than distilled water is capable of leaving residue on the LP surface, thus should be rinsed off. Consensus best practice is to rinse with distilled water before final drying procedure whether vacuum or in a drying rack.
     
  25. Porkpie

    Porkpie Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
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