Hello, i just wanted to chime in on this discussion. I bought the vinyl flat machine and the groove pouch heating pad, it came with the 2 felt pads to cover top/bottom of the record. I read the instructions and did what all red blooded american born boys do and ignored the **** out of them and went for 1 simple formula... 12 hr hot 12 hr cool... cycles, so far ive flattened 5-6 lps , ranging from small edge warps to jed clampetts floppy hat looking. All of them came out the same way.. perfectly flat, and no visible artifacts from the felt or heat to mention. The top plate is so heavy it just dont need much pressure applied to make it do its job. Adjust the wing nut to a firm snug i highly recommend these 2 products used as i use them.
I really don't recommend 12 hours at a time. It may have worked for the 5 or 6 you have done, but it WILL ruin some of your records. It really depends on the vinyl itself really. I'm not trying to give you a hard time, just don't want you to ruin any if your LPs. I've done many many albums in he VF, and I ruined exactly 2. Neither one went anywhere near 12 hours. It's just a word of advice, be careful, it CAN ruin your albums if you don't respect the heat/time.
ive been having success with a cycle of 4 hrs on > 2 hrs off > 4 hrs on > 2 hrs off over a 24 - 36 hour period. i also have the timer all set up so i can check a cooled LP just before or after work. i havent over-cooked anything in any way, but i did notice a slightly elevated level of noise on the thinner vinyl of my 1st pressing of the cure's 'pornography' LP after a VF/GP session. so i then ran it through the VPI 16.5 wash/rinse/repeat cycle and im of the opinion it actually plays cleaner now vs. before the VF/GP baking. could this slight heating of the record perhaps loosen up some of the crud down in the grooves? i also dipped the stylus into the zerodust after this play and it left a not too nice deposit on it.
This thread has been immensely valuable — thanks everyone! I'm planning to order a VF/GP pair shortly. I think it's something I need in my vinyl arsenal. One question: I've been through the whole thread and not seen any mention of the "Retro Rings" option on the Vinyl Flat website (Products page). Has anyone tried these? They appear to be (and are described as) a felt version of the original hard rings. They are reportedly for "tough" cases, without edge warps. For an additional $20, I will probably give them a go, but I was curious if anyone has found specific use cases for them. Also, is there any reason to pick up the extra Groovy Ring pack? I haven't read here of anyone mentioning wear on the felt pads, and I can't quite see why I would need *two* extra sets (4 to a pack), but as it's likely much cheaper to get extras along with the flattener rather than later (I'm in Canada, so shipping will not likely be free, and the weight of the Vinyl Flat itself will dwarf any extras), I just thought I'd ask.
No need for the extra Groovy Rings. Shoot him a message and ask him about the Retro Rings. I asked him, but forget what they were for. I decided I didn't need them anyway.
perusing back through this thread, im unable to determine if using the VF/GP for colored vinyl is ok or not? and just to add to my confusion, is there a difference in the vinyl formulation of colored vinyl and colored translucent vinyl? other than this current quandary, im finding this thing to be quite useful.
I've used the VF/GP for coloured vinyl and I didn't have any problems. I guess the best advice is to proceed with caution in terms of cooking times but I can't see why there would be any differences. Of course the weight of the vinyl will affect cooking times.
I cooked my first colored vinyl last weekend, a BN Exclusive Sonny Rollins/What's New, had no problem.
Lots of information on here, looks like some good and some bad. One thing I am not seeing is what temperature most people are using. Is the low (recommended by Vinyl Flat) setting adequate to repair badly warped 180g vinyl? It looks like Vinyl Flat recommends no more than 90 minutes on the medium setting and also warns that low is the safest setting to use. I just ordered one of these and am still very torn about whether it is worth the $220. Most of my warped vinyl does play through with no skips. I do have a few valuable records with big warps that I set aside. Still sort of on the fence but I do have quite a few 180g new records with some degree of warpage as it seems everyone does.
Unless you are using your oven with the VF, the GP only has one setting...."on". Start with shorter times/overall cooking times and work up to what works for you. Im 3 months into this thing with 95% success. The 5% missing being that i felt the records were 'flat enough'. Or, is there a new GP with some temp settings on it?
I could have been looking at older instructions but I did pull them off of the official Vinyl Flat website. It does say it has low-medium-high settings so not sure. I guess the low setting is 130 degrees to 150 degrees. It urges people to only use the low setting to avoid damage to records and to only start with 90 minutes at the medium or high setting. It also says it comes with a thermometer which would be cool. For $220 they should throw in a few "free" records!
Yeah, I decided to keep it and give it a shot. I believe they offer a satisfaction guarantee anyway. I've literally got $50 records (in NM cond. otherwise) that are badly warped (such as Pearl Jam Vitalogy) that could be fixed and easily sold if I wanted to so this investment should really pay for itself. The final straw was playing my new Bob Dylan Bootleg vol. 1-3 and two of the discs are warped (one badly). All discs were covered in hairlines due to the tight paper inner sleeves. The good news was the records sounded fantastic, even the warped ones. I ordered from Zoverstocks and their return policy is pretty crappy and I am certainly not sending it back to the UK, I know that! I just though of a Metallica box set I need to un-warp as well.
It should work just fine for you. Just start at shorter cooking times and dial in what works. Im at 3 days of a 4hr on > 2hr off > 4hr on > 2hr off > etc cycle right now on LP #1 of the white stripes Peel Sessions set. Its also the first time a colored vinyl has been attempted here, so im not rushing anything....and really, whats the hurry? the flat record > the .18¢ that my electric bill goes up due to this contraption.
I was enquiring about ordering one last week and, owner, John Martindale, let me know that were releasing a new Groovy Pouch this past week, and they now includes the Retro Rings with the Vinyl Flat, and a digital thermometer with the pouch, though the price on the Flat has gone up $10. I plan on ordering one shortly (although I'm a little unsure about being a guinea pig for the new pouches), so I'll report back when I've had some experience with them.
My apologies if this has already been posted. Has anyone had success flattening picture discs? Truly, this is not that important to me as they will not be getting very many plays but was interested if people have had success. Also I was thinking of using one of those raised hot plate stands to place it on so it would hover a few inches off of the granite counter-top. Hopefully that would be sufficient for uniform heating.
Well just got this in the mail today and baked my first test specimen for two hours on the low setting as directed. It had a wing nut tightening screw and also the ball tightener which I did not use (not sure why you need both?) It does come with a thermometer and additional felt rings (which I probably won't use). The groovy Pouch does have 3 heat settings. The test record is Metallica from the Garage Inc. 45rpm box set. It has a ridiculously bad edge warp (completely unplayable) so we will see if there is any improvement. I am sort of worried that 2 hours will not be enough.
Just got it and tried to flatten a clear vinyl album. 2h did nothing. Another 1h did nothing. Another 2h and it was almost completely flat but the grooves were ruined. Saw a YT video of a guy complaining about the same thing happening to a red album. So perhaps I'll have to restrict my use to black-colored vinyl? I don't know... first time using it and $20 down the tubes already. Kind of a bummer and it's making me nervous to use it on something else.
It can happen to regular vinyl as well. I experimented and had similar results i.e. grooves were damaged. What was you cooling cycle time between the 2, 1 and 2 hr sessions?
Did you let it fully cool for a long time before removing? Also, do you mean the second time you did it for 3 hours, and then 5 hours the third time? The instructions say to go up in thirty minute increments so it sounds like you over did it a bit. I wouldn't give up on it yet, just be a little more careful when increasing time. I am letting mine cool overnight before even touching it. If no improvement at all maybe two hours thirty minutes tomorrow.
Be careful with warps that bad. I had a similar issue and if you keep trying until it's completely flat you may damage the grooves. My record was still playable but you could see the needle make a sharp move to the right then left as it went over the spot where the edge warp was. I'd tread lightly and only fix it to point where the lp is playable and there is no sound issues. I would definitely not try and truly flatten a warp that bad. Make sure the lp cools down completely between sessions Also, if you have binder clips put them around the edge. It helps.
Thanks for the warning. Yes, I am certainly not going to overdo it and really only want it to be playable as it was one of my favorites out of that set. I have never even played it out of fear of damage to the cartridge. I probably have 150-200 warped records at least so I'm gonna be busy for awhile!
Every time, there was at least 1h between cycles. You mean before removing the LP from the VF? No. I delicately removed the top plate without moving it otherwise, same with the felt. The first 2x, the grooves were intact. Now... Not at all. I meant exactly what I wrote. I did 2h, then I did it 1h, then, then did it for another 2h. That's a *total* of 5h through 3 tries. Maybe that's the way to go but I have to say their instructions were incredibly confusing to the point where I just watched a YT video instead. They sure could use a complete rewrite. In any case, considering what I spent on it, I might as well give it another go but it sure was disappointing that the very first try resulted in a damaged record. And, my LP wasn't even completely flat in the end! I own an unplayable LP with a strange wavy warp in one spot close to the edge. I'll give that a try since I can't play the record anyway.
