Vinyl Flat & Groovy Pouch

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by DR.J, Nov 5, 2012.

  1. Jam757

    Jam757 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    It's a great product that doesn't promise to make anything "perfectly flat." In fact, they say that as soon as you are able to play a record (even if it is still warped) you should not continue heating it to try and achieve perfect flatness. Your main issue was not following the very clear instructions and heating for 2 hours, then a separate session on 1 hour (which does nothing), and then 2 hours again. You are supposed to go up in slight 15 minute increments so the second try should have been 2:15 and then 2:30 the next time. Also, very critical to not immediately remove from the vinyl flat. If you read through this thread the best success is letting it slowly cool to room temperature and then removing it. Sorry your 20 dollar record melted but it was not the machines fault.
     
    Last edited: Mar 24, 2017
  2. PATB

    PATB Recovering Vinyl Junkie

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    The cooking times posted on this thread depend on the temperature of your particular pouch and the vinyl (formulation/weight). Before using a new vinyl flat, try to get its steady state temperature using an oven thermometer. I believe mine goes to around 140 F after 30 minutes.

    My regular cooking time for 140g records is 4hours, 180g/200g records is 6 hours. I do another cycle if the record improved but not enough. I tighten the nut 1/4 turn after snug. I keep a diary of cooking times and results for each run.

    With my pouch, I cannot imagine destroying grooves after only 2 hours, unless there is something weird about the vinyl formulation. I have not encountered a record that would budge after only 2 hours. And I have tried cooking for 12 hours with no audible or physically discernible effect. I saw the you tube video about the color vinyl, so was extra careful with a BN exclusive (Sonny Rollins/What's New) -- fixed after 4 hours.

    But all the above is with my pouch. Yours may run cooler or hotter.
     
    Kyhl, Tommyboy, Jam757 and 1 other person like this.
  3. Jam757

    Jam757 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    Regarding the clips,how many do I put on and do I attach them to the outside of the vinyl flat? I was thinking around 6 large size clips around the perimeter evenly spread? Is that about right? Two hours did absolutely nothing on my first test run. I am now doing a four hour run but considering longer. This is thick heavy duty vinyl.
     
  4. E.Baba

    E.Baba Forum Resident

    I use 3 clips evenly spaced around the outside of the steel plates after screwing the butterfly screw. 3 because that's how many I had that fit.
    I can leave my pouch all day. Won't hurt the vinyl, won't necessarily flatten it either.
     
  5. Jam757

    Jam757 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    Thanks, hmmm. Yeah from others posts on here it seems edge warps are close to impossible which sort of sucks. I'm gonna continue "baking" all weekend hopefully with better results. I would be happy if it just made this edge warp a bit smaller. I dont have any clips on there right now. I should probably try a record with a good ole fashion dish warp so I feel better about my purchase. It seems like the instructions certainly err on the side of caution with the bake times.
     
  6. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    I can't remember how many I used but I think it was more than 6. I recall using enough that they covered the outer edge and they must have been 1.5" in size. If yours are larger then you can definitely use less of them.

    Edge warps are hard to fix. Which is unfortunate as most warps I came across were those!

    But you can, with some effort, get it flat enough to at least be able to play the record.
     
    Jam757 and Rick Bartlett like this.
  7. Rick Bartlett

    Rick Bartlett Forum Resident

    edge warps with the vinyl flat and pouch, i have 'never' had any luck with repairing and end up destroying the record completely.
     
    Kevin j likes this.
  8. Rick Bartlett

    Rick Bartlett Forum Resident

    after using this vinyl flat and pouch several times, i think the results are 'touch and go'. i have destroyed a couple of records trying
    to get edge warps out, nothing too important, but it's something everyone should know about. different vinyls seem to draw
    different results. ive got a near perfect mint copy of a 60's 'peter paul and mary' record on Warner Brothers i'm gonna try today that
    is so warped it wont play at all, yet it is in pristine condition otherwise, probably never played because of it.
    see what happens....?.....
     
  9. Jam757

    Jam757 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    See, edge warps are 98% of my issue. You do occasionally find dish warps with new vinyl but these ****ty edge warps that look like someone took a blowtorch to the record are the major problem. Sigh.
     
    Rick Bartlett likes this.
  10. Rick Bartlett

    Rick Bartlett Forum Resident

    Yup...... me too, the flat and pouch won't fix those in my lengthy experience...
     
  11. Jam757

    Jam757 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    Well, another 4 hour run and the Metallica record is nowhere near playable although the warp may have "changed" a bit. I did drop the needle but there is audible noise on each rotation and it was scaring me at 45rpm I dont want to damage the needle. I'm done with that one, it looks like 0-1. Trying a clear vinyl Stones Hot Rocks reissue now with a moderate warp. I am really borderline about keeping this thing. I may ship it back and get my $220 refund.
     
  12. Jam757

    Jam757 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    Well, good news, I am currently 3 outta 4 with my efforts and the 4 hour bake time (low setting) seems to be working well. Did each record in the Stones Hot Rocks (both clear 180g vinyl) and then AC/DC '74 Jailbreak (180g black). All of the wraps were 97% elminated. I have not tried thin older vinyl yet, have quite a few of those as well. Now the problem is trying to remember which ones were warped!!
     
  13. anodyne

    anodyne Forum Resident

    I've had some luck fixing edge warps. I use the binder clip method in the area of the edge warp. The secret, in my experience, is to be patient. I never do more than a 2 hour heating session (my old style Groovy Pouch runs a bit hot). Allow at least an equal cooling time. Flip the record and repeat. I'll reevaluate by playing the record then, and repeat the entire enterprise as needed until I'm satisfied. Don't expect to end up with a completely flat record, but you can get close.
     
  14. Jam757

    Jam757 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    I've already fixed three mild-moderate ones. I am now attempting my first thin older one. A NM copy of Ozzy Tribute. It's almost bedtime so I'm gonna give it 2 hours and then keep it in the Vinyl Flat until I get home from work tomorrow night.
     
  15. Jam757

    Jam757 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    So far, mixed results but seems like a good product: I fixed moderate dish warps on two Pink Floyd records which are now perfectly flat with 4 hour sessions. Also success with two Rolling Stones clear 180g vinyl with mild-moderate edge warps. a few others were mostly fixed with 4 hour sessions.

    Unsuccessful: Ozzy Tribute- 2 hour session did nothing, Sabbath record- 4 hours did nothing- the warp may have changed a bit but not really playable, Metallica 180g vinyl- 2 hours and then 4 hours and the warp is still really bad. Most likely aborting efforts with these.

    It seems the thinner older ones are a bit of a challenge.
     
  16. BKphoto

    BKphoto JazzAllDay

    so far mine is 1 hour cook, unplug, wrap in blanket let it cool down as slow as possible (which is the key) 8 hours...

    take apart, flip record, do same process.....so far it seems to take out 80% of the warp...give or take...newer records flatten much easier
     
  17. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    I like the idea of getting one of these, but it doesn't seem to be available in the UK.
     
  18. Fractured

    Fractured Forum Resident

    I believe it's only available directly from the website, and I'm sure he will ship to the UK. (Shipping won't be cheap, though. I was quoted US$75 for shipping to Canada, though there's a $10 discount off the item price, where it normally includes free US shipping. I guess it's the weight of the thing, but it does seem a little high.)
     
    Man at C&A likes this.
  19. bubba-ho-tep

    bubba-ho-tep Resident Ne'er-Do-Well

    Location:
    San Tan Valley, AZ
    Anyone here try this on 7" records? I have a couple with really bad warps and was thinking about running one of them through a cycle in the Vinyl Flat.
     
  20. Jam757

    Jam757 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    I officially love the vinyl flat. So far completely rescued around 12-15 completely unplayable records with massive warps. On a few occasions there is a bit of wooshing noise on the lead in where the warps were but overall they play and sound fantastic where they were completely unplayable before. The bake tme/setting hat i have found works best is the medium setting for 3-4 hours. I think my low runs at around 121-122 degrees and not sure on medium but its not super hot. Either way, very glad I decided to keep it. My current sucess log inclues We Sold Our Souls (both records), Pearl Jam Vitalogy- now beautiful and NM cond., UFO live Japanese pressing- had a massive warp and now beautiful with no sonic defects, 2 Floyd records with dish warps now perfect, Alice Cooper Schools Out - took three attempts (first 2 hours and 4 hours on low) and than 3 hours in medium did it. This one still has a minor edge warps and some sonic defect at the warp area but overall the rest of the rceord sounds nice. Awesome product and the owner is a super nice guy on the phone, very helpful!
     
  21. Piero

    Piero Forum Resident

    Location:
    Italy
    is good for 200 gr. dished LPs (Classic Records) that have a convex or concave warp thought the entire record?
    What are your experience ?
     
  22. MarioHead

    MarioHead Forum Resident

    Location:
    Manila
    I should have gotten one when they were on SALE. Still seems like a good deal for $220 including the pouch.
     
  23. negative1

    negative1 80s retro fan

    Location:
    USA
    this would be nice to have, but i only have a few warped records.

    i ended up doing a ghetto fix for one of my 7 inch singles, i put paperclips on it,
    and attached it to another 7 inch. then i was able to record it, so i didn't need to play it again.

    i missed out on some the beginning of the track, but i was able to recreate that.

    later
    -1
     
  24. WntrMute2

    WntrMute2 Forum Resident

    Funny that so many are unsuccessful. My batting average is close to 1.0. I use the groovy pouch and the original hard acrylic rings. I usually use the binder clips all the way around the periphery. Small ones right next to each other. Works every time with no loss of fidelity that I can detect.
     
  25. Jam757

    Jam757 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    Hi, only tried a few Pink Floyd 180g with dish warps but it worked great and they were completely eliminated.
     

Share This Page

molar-endocrine