Thanks - I just retested Medium and by angling the needle over to the left by the edge, I am now seeing as high as 140f. I will simply use medium setting as that seems to be the one that’s going to provide the best heating level it appears. interestingly, the temp seemed to lower from 140 to mid 130’s - not consistent but as long as it gets to a reasonable range for proper operation…
Yeah, one of the many variables in all this is that you'll inevitably get different readings at different places in the pouch. John at Vinyl Flat told me that this shouldn't matter too much, as long as you're getting in the 125-150 range somewhere, that should be enough because the VF metal will spread the heat evenly. I can definitely still feel different temps in different places on the top of the pouch when it's in use (with VF inside), but maybe the metal underneath becomes uniformly hot? Anyway, I'm curious to hear how your experience with the system goes.
Well, I did my first LP which was an expensive one, so I started on the low setting - No change whatsoever after 2 hours and then a further 2 for cool down. I then tried the medium heat at 2 hours and overnight cool down and there is an improvement. Not perfectly flat, but I think that may be asking for too much and I don't want to risk any further heating given the cost of the LP and that it's totally playable and in decent shape. I'll report back on some others as I get to them later into the week but so far, not bad...
The first generation of my Vinyl Flat's Groovy Pouch is in the low end, which is what I prefer as the slow and steady wins the race, IMO. My Vinyl Flat salvaged many dozens of records in my collection and haven't had any catastrophic failure. In fact, I've managed to flatten somebody's Bruce Springsteen bootlegs (one of them is "Porn in the USA") and a horrifically warped Billie Eilish LP, which was a shape of a Pringle chip, over a year ago. It took quite a while to get them flattened to my satisfaction but they are definitely playable without any damage to the grooves.
Vinyl Flat in my kitchen oven at 170 degrees for 18-20 minutes always yields results. There are occasions that I need to do a second bake but I’ve improved considerably or saved quite a few nasty warps.
Last night I encountered my second LP with just enough edge warp to prevent the needle from tracking the beginning of the first song. Ugh. With the first LP it wasn't critical as I had 2 or 3 other copies. With the second one, it's definitely worth trying to repair. I've just recently discovered the Vinyl Flat method for fixing warped records. I'll admit I'm still a bit skeptical about applying any level of heat to vinyl. Wouldn't the heat have some impact on the delicate variations in the vinyl grooves? Anyway, I contacted John at Vinyl Flat and he was very helpful. Based on his very customer-oriented responses to my questions I ordered the Vinyl Flat and the Groovy Pouch. He said the pouch has three temperature settings and comes with a thermometer. I should receive them sometime next week. I will go back and read through this thread for tips and tricks and keep my fingers crossed when I try my first LP.
Good luck, Veech. I hope you find it as useful a tool as I do. I've had significant success with mine and find it very satisfying to pull a flattened record out of the Flat/Pouch. Let us know if we can help or confuse.
Sounds like you've had some success so far then. Personally I wouldn't start out with anything valuable, but then again 2 hours on any setting probably won't cause damage, as long as the pouch isn't heating above 150 or so (and maybe even if it is?).
Agreed. Grab some sun-baked burner record from a thrift store and get a feel for the Flat/Pouch. I did 3-4 "easy" records before I tried eliminating a pretty good edge warp on a favorite LP. Even then I was nervous (the record is clear vinyl) but it turned out just fine.
Do you take regular temperature measurements? At first I thought I just had a cooler pouch but it turned out the temperature varied wildly, so they sent me a new heating pad. That one varies even more wildly, to the point where even with the three settings, it's sometimes hard to get anything dialed in at a temp that's hot enough to do anything but not too hot to cause damage.
Anything more to report? It seems like as time goes on, my temperature readings get more and more varied...I clocked medium at 165 the other day (other times it won't get above 133); switched to low and it settled in at 150 (sometimes it won't crack 120). I'm really feeling discouraged because with such wide ranges it really feels like I have no control (12 hours at 119 probably won't do anything at all, while I'm afraid even a few hours at 150 could destroy a record). I'm wondering if I just keep getting dude heating pads or if everyone's are this inconsistent, people just don't realize because they're not constantly checking the temp?
Good question and wow, that is high for medium! The max I have seen is 147f and that was on high for me. I found my pouch a little inconsistent and never twice the same readings during the heating sessions - they would be close by +/- 5f to 10f - Did you try reaching out to John at Vinyl Flat to get his opinion/feedback?
That does sound discouraging. I'm sorry you've had such inconsistent results. Wish I could share something to help as I've had continued success w/ my own unit. Beyond reaching out to Vinyl Flat (which I think you've done, perhaps more than once?) I can share one other suggestion, which involves throwing money at it. I've used a dedicated temperature based power-switch in my beer brewing efforts of the past. It works by plugging the temp-based controller into an outlet, running it's long flexible temp sensor into the fridge/freezer I want to control, plugging said appliance into the controller (w/ the fridge/freezer thermostat set to max cold), set the desired temp on the controller, and badda-bing the fridge/freezer stays locked at say 45 degrees for primary lagering. That particular model, a Ranco, has a high temp range of 140 but there may be similar units that have a more applicable range? Here's one w/ a range of -40 - 176F for $35. Just a thought. Can't blame you for being discouraged.
Yeah I've had a back-and-forth email exchange with him over the past few weeks. He says some inconsistency is normal, but I really don't think the 30-40 degree fluctuations I've had are acceptable. They sent me a replacement heating unit which was a simple Sunbeam heating pad, and that's what's been most inconsistent (the original pad seemed to not get hot enough at all, and was also somewhat--though less--inconsistent). He's been very helpful but I'm wondering if the Sunbeam pad is really the problem, and perhaps the first one (different brand) was just a dud? Here's another question: do you get higher temperatures when the VF is in the pouch? I do, but this seems to go against other peoples' experience--just another mystery in all this.
Interesting. So what does the controller do, exactly, just shuts off the power if it goes over a certain temp?
Exactly. It automatically toggles the power off and on to whatever you have plugged into it. With the Ranco I have you can even select how many degrees of temperature variance you'll allow. However, after thinking about this idea more, I don't think it'll work. If you just plug a heating pad in, it doesn't automatically power on. You'd have to cut the temp selector switch out of the heating pads' electrical cord so that when it was fed power it would just be on. Fire hazard?
Yeah that seems a bit above my comfort level, and I'd really like to get this sorted out without spending too much more money. Thanks for the idea though. I'm curious if you've experienced pouch temps getting hotter with the VF inside? I've been monitoring things much more closely and it seems that even once I get a stable temperature reading somewhere in the 130s-140s with a preheat, once I actually put the pouch in the temp rises 20-30 degrees. This means that if the preheat temp is somewhere in the effective range, it will likely be above 150 with the VF inside, which I'm worried is hot enough to cause damage. The strangest part is that this seems to directly contradict what most other people say on here--that the temperature goes DOWN with the VF inside...am I just losing my mind??
If you're lucky You do seem to be having an extreme amount of variability in your results, and that sucks. Sure makes it hard to nail down a tried and true method.
I received my vinyl flat with the groovy pouch today. Using the digital thermometer they included, the empty pouch registered about 128F on low, about 135F on medium. I put a record in the vinyl flat, put it in the pouch and it's taking quite a while to even hit 95F on medium setting. I assume this is because the vinyl flat itself was room temp and has to warm up. So I jacked it up to high setting and it's increasing about one degree every 90 seconds. I guess will be another half hour before it hits 130. I had planned to leave the LP in at 130º for two hours then let it cool for 45 minutes. I assume no effective flattening occurs until the pouch reaches at least 130F, correct? I'll monitor the temperature on high until it reaches maybe 135F (if it does) then I'll kick it back to medium and start the two-hour countdown. is that about right? Is there any way to accelerate the heating process? I have the pouch laying on the carpet with a lightweight pet blanket folded over on top of it.
You don't want this to go quickly. Slow and steady. And laying it on the carpet is a bad idea because the carpet traps the heat. Laying a blanket over that is asking for trouble. It's not a matter of the LP being 135F for 2 hours. You want to encourage the record to relax and flatten, we're not pouring hot wax into a candle mold. The idea is to gently bring it into the 125-150 range so that the heavy plates can coerce it into a flatter shape and then let it gently cool back down in hopes that it will maintain improved flatness. Rushing the LP into a malleable state could cause worse warping from a dramatic temperature change. But, you be you. We've each got to find our own results and from what others have posted this is one exercise that seems to yield different results for different people. Curious to hear how it goes.
Understood. So I should allow for about a one-hour ramp up to the 130F setting? It hit 132F about 45 minutes ago, about an hour from start. It just hit 139 so I removed the blanket and put it on a piece of cardboard and reset the controller to medium. It appears to be stabilizing at around 135F. So I figure about another hour-fifteen to hour and a half at 135-ish and I'll turn it off.
Did yours come w/ instructions? What has worked for me is to heat up the Pouch at each setting to find which setting gets me in the appropriate range. Once that setting has been determined (my unit hits about 137F on high so that's what I use) I preheat at that setting for about 20-30 minutes. Then I quickly put the Flat (w/ LP loaded) into the Pouch, start a 2 hour timer, and walk away. Let it fully cool, and check for results. If the LP is nearly flat I might just do another 2 hour cycle. I might add 15-30 minutes to the cycle depending on the weight of the vinyl, my attachment to the LP, and the seriousness of the defect, but for the most part I've had the most success right around 2.5 hours. Not saying that's a universal recipe for success, just what has worked for me. Good luck. Flattening a wavy record is awfully satisfying.
Yes, mine came with instructions. Do you preheat the flat? It seems that a room temp flat will reduce a pre-heated pouch back to almost room temp and will take at least an hour to get back to 130 or so. I'm letting everything cool overnight. I'll check it tomorrow and report back It's all experimental at this point.
I don't think you are supposed to pre-heat VF unit, just the pouch. Having said this, I am not having any luck trying to get a slightly warped LP fixed after 3 tries. I did 2 hour session, 2:30 and then 2:45 and no change whatsoever. Like you, I too am finding that things may not be hot enough, even though my pouch was reading 147f before I put the VF into it. Not sure where to go from here, but feeling a little underwhelmed at the moment...
