So, my Humminguru US RCM arrived this morning and I've started to have a first play with it. It appears well thought out and put together and is very easy to use. I've only put two ro three newly purchased records through it at the moment - but I had actually played them first. My initial impression is that the post cleaning sound is similar to that experience after cleaning a new record on the Okki Nokki - an all round increase in clarity.
There are things that are going to have to be worked on and so I'm starting this thread as a place to capture ideas and experiences as the knowledge base grows.
I am not using distilled water only - so my warranty went from minute one. I simply don't see how any process, whatever the technology, has must of a chance of getting things away from the groove without a bit of chemical help. So, in the 400ml container I have 3 drops of Ilfotol and 5ml of ethanol.
I'm already finding that the 5 minutes dry time is a tad optimistic and so running at the 10 m minutes setting.
I'm on my 4th record, the first three, on the 2 minutes clean, 10 mins dry cycle have come out perfect. This fourth one is one purchased used but appears only lightly soiled with greasy fingermarks (almost as if someone has held it (badly), once. This is one the 5 minutes clean, 10 minutes dry, cycle. I'm going to discard the cleaning fluid after this one as I cant say that I trust the 'filtering' system to be anything but a macro filter. I also think that four records is probably enough for one session - it is not practical to consider this as a batch processing machine as the instructions say to run for no more than one hour at a time.
Questions then:
How many records should we treat between emptying and refilling the reservoir? One is impractical but each re-use increases the risk of contamination.
Is distilled water alone sufficient or is chemical assistance necessary? I think so, but haven't tried water alone.
Are the 'filters' of much use? I suspect they are macro filters and not taking out greases and oils.
So far though, as a clean for freshly purchased new records I'm tempted to say that it is all that you need. For anything else, I need to get more data.
(Oh and watch the reservoir lid when pouring into the cleaning void - it can and will come off giving you wet feet)!!
Edit: Since posting, the fourth, mildly visibly soiled record has come off the machine and is on the LP12. All the fingermarks are gone and the surface is visibly pristine. Acoustically I couldn't be more pleased - Freddie Hubbard's 'Times are Changing' now sounds super clear! (Yes, I risked a decent Blue Note pressing to US technology and guess what? It didn't melt)!
There are things that are going to have to be worked on and so I'm starting this thread as a place to capture ideas and experiences as the knowledge base grows.
I am not using distilled water only - so my warranty went from minute one. I simply don't see how any process, whatever the technology, has must of a chance of getting things away from the groove without a bit of chemical help. So, in the 400ml container I have 3 drops of Ilfotol and 5ml of ethanol.
I'm already finding that the 5 minutes dry time is a tad optimistic and so running at the 10 m minutes setting.
I'm on my 4th record, the first three, on the 2 minutes clean, 10 mins dry cycle have come out perfect. This fourth one is one purchased used but appears only lightly soiled with greasy fingermarks (almost as if someone has held it (badly), once. This is one the 5 minutes clean, 10 minutes dry, cycle. I'm going to discard the cleaning fluid after this one as I cant say that I trust the 'filtering' system to be anything but a macro filter. I also think that four records is probably enough for one session - it is not practical to consider this as a batch processing machine as the instructions say to run for no more than one hour at a time.
Questions then:
How many records should we treat between emptying and refilling the reservoir? One is impractical but each re-use increases the risk of contamination.
Is distilled water alone sufficient or is chemical assistance necessary? I think so, but haven't tried water alone.
Are the 'filters' of much use? I suspect they are macro filters and not taking out greases and oils.
So far though, as a clean for freshly purchased new records I'm tempted to say that it is all that you need. For anything else, I need to get more data.
(Oh and watch the reservoir lid when pouring into the cleaning void - it can and will come off giving you wet feet)!!
Edit: Since posting, the fourth, mildly visibly soiled record has come off the machine and is on the LP12. All the fingermarks are gone and the surface is visibly pristine. Acoustically I couldn't be more pleased - Freddie Hubbard's 'Times are Changing' now sounds super clear! (Yes, I risked a decent Blue Note pressing to US technology and guess what? It didn't melt)!
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