My version of an Ultrasonic Record Cleaner

Baserolokus · 2021-01-09 10:01 am

Tweaked a few things as you can see in the video below. Besides the cardboard/duct tape/etc I used €10 worth of equipment so far. V-wheels are €4 a piece and the axles €1. Along with these parts (3d-printing parts) I ordered a bunch of bearings (€5) which will fit on a 5mm axle and will carry the propelled axle.

Motor I ordered costs €14 an decided last night to add an PWM gear to the motor;

PWM Traploze Snelheidsregelaar,CCM5D Digitale PWM DC Display Motor Gouverneur 6V 12V 24V,16khz 0%-100% Snelheidsbereik: Amazon.nl

which costs around €9.... along with that a quality 220v -->12v transformer for €17,99. And that should do it. For now I'm out of glue gun cartridges :-( so will have to wait for that along with the engine to continue my prototyping....

My version of a Ultrasonic rcm - YouTube

Baserolokus · 2021-01-09 8:17 pm

Freaking out because I'm out of glue sticks and due to the Covid lockdown I'm unable to go to the hardware shop and buy some... Really hyped about the progress so far and very eager to continue. Last night I was thinking that all you need is 2 3d printed clamps, 1 on each side. Both containing the V-wheels where 1 of them is propelled and has some sort of motor. Could possible be propelled by a spring loaded mechanism which will keep it turning for at least 12 minutes at a very low rpm just like some toy cars. I would have no problems winding it up every once in a while. What you think?

bbftx · 2021-01-09 11:41 pm

Love this, Bas! Cardboard and duct tape!
Keeping the low cost scheme, maybe you could look for an old wind up alarm clock to power your roller axles.
Cheers,
B B

Baserolokus · 2021-01-10 1:56 pm

Good idea regarding the wind up alarm clock, was already looking for 5 min mechanical outlet timers that are used to time your bathroom fan/light etc. But they only do one revolution. Or maybe a battery driven clock mechanism/motor. Although I doubt it can deliver enough torque...

bbftx said:
Love this, Bas! Cardboard and duct tape!
Keeping the low cost scheme, maybe you could look for an old wind up alarm clock to power your roller axles.
Cheers,
B B

Baserolokus · 2021-01-11 8:22 pm

At home, bored out of my mind. Waiting for a date to get a spinal fusion surgery, so no work and loads of time while waiting for my glue gun and other stuff. The prototyping continues with Lego and Knex to see what they can do and look;

Lego URCM - YouTube

Holes in the knex are to big for my axles (8mm) so didn't try any further but must be possible too.....

Baserolokus · 2021-01-12 8:50 pm

Decided to push through with the Lego. Got 3 boys so have piles and piles available. Managed to build it really robust, when building I thought I had to glue it to get the necessary strength but don't think it is needed at all. Take a look, also attached a motor which is obviously spinning too hard. Got to find more gears so I can mechanically reduce the speed;

Lego URCM part II - YouTube

Carlp · 2021-01-13 9:56 pm

Cool. I love the simplicity. I know you said it's strong but I would still worry that the lego pieces might disconnect and the system fall apart. Going to show it to my son who used to be a BIG lego fan and still enjoys them at 17.

Baserolokus · 2021-01-13 10:30 pm

Decided to make a new topic with my latest vid cause I'm finished and it works like a charm;

DIY edge-driven Ultrasonic RCM from Lego

billshurv · 2021-01-13 10:37 pm

You possibly need to reconsider how you handle records. Putting a hoofing great thumb print on is not the best way to start the cleaning cycle. Otherwise a great little project.

Baserolokus · 2021-01-13 11:12 pm

Bill, not shure if that's sarcasm or that you are truly offended by me using this Osmonds record to test my build

billshurv · 2021-01-13 11:30 pm

50/50. There are impressionable people on youtube who might not realise you use gash records to check things for this first time and therefore handle with less care than the ones you actually want to clean. Or you might really love Crazy horses. I will not judge any persons taste in music

L0rdGwyn · 2021-01-28 3:26 pm

Question for those who are using a water filtration system with their USC setup - I am working on my own, my cleaning solution will be a simple mixture of distilled water and a wetting agent (Ilfotol). I was planning to use these Pentek CBC-5 filters in my filtration system.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0045LXJ0I/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And this Bayite 8LPM pump: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01G305PK0/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Any reason to think that the carbon of the CBC-5 filter will adsorb the wetting agent? After the fact, I thought perhaps I should have considered a simple sediment filter.

Thanks!

bbftx · 2021-01-28 6:19 pm

Dear Lord, (I'm grabbing the opportunity to use this greeting ;-) )

You're asking the very question I did when I was first developing the inline filtration concept for an ultrasonic record cleaning system.

In fact, activated carbon does an Excellent job of capturing Isopropyl Alcohol, so that is why I did not go with a carbon filter, since I am an IPA fan for record cleaning. I don't know whether the active ingredients in Ilfotol would be filtered out by a carbon filter, but my guess is they would indee be removed by the filter.

You'd only be out $10 trying though, and I suppose you could always add a few more drops of Ilfotol to your tank every time after you cycle the liquid through your filter loop and back into the tank.

Cheers,
B B

L0rdGwyn · 2021-01-28 6:38 pm

Well I appreciate the feedback! I am considering adding isopropyl alcohol to my solution as well, in which case the carbon filter is a no go.

I'll pick up some sediment filters just in case, I suspect I'll end up going that direction, thanks!

njjano · 2021-02-03 11:33 am

bbftx said:
Hi Baserolokus
I'm not aware of anyone at DIYAudio that has built an edge-drive system , but it should be a workable. Good luck. Can't wait to see what you do.
B B

Well, mine is actually a hybrid

It is edge-driven but the suspension is still made at the axle, as I am very concerned about the water damage on the label. So I prefer to cover and isolate them. As I developed a 3-step cleaning procedure anyways which includes mechanical cleaning as well in a Knosti-bath; I'm using the label clamp of the Knosti as suspension in the US bath as well. As it would be too difficult to drive the shaft of this device at the necessary low speed, I opted for the edge-drive system; this allows also quick and easy record change as well ( I am using 3 Knosti clamps for the washing procedure, so while 1 record is spinning in the US bath, I can pre-wash others using the other two...) I can set the speed of the edge drive to achieve from about 5 to even 20-30 min / 1 revolution time. Usually I do 14 minutes so that means 4 records / hour overall throughput

njjano · 2021-02-03 11:42 am

Baserolokus said:
Thanks, received my v-shaped wheels and 5mm axles and have to order 1 extra set as the 2 axles with wheels are not able to keep the record straight. Assumed the V wheels would be tighter and grip the record. Need an extra axle to support the record! And have to think

These were exactly my concerns when I was planning my system. I saw that using only 2 wheels at the opposite edges would put too much force on the record's edge. Plus, as the records are far not identical in diameter, some would go too low, maybe even fall through it... so that means I'd need one more wheel, which should be in the bath to ensure easy record inserting and removal from up... but that means some dead weight in the bath, which will cause attenuation, and the same time it will be continuously stressed by the bath's excited water. And still there is my fear about liquid damage on the labels. So at the end, Knosti-clamp was my solution...

ak60 · 2021-02-10 5:45 pm

Just finished my DIY ultrasonic cleaner. Four 80 kHz 60W transducers running at 240W total. 2.5 minutes for new disc, 5 min for old and very dirty. I use stepper motor NEMA 17 controlled by Arduino for rotating vinyl.
Cleaning solution is distilled water with Isopropyl alcohol and Triton X-100.