HELP - Spin Clean System and Poor Sound

[robottaway]

Wonder no more Fred, I was simply foolish. Simple enough. In answer to another question, newish vinyl when played often enough get's dirty, even if it's not scratched it sounds dirty. I figured I would get them sounding better by running them through the machine. I have a great deal of older vinyl (well 200-250 LPs guess that's minor league to some). I normally clean using a wet brush system (currently AT). The problem is that takes FOREVER.. though, I've never had issues with destroying the quality of an LP. As far as technique goes you do own one of these correct? It's not exactly rocket science

I saw I'm not the first, and figured I better compound his warning, I wouldn't want anyone else having to go through the same thing, it's awful. Seems this could be a quality control issue for Spin Clean, though I washed the brushes and machine in warm water prior to use, so I can't imagine that there could have been anything as simple as dirt left on them. Dunno why this could happen with a machine made for cleaning vinyl, honestly don't care anymore, just bummed.

[fscl]

rbtway,

One last thought, if you didn't catch it above......

The cleaning solution supplied by SC leaves a lot to be desired. Try one of the homebrews found here and see if the results are the same....

Good luck.

Fred

[robottaway]

Fred, thank you for your replies. So I it seems that maybe it's not scratching but just really bad surface noise. I can see some fine scratching on a few of the LPs, perhaps they were there when I received them? I would swear that on multiple listens the *clean* LPs are sounding better each time. Am I going crazy? Would it make any sense that more listening would remove the rice krispies? I will def check out the home brew alternatives; I am suspecting the SpinClean solution is crap.

Also, for anyone else reading, I would recommend using micro fiber towels rather than the medical gauze junk included with the SpinClean. They seemed to leave tiny bits on the LPs when I dried the records using them; I also made sure they where washed prior, as instructed.

[cafe latte]

I have a disco antistat which is a similar beast. I realised very quickly that the supplied fluid is cr@p and following there instructions will make more surface noise. Over the weekend I cleaned some new vinyl as I bought a batch of old free samples from a woman who was a DJ for a station in Melborne in years ago and most had never been played, or just played once or twice. The problem was many had mold on them so need cleaning. I use warm water detergent and metholated spirits (the colourless one) and here in Aus isopropyl is expensive and hard to get and i find unless the record is very very dirty the metho works just fine. Due to the mold many were unplayable even to see if they were any good. After a clean in the Antistat all sounded great and no scratching and no problem with clicks and pops

[tomsdubs]

The regularity of the clicks implies it isn't the record itself, what about records that haven't been cleaned on your new Technics? That would eliminate arm/table issues. If that is the case i'd change that solution it looks nasty, using a bottled solution and a microfibre i've never had a single static charge problem. Definitely sounds like static to my ears.

[BravoJ]

Hello, I am fairly confident that the spin clean is not causing your clicking and poping. I think it is a combination of dirt, mold and scratches. I don't believe it is static either. The spin clean will not get a dirty record super clean, especially on just one or two cleanings. Also, you need to get some microfiber cloths, lay the record down on a countertop (on a microfiber) and go to town wiping. You probably had these noises all along but now that you have a new table and cartridge it is more pronounced.

Who did the cartridge alignment? I would make sure your cartridge is properly alligned. Also from the video it looks like your tonearm is not parallel to the record, hard to tell. But make sure it is parallel.

[lustman]

I have cleaned an 'cello bach' by Pablo casals with spin cleaner, and i have more pops, clicks, static noises,
the sound itself is really better (more dynamic sound) but with more noises,
so i cleaned again the record with alcohol + water with glasses microfibre :
static noises disappeared but not new pops

i will do some test tomorrow,
i wonder if it's the fluid or the cloth that add some pops

[lustman]

i do some tests and the spinclean is better than alcool + water.
In fact it's a good machine,
There is less noise, pops and dust after than before.
I think the improvement dynamique sound enhance the dust pops that keep in the groove.

I use swifer before and after cleaning to remove superficial dust,
take a microfiber cloth instead of the spin clean cloth

[majick47]

All the fan fare re the SpinClean is coming from people who had previously washed their records with the most basic of tools in the kitchen sink or DW brush/fluid and had never used anything better. For the new price it really isn't much of a bargain along with being a half step at best in cleaning records where you wash multiple records in the same dirty cleaning solution. For about the same money you can purchase a KAB EV1 RCM along with a small shop vac that will do a lot better/saffer job of cleaning your records.

[cafe latte]

All the fan fare re the SpinClean is coming from people who had previously washed their records with the most basic of tools in the kitchen sink or DW brush/fluid and had never used anything better. For the new price it really isn't much of a bargain along with being a half step at best in cleaning records where you wash multiple records in the same dirty cleaning solution. For about the same money you can purchase a KAB EV1 RCM along with a small shop vac that will do a lot better/saffer job of cleaning your records.

I dont really agree. The good thing with the trough cleaners is the bath as the record gets a good soaking and the grit goes into the solution. The problem with the vaccum cleaners is simple. There is less fluid on the record so the grit is more concentrated and IMO more prone to scratching while cleaning. The key with trough type cleaners is to change the fluid after maybe 10 or so records which is not a problem if you use the recipies listed here, then to rinse with distilled after. If you use this methos I dont think you will clean better using any other method.
CL

[BeingThere]

Sorry for the late reply, but after so much time invested in trying to figure out the problem, I stopped checking the forum as I felt like I was getting obsessed and not enjoying my music hobby. Thank you to all of who watched the videos and replied. I did contact Spin-Clean about the problem and they also watched the videos I posted (V1 and V2). They felt that it may be the cleaning pads and/or the solution, so they sent me new pads and solution. Today, I tested a brand-new, shrink-wrapped Tarzan read-along 7-inch with the cleaning pads and solution supplied by Spin-Clean and you can clearly hear that after the Spin-Clean it creates a loud, static sound overtop. My wife videotaped it and you can hear it perfectly on the Flip camera, but when I uploaded it to YouTube you can't really hear it at all.
I have not tried any remedy so far for the 100+ records I Spin-Cleaned, but any time I play them, you can hear the noise the Spin-Clean left. I buy mostly brand new records and when I play those, they sound fine. I ONLY hear that noise with the records I Spin-Cleaned. If you have any suggestions, I'll give it a try on the Tarzan 7-inch.

[TJLitt]

The Spin Clean cleaning solution leaves much to be desired. Try searching the audio forums for a homebrew to use in the trough instead.

Good luck.

Fred

actually, I suspect the problem is that the brushes were not washed THOROUGHLY before using the Spin Clean. Much has been written, here and elsewhere, about the need for this. I quoted the advice above as I feel it is the single biggest problem people encounter with the Spin Clean system.....NEVER, NEVER use anything but the Spin Clean fluid. It is designed for a specific purpose. It is a flocculant, and the way the system works is this: the brushes dislodge particulate gunk, the flocculant clumps the dirt and gravity takes it to the bottom of the tank. Very simple, and very easy to screw up with 'homebrew' solutions. Try cleaning those two brush pads well(soapy water, lots of clean water to rinse, let dry), give it a try and see if the Spin Clean doesn't work just fine for you.

[pivot]

I do not own and have never used a "Spin Clean". Perhaps there is a way to use "Spin Clean" that leads one to nirvana.

HOWEVER...

You seem to have given it a fair trial and it does not work for you --- My suggestion for cleaning sans RCM is:

http://www.discdoc.com/

Well made brushes - they seem to work fine for me when I follow the directions. RCM speeds things up but they work fine on their own.

No affiliation other then a customer.

[BeingThere]

Thanks for the replies.

I cleaned the brushes soon after I started using it after reading about some people saying that made all the difference. In fact, I was sent a brand new set of brushes by Spin Clean and cleaned those immediately before first-use.

I might give disc doctor a try, but was hoping to try out some home brews before investing more money into cleaners. There are two records that I purchased specifically to test with the Spin Clean to see if that same surface sound was created, which it was. Now, I want to see if there is a home brew method for fixing the surface sound created by the Spin Clean.

If anyone has any cheap methods they recommend, I'm willing to try anything.