HumminGuru - an inexpensive desktop RCM
- Thread starter tima
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I have been working with the folks over at SteveHoffman site, and here is some new guidance that will make it much easier to work with.
Assuming you are in the US;
-Buy Tergitol 15-S-9 Tergitol 15-S-3 and 15-S-9 Surfactant | TALAS (talasonline.com)
-Buy this dropper bottle - Amazon.com: Nalgene Plastic Drop Bottle 2 oz. : Industrial & Scientific because it delivers a measured drop equal to 0.04 ul or 25-drops/ml. There are other places to buy the Nalgene Dropper Bottle.
-Fill the Nalgene Dropper Bottle 1/4 full with the Tergitol 15-S-9 and then dilute to 25% by filling to full with Distilled Water (buy at grocery store):
-Use as follows: three options.
1.-Add 2-drops to the HG 350-ml tank to get a no-rinse required wetting solution.
2. Add 3-drops to get a no-rinse required wetting solution with a touch of detergency. Note: If you have very sensitive hearing you should post rinse distilled water. Buy a 2nd HG tank to allow easy rinsing.
3. Add 4-drops to get a wetting solution with detergency. Post rinse with distilled water is recommended to avoid audible residue. Buy a 2nd HG tank to allow easy rinsing.
Note: When adding water for the first time cleaning you need to degas the fluid to get best cleaning. Run two 5-min cycles - see manual for steps HumminGuru_HG01_Owner_s_Manual_English_Version.pdf (shopify.com). You can be 'cleaning' a record during this degas process. The HG manual says nothing about degas - they missed it.
Good Luck,
Thank you so much. Finally got a way to get 1 KG of 15-S-9 in Hong Kong! not easy to find and super difficult to get hold of. Now I need get the bottle as the Amazon link is not available. So basically I need 0.08ml of the 25% tergitol in each tank, understood.
For the Degas, do I need to do it every single time I fill the tank with water?
Yes - you need 0.08 ml of 25% Tergitol in each 350 ml tank for the no-rinse concentration. Each drop (0.04 ml) of 25% concentrate in the 350 ml tank gives about 30 ppm.
Here is a UK source for the Nalgene Drop Bottle (heinnie.com).
You do not need to degas with every fill - just fill slowly. Otherwise, Degas new solution and then Degas before cleaning for the day.
Thank you so much for your help! Followed your instructions with 2 drops, so far work like a charm! And it makes drying the vinyl much easier.
Ordered one myself last week, looking forward to using it. I shall be adding the Tergitol to the mix
I have had a look through the manual and could not find anything on how to carry out the Degass regime, would anyone on here be able to advise for me please?
Many thanks
Lee
Many thanks
Lee
hey Neil,
great work!.... any opinions of following your procedure above with the 25% premix in the nalgene bottle and then mixing several 1 gallon jugs of distilled water at once by putting 22-33 drops in each? This would provide several gallons of ready to use solution.
Dave,
If you want to prepare 1-(US) gallon (3785-ml) mix as follows:
1. Do not dilute the Tergritol 15-S-9, use undiluted and transfer to Nalgene Dropper Bottle Nalgene 2 oz. Leakproof Travel Dropper Bottle | The Container Store.
2. Add 4-5 drops to 1-(US) gallon of distilled/demineralized water (DIW) to get a no-rinse required wetting solution.
2. Add 7-8 drops to 1-(US) gallon of DIW to get a no-rinse required wetting solution with a touch of detergency. Note: If you have very sensitive hearing, you should post rinse distilled water. Buy a 2nd HG tank to allow easy rinsing.
3. Add 12-13-drops to 1-(US) gallon of DIW to get a wetting solution with detergency (such as trying to remove fingerprints). Post rinse with distilled water is recommended to avoid audible residue. Buy a 2nd HG tank to allow easy rinsing.
Take care,
Neil
PS/To those who may be reading, the above drop preparation is specific to the Nalgene Dropper Bottle that delivers a fairly precise 0.04-ml/drop - Factors to consider in accuracy and precision of Nalgene Dropper Bottles (thermofisher.com). Standard eyedroppers can deliver as much as twice the volume/drop and can be quite variable.
30 mins of my life I will never get back.
Sounds like an advert (or confirmation bias) for the Degritter rather than an attack on the Humminguru's performance.
It "ruined" the record? Please - proof or it didnt happen. Did he listen to every minute of every copy of this Muse album to come to this "thorough" conclusion.
Here's some advice My. Denyer - dont use chemicals in your ultrasonic machine - all cavitation requires to function is distilled or demineralised water. Any additional "help" in this regard just highlights the shortcomings of your cleaner's design
The fluid flow at the record (or any) surface develops a static layer that is separate from the bulk fluid that is moving. The boundary layer thickness is dependent on the ultrasonic frequency (lower kHz = thicker boundary layer, high kHz = thinner boundary layer), acoustic energy, and fluid properties (viscosity & density). To get the most effective cleaning, the complete cleaning process has to penetrate the boundary layer to remove the soil and particles that are contained within it. At 40-kHz, the boundary layer can be as thick as 5 microns, while at 120-kHz, the boundary layer can be as thin as 2 microns.
Lowering the surface tension of the fluid with some nonionic surfactant reduces the energy needed for cavitation and can improve cleaning efficiency - better opportunity to penetrate the boundary layer. Additionally, if trying to remove fingerprints, a little bit extra nonionic surfactant adds some detergency/emulsification that can improved cleaning. But there is a delicate balance with using chemistry with UT that can improve the cleaning efficiency more than the small expense to the cavitation intensity (more an issue with low power units). But use too much chemistry or the wrong chemistry and it's all downhill.
Fingerprints are predominately a top layer issue and rarely affect playback in my unscientific opinion (as all vinyl cleaning is unscientific).
If you really have to remove top layer dirt, oils, grease, fingerprints, buy a wet record cleaning machine that uses chemicals and is designed for this task and use this to supplement your cleaning regime.
Bleach can clean but I generally follow the bottle instructions and DONT ingest...
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About half a milliliter into a gallon jug.
Although an oily fingerprint can collect dust.
Maybe vinyl cleaning is unscientific, I don't know, but it is much less of an art than it used to be thanks to Neil's work.
Edit: milliliter not millimeter.
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Nothing a quality carbon fibre brush and day to day care couldn't remove (dust that is)
Record cleaning is not a dark art.
You are right. The precision cleaning industry does it every day for when cleaning critical component surfaces. But the chemistry, the equipment and the process, are all very well thought out. The problem with a record is just how clean it needs to be to reveal all it can, and how many so called 'record cleaning' products can do more harm than good - devil is in the details. If you ever care to get into the details, this free book does a deep dive into the subject - Precision Aqueous Cleaning of Vinyl Records-3rd Edition - The Vinyl Press
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