LP maintenance on the cheap!

[MylesBAstor]

I have a constant problem with very fine cat hair floating around in the air and sticking to clothes. A couple of weeks ago when more than I thought was stuck on my shirt, every time I did anything with a record on my turntable, it immediately had a number of hairs float over to the surface, drawn there by static electricity.

I finally realized the source (me) and also noted there was an obvious potential between me walking up and handling the record which is what drew the hair to the record. My turntable and all associated hardware is grounded, except the platter. But it does have an electro-static path to ground.

Here's the trick. When you walk up to your turntable, put your hand on a ground point, either the turntable chassis, the edge of the turntable -- something -- and hold it there for a few seconds. That discharges YOU electrostatically and eliminates the potential between you and the disc. Then go ahead and remove or place the disc. Now, only when I forget to do this, do I have static problems.

When you use a zerostat, the record must NOT be on the platter and YOU should be grounded to the turntable. Otherwise placing the discharged disc on the platter will still produce static electricity. I never use a zerostat any more, but just make sure I'm grounded when handling the records to/from the platter.

I suppose it might help to use a fabric software or de-static spray on your carpeting around the turntable stand/rack would help, but I haven't tried that yet.

A carbon fiber brush will work well if you are grounded to the table when you use it. If there's an electrostatic charge between you holding the brush and the turntable, all bets are off.

--Bill

It also helps to wipe the plinth with antistatic spray. Also the sound.

 

[Bill Hart]

I have a constant problem with very fine cat hair floating around in the air and sticking to clothes. A couple of weeks ago when more than I thought was stuck on my shirt, every time I did anything with a record on my turntable, it immediately had a number of hairs float over to the surface, drawn there by static electricity.

I finally realized the source (me) and also noted there was an obvious potential between me walking up and handling the record which is what drew the hair to the record. My turntable and all associated hardware is grounded, except the platter. But it does have an electro-static path to ground.

Here's the trick. When you walk up to your turntable, put your hand on a ground point, either the turntable chassis, the edge of the turntable -- something -- and hold it there for a few seconds. That discharges YOU electrostatically and eliminates the potential between you and the disc. Then go ahead and remove or place the disc. Now, only when I forget to do this, do I have static problems.

When you use a zerostat, the record must NOT be on the platter and YOU should be grounded to the turntable. Otherwise placing the discharged disc on the platter will still produce static electricity. I never use a zerostat any more, but just make sure I'm grounded when handling the records to/from the platter.

I suppose it might help to use a fabric software or de-static spray on your carpeting around the turntable stand/rack would help, but I haven't tried that yet.

A carbon fiber brush will work well if you are grounded to the table when you use it. If there's an electrostatic charge between you holding the brush and the turntable, all bets are off.

--Bill

Bill, thank you for reminding me of one thing I do continue to do and one thing i should but haven't- I do use the walker magic bar or whatever that demagnizer thingie is called, which requires you to wave it over the record, both sides, then again, touching the platter after the record is placed on it. that does help. the thing I've thought about, but never done- easily rectified- is to buy one of those grounding mats for the floor in front of the turntable that has a ground wire. never tried it, but why wouldn't one of those help too?

 

[Bill Hart]

It also helps to wipe the plinth with antistatic spray. Also the sound.

I don't have a plinth, my good man.

 

[mep]

I originally cleaned a record using the VPI 16.5 and then made sure it went into a high quality aftermarket sleeve and didn't clean it on next play. The problem I've found is that stray dust particles are still attracted to the record simply by the sleeving action. And using an anti-static brush creates a charge. So, unless the record looks very clean under my turntable light, I now run it through the RCM before each play.

I agree 100% with Whart's response Bill. And this is why I clean each record before I play it. And I do use MF sleeves as well. Unless you have some sort of particulate scrubber in your HVAC system, there is always crap in the air that is looking for a place to land. I have 3 dogs and 3 cats and even though they aren't allowed in my room, somehow their hair seems to float on in (maybe from my clothes) and my room is on a different HVAC system from the main house.

 

[Bill Hart]

I agree 100% with Whart's response Bill. And this is why I clean each record before I play it. And I do use MF sleeves as well. Unless you have some sort of particulate scrubber in your HVAC system, there is always crap in the air that is looking for a place to land. I have 3 dogs and 3 cats and even though they aren't allowed in my room, somehow their hair seems to float on in (maybe from my clothes) and my room is on a different HVAC system from the main house.

I think of it as mystery dust. My listening room is sealed off from the cats and the a/c system up there is distinct from the other a/c systems in the house (one system per floor), much like yours. Same problem, though it is not exactly cat hair, it is just 'dust.' I'll dust the record shelves, wash the listening chairs with Lexol, run a heavy duty vacuum cleaner around, dust the equipment, etc. Room is otherwise sealed; i guess except for the AC but this occurs even in the winter when the a/c isn't on and the heat on that floor is baseboard cast iron hot water, not forced air and except for an occasional airing out for the sake of it, i never open the windows in the listening room. No one eats, drinks or lives on that floor. A day or two after cleaning- like magic ! more dust! I am usually the only one in there. I can't be shedding that much skin detritus. Maybe an electrostatic air filtration system would help. Or wearing a wetsuit?

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

My apartment, and I've been told it's a result of the electric heat system, generates quite a bit of static in the colder months. I've found Gruv_Glide to be a very effective product in combatting this.

 

[bblue]

Bill, thank you for reminding me of one thing I do continue to do and one thing i should but haven't- I do use the walker magic bar or whatever that demagnizer thingie is called, which requires you to wave it over the record, both sides, then again, touching the platter after the record is placed on it. that does help. the thing I've thought about, but never done- easily rectified- is to buy one of those grounding mats for the floor in front of the turntable that has a ground wire. never tried it, but why wouldn't one of those help too?

Or, just use some anti-static spray on that area of the floor. Yes, a grounding mat would work, as long as the turntable hardware is at the same reference potential. The whole idea, of course, is to 'normalize' you, the record and the equipment to the same ES level, preferably zero.

Do you mean the Walker Talisman? I'm not sure how it would control ES differentials with magnetism. I have one but have never found any practical use for it. It seems to be one of those things that might help when the system is in some way out of kilter, but beyond that it seems to do nothing for me.

--Bill

 

[bblue]

I agree 100% with Whart's response Bill. And this is why I clean each record before I play it. And I do use MF sleeves as well. Unless you have some sort of particulate scrubber in your HVAC system, there is always crap in the air that is looking for a place to land. I have 3 dogs and 3 cats and even though they aren't allowed in my room, somehow their hair seems to float on in (maybe from my clothes) and my room is on a different HVAC system from the main house.

It still sounds like at least in whart's description, there's a lot of UN-neutralized static at work. That won't normally happen from sliding a record in or out of a sleeve if you have no static build-up on your person. I have seen that happen, for sure, but it was always for the reason I described and can easily be cured. As long as I keep my body neutral to static, things I handle seldom have any static potential, and certainly no dust accumulation just putting a record in a sleeve, both of which I'm holding.

I do have a separate HVAC for the studio/computer room area with a negative ion filter ahead of the standard filter. But I'm not too religious about cleaning those filters... But even with that junk in the air it won't usually stick to a surface without a static charge being involved. It might land on a stationary object, but usually not on a turning record. (If it sticks from ES you can't blow it off, but if it lands (no ES), you can).

Also, another message mentioned that a CF brush creates static. It shouldn't, if the person holding it is static neutral and also touching a grounded metal part on the turntable while you are brushing. I'm guessing the severity of all this will depend on a variety of factors in the immediate environment, air relative humidity, type of carpeting, grounds implementation, clothes you're wearing, long sleeve or short sleeve shirt, etc. It runs about 20%-40% RH here (southern CA) most of the time. Low, but not severely so.

--Bill

 

[WntrMute2]

I have 3 dogs and 3 cats and even though they aren't allowed in my room, somehow their hair seems to float on in (maybe from my clothes) and my room is on a different HVAC system from the main house.

Maybe you should let them in the room to listen with you. You already have the negatives to owning pets, might as well have the benefits of having some listening buddies! I know it improves the sound in my room when I have a dog or 2 curled up next to me.

 

[mep]

Maybe you should let them in the room to listen with you. You already have the negatives to owning pets, might as well have the benefits of having some listening buddies! I know it improves the sound in my room when I have a dog or 2 curled up next to me.

Nah. My favorite dog is my Boxer who is named Maggie. Maggie and I have different musical tastes. Maggie likes Rap and Hip-Hop and she can't stand jazz and rock. That's why she can't come in my room.

 

[cjfrbw]

Winter and dry air seem to accumulate electrostatic charges in the body. The "potential" can be sealed in by shoes making one a walking condenser.

I would not discharge the potential anywhere near the turntable. I have done this inadvertently with a bright spark and loud noise through the cartridge/system, but some say the potential discharge can fry the fine wires in a cartridge.

My solution is just to leave one foot bare, which discharges me by the time I get to the turntable, haven't had any problems since.

 

[hifitommy]

i believe the title of the thread should be considered. a vpi does not fall into that classification. i bought a spin clean but have yet to use it but previously i went to the sink and using a cheap fabric brush with directional fibers (just like the /DW) and wet the record and brush. a dot of dawn on one side of the brush has proven to be more than adequate to scrob both sides of an LP. the fibers make you follow the path of the grooves, i do this lightly until i am satisfied it has been long enough (usually a few rotations) on both sides.

then i use the sink sprayer until i have made a mess of the sink area to make sure all the dawn suds are adequately removed. dry with a paper towel or micro-fiber cloth. done.

porous labels may suffer from such treatment so proceed accordingly.

once i have used the spin clean, i will report back. my less costly than vpi choice might be the okki nokki which a friend has purchased. time will tell.