Hello Neil.
You helped me put together my cleaning process. This is what I landed on.
I have a Kirmuss machine. I shoot for about 5 drops of Tergitol in the Kirmuss tank. I take 2 dirty 12 inch records, put them in the tank and run it for a couple minutes.
I pull the first record and clamp it in the label protector. The I spray the record with 1.5 tsp to a quart mix of Alconox. I then use the Record Doctor brush and use a quick hand motion to creat small bubbles and go around both sides of the record twice for a out 40 seconds a side.
I then rinse the record with the Zero water filter, take it out of the label protector and put it back in the same Kitmuss ultrasonic tank for maybe 4 to 5 more minutes while I clean the other.
Finally I remove the record from the Kirmuss and drop it into a Spinclean with Zero water in it, and cycle it around both directions about 3 or 4 time.
I then put it on the table and use a tiger cloth to dry, then into the rack.
Do you see any issues or where to improve upon.
The Kirmuss is full of Zerowater, with the Tergitol.
I wear gloves the whole time.
Rex.
Hi Rex:
Nice process you have put together. Here some items to consider.
1. 5-drops of Tergitol 15-S-9 is about 0.3-ml and the Kirmuss tank is about 6-L, so (0.3ml/6000ml)100% = 0.005% = 50 ppm. At this concentration you get wetting and nothing else - no detergency. Since you are doing a final rinse with the SpinClean and Zero-water, try increasing the Tergitol 15-S-9 in the Kirmuss to 15-drops to get detergency, but not sure what you are using for an eyedropper. You may want to consider the Nalgene Dropper Bottle -
Nalgene 2 oz. Leakproof Travel Dropper Bottle | The Container Store to improve the precision of how much you add. The Nalgene Dropper Bottle delivers a precise 0.04-ml/drop, so for 50-ppm wetting only you would add 8-drops' of undiluted Tergitol; for ~135-ppm detergency you would add 20-drops of undiluted Tergitol.
2. 1-1/2 teaspoons = 7.4-ml per 946-ml (1-qt) = 0.78%. This OK. I generally recommend 1%, but the small difference is consequential so nothing to change here.
3. The SpinClean with Zero-water. Here is an option to speed up drying; if you buy two Nalgene Dropper Bottles, use one with Tergitol diluted to 25% with DIW (fill 1/4-full with Tergitol, and then fill full with DIW) and then with the SpinClean holding about 650-ml DIW add 1-drop of the 25% Tergitol. This will get you ~15-ppm enough for some wetting but at such a low concentration not to be a residue risk. The tiny amount of wetting should minimize water droplets on the record speeding up the drying process. You can increase to 2-drops, but no more.
Good Luck,
Neil