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Record Cleaners Beware !!

H

hughmc2

pfm Member
Cautionary tale -

I have been using a Knosti for a while now ( ok, not great but works just fine for my needs; carboot vinyl purchases ). I ran out of the supplied cleaning fluid so instead used a solution of 5 litres of distilled water + 1 cap full of surgical spirits. ( bottle cap, not flat cap, baseball cap or other ).

It worked really well. I was chuffed. I emptied the Knosti and tipped it upside down to dry.

A week later I brought home 5 more LP's from the local carboot. Got some really good deals. More chuffed.

But better clean them before they go anywhere near my Gyro...

Went to the garage to fetch the Knosti.....

Picked it up and it fell to bits in my hands. Turned to dust. Just like Ursula Andress's hubby in "She". It aged 2000 years before my eyes.

I hope my LP's aren't made out of the same plastic as the Knosti.
 
so is that just age on the Knosti or a horrible by product of using surgical spirit?
 
The Knosti was only a year old.

Just thought I should warn people that surgical spirits and whatever the knosti was made from don't mix.
 
Never ever use Surgical Spirit or Methylated Spirit for cleaning any plastics. The additives that denature them can have some very nasty effects, as you've found.

Isopropyl alcohol is the stuff to use, it's cheap and there's not much it attacks. At a push, dilute pure Ethyl alcohol can be used, but that's horribly expensive due to the duty on it, as it's perfectly drinkable.

S.
 
While I have someone looking at my posting can I ask for some advise.

The headphone jack on my MF X-can V2 seems to have gone slack and like an old married couple, its now a bit big for the male connection on my Grado SR80i's

Is there any way I can tighten it up ?

I have asked this question before but it seems that the posts that get the most input are ones that require only opinion or hearsay. Last time you could hear tumbleweed blowing across the site.
 
Surprise to hear of your issues. Agree it must be the surgical spirit.
I have a Knosti I have isued for 4 years with no problems. Grat result every time. I do use isopropyl though.
 
hughmc2 said:
While I have someone looking at my posting can I ask for some advise.

The headphone jack on my MF X-can V2 seems to have gone slack and like an old married couple, its now a bit big for the male connection on my Grado SR80i's

Is there any way I can tighten it up ?

I have asked this question before but it seems that the posts that get the most input are ones that require only opinion or hearsay. Last time you could hear tumbleweed blowing across the site.
Click to expand...

Just replace the socket. yes one can tighten up the leaves, but if they are worn, then replacement is by far the simplest.

S.
 
thanks serge. is it a job requiring a soldering iron and any recommendations for any make of socket to avoid.
 
Yes you'll need a soldering iron and some desoldering wick or a solder-sucker. As to which sort of socket, you'll need get one more or less the same as came out as almost certainly the socket fits on a printed-circuit board and so needs to have the same dimensions.

If you're anywhere near East Anglia I'd be happy to do it for you.

S.
 
MRM said:
Surprise to hear of your issues. Agree it must be the surgical spirit.
I have a Knosti I have isued for 4 years with no problems. Grat result every time. I do use isopropyl though.
Click to expand...
MRM, how do you dry the LPs afterward ?
I heard that it helps to use two Knosties, one to wash (using isopropyl) and one to rinse (using only water), any experiences ?
 
binnie said:
MRM, how do you dry the LPs afterward ?
I heard that it helps to use two Knosties, one to wash (using isopropyl) and one to rinse (using only water), any experiences ?
Click to expand...
The rinsing Knosti should contain Di-ionised water + a wetting agent - this works very well.

Chris N
 
Suggest you use a detergent based cleaner. There are a number of brands available for cleaning records. The VPI solution that you mix with distilled water is certainly detergent based.
 
Binnie,

I generally rinse with de-ionised water and use an old drying rack from a disco antistat, but must confess I don't always rinse and can't honestly say it makes much difference.
 
My Knosti is donkeys years old and still going strong after cleaning 800+ lps I am very satisfied with its cleaning ability however rinsing is a must it makes a great difference than just using the supplied fluid on its own.

I have had about 30 or so lps cleaned on various other vastly more expensive machines and have yet to be convinced that I need to buy one of these machines.

IMO a hi fi bargain.
 
Ditto on the rinsing in deionised water. It definitely reduces the amount of gunk left in the groove. If you have a second knosti for this, all well and good, but I use a plastic windowbox from Wilkos
 
If you stop using the Knosti cleaning fluid, you won't have to rinse!

I now use 3 parts distilled water, 1 part Isopropyl Alcohol and 2 or 3 drips per litre of Fairy liquid.

The results are excellent and NO gunk left in groove or on stylus!

I believe the gunk that the knosti fluid leaves behind is the stuff that's supposed to keep the static at bay, but I've not had any static problems using my own concoction!

I do use a carbon fibre brush before each play however, this, I believe helps alleviate static problems anyway.

I only started to use my own mixture because of the silly price of the Knosti stuff these days, but I wouldn't go back now......and BTW, my Knosti cleaner hasn't disintegrated either!
 
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