Record cleaning question

[davidscott]

Had (well, still have) the Zerostat gun....never heard of one of yours!

I had a Zerostat and an original Discwasher!

 

[lovinthehd]

I had a Zerostat and an original Discwasher!

Yep I got the "set"

 

[davidscott]

Yep I got the "set" View attachment 39362

That's exactly what I had. Long gone though.

 

[mazersteven]

I've seen that cleaning set before don't know if my mom had it or my cousin

 

[lovinthehd]

That's exactly what I had. Long gone though.

Mine still sits next to my tt....altho rarely use either (and the Zerostat needs a bit of work on the trigger mechanism)

 

[Ponzio]

Reading this thread reminds me why I did a jig when CD’s came out, even if some of the first reissue’s sounded like shite. I’m thinking of the first Beatles reissues on Parlaphone. The consistency of the SQ (sound quality) of CD’s vs. vinyl was night and day.

Of course the same rules applied, you still had to keep your fingers/thumb off the recorded side of the CD to avoid getting bodily oils on them and avoid scratching them but they were much more resilient.

You gotta give the record companies credit though in keeping us on the hook, like a catfish. First came the reissues, then the remasters and now the latest dance craze are the remixes, where there was always enough of an incremental improvement in SQ to keep you interested and giving your credit card a good workout. Never mind the different CD formats (ADD, HDCD, SHM-CD, SACD, etc.).

And now we have the same thing happening with digital formats (Hi-Res, 24-bit/96kHz, etc.). It's never ending.

I’m reminded of this scene of Michael Corleone in The Godfather III movie.

I empathize Michael

 

[Swerd]

That is claimed to ionize the air at the surface of the record, by bombarding it with alpha particles radiated by 0.5 microcurie of radium sulphate contained in the product.

Do not be surprised to run into fear or resistance as you try to get rid of this. Radium is no longer used commercially, other than for a few medical uses.

Fortunately, 0.5 microcuries is a small amount. (A Curie is defined as 1 Ci = 3.7×10^10 radioactive decays/second, and a microcurie would be 1 million times less, or 3.7×10^4 decays/second.) As a comparison, a radiotherapy machine, used to treat metastatic cancer, may have roughly 1000 Ci (1 billion microcuries) of a radioisotope such as caesium-137 or cobalt-60. This quantity of radioactivity can produce serious health effects with only a few minutes of close-range, unshielded exposure. What you have is 2 billion times less radioactive.

It's also fortunate that your device contains radium sulfate, as that is the least chemically active and the least soluble form of radium. Some other radium compounds can be toxic if they are ingested or inhaled, but radium sulfate is almost completely chemically inert. A significant amount of radium's danger comes from it's chemical conversion to radon gas. Being a gas, radon can enter the body far more readily than other chemical forms of radium.

Still radium is considered a danger. It's radioactive half-life, 1600 years, is long. It takes a very long time to loose potency.

Radium - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Ponzio]

Do not be surprised to run into fear or resistance as you try to get rid of this. Radium is no longer used commercially, other than for a few medical uses.

Fortunately, 0.5 microcuries is a small amount. (A Curie is defined as 1 Ci = 3.7×10^10 radioactive decays/second, and a microcurie would be 1 million times less, or 3.7×10^4 decays/second.) As a comparison, a radiotherapy machine, used to treat metastatic cancer, may have roughly 1000 Ci (1 billion microcuries) of a radioisotope such as caesium-137 or cobalt-60. This quantity of radioactivity can produce serious health effects with only a few minutes of close-range, unshielded exposure. What you have is 2 billion times less radioactive.

It's also fortunate that your device contains radium sulfate, as that is the least chemically active and the least soluble form of radium. Some other radium compounds can be toxic if they are ingested or inhaled, but radium sulfate is almost completely chemically inert. A significant amount of radium's danger comes from it's chemical conversion to radon gas. Being a gas, radon can enter the body far more readily than other chemical forms of radium.

Still radium is considered a danger. It's radioactive half-life, 1600 years, is long. It takes a very long time to loose potency.

Radium - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Always amazes me how dangerous and clueless we lived day to day back then.

Ignorance was bliss ... and not having helicopter mamma's.

 

[mazersteven]

Always amazes me how dangerous and clueless we lived day to day back then.

Back then? How about today too

 

[Verdinut]

Still radium is considered a danger. It's radioactive half-life, 1600 years, is long. It takes a very long time to loose potency.

Radium - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Thank you for the info. I confirm that I will take that static eliminator to the municipal recycling place and specify to the employee what it contains.

Nowadays in homes, is Americium-241 which is used in ionization smoke detectors the only radioactive material, apart from radon found in some house basements?

I was expecting your reply to my post.

 

[Methodical]

I am enjoying using my new Vinyl Vac. It has expanded my vinyl hobby. This is a deep cleaner if you are not familiar with it. I have a question for those that are also serious about record cleaning. Do you think it is necessary to clean a brand new record if it looks dust-free? I mean, are there unseen particulates on a new record that would be better off cleaned first?

I clean all records; new or used. I use an ultrasonic cleaner (US), vinyl vac (VV) and the spin clean system. For used records, I run through the spin clean first to remove the really heavy stuff and then onto US. For new records, I just run them through the US cleaner. I also use the VV with an old TT I found at the thrift store for special cleaning needs when called for.

 

[Squishman]

I have an original Discwasher too. That's what I used exclusively with my old DD TT.

 

[davidscott]

Back then? How about today too

So true. Different times different dangers...

 

[mazersteven]

So true. Different times different dangers...

Just my opinion back in the day we were Clueless because of Technology not having the facts today we are clueless because seems no one has Common Sense anymore

 

[Teetertotter?]

Ever use Windex Electronic Cleaner wipes?

 

[lovinthehd]

Ever use Windex Electronic Cleaner wipes?

Never even heard of such....and seems wasteful even for their stated purpose of cleaning gear cases and tv screens.....don't see how it would be effective for cleaning record grooves....but let us know how it works out for you

 

[John Parks]

Contains ethanol- depends on which camp you support...

 

[NINaudio]

Ever use Windex Electronic Cleaner wipes?

I used them once. They were terribly streaky. I went right back to just using a slightly damp microfiber followed up by a dry microfiber to clean my TV and computer screens.

 

[killdozzer]

They're invisible, sticky, and collect dust. Fingerprints mixed with dust in the groves of a record can be an abrasive paste, waiting for the pressure of a stylus as it passes through. Detergent solutions in water are the best way to remove fingerprints.

@Squishman another problem is that old fingerprints dry off and you can't get them off. As Swerd said; sticky and mixed with dust. I washed an old record several times only to be able to see the prints exactly where they were and with no audible improvements.

I think some of these harder cases ask for some soaking time, but for that, first and foremost you have to have a label protecting cover.

And you have to find the right detergent that won't damage the vinyl but will react with grease and dissolve it.

It is sooooo steam-punk!

 

[slipperybidness]

Contains ethanol- depends on which camp you support...
View attachment 39443

Ethanol should be fine for limited use. If you are dousing your vinyl in Ethanol, IPA, etc, on a routine basis, then these solvents will extract the plasticizers over time and repeated use and make the material brittle.

But, a 1-and-done will be inconsequential.

The BIGGER concern to me on that product is the added fragrance! Nope, not on MY vinyl.

EDIT--One of the nice things about alcohol based products is that they dry very quickly and leave pretty much no residue.