02
PRO-JECT VC-S RECORD
CLEANING MACHIN
I confess, I like the concept of the
Pro-Ject VC-S record cleaning machine the
best. It is simple. It is easy to understand. And
in a sense it combines the virtues of the Spin-
Clean and the VRCS.
Here’s how it goes. The VC-S RCM is a
large box, 425mm wide by 330 deep and 230
tall. Inside it is a motor to rotate the turnta-
ble, a motor for the vacuum cleaner, and a
tank for the waste. On the top is a small met-
al platter, 105mm in diameter, with a foam
pad on its top. At the centre of the platter is
a record-hole-sized spindle with a thread on
the top part. Another platter screws down
onto this, clamping the record in place. This
has a generously wide knob on the top so you
can apply quite a lot of clamping pressure
without much difficulty. The underside of the
clamp has a similar foam.
That clamp and the platter underneath it
both nicely cover the label, stopping them
from being dampened by cleaning fluid.
A three-position switch on the side can set
the platter rotating in either direction.
In the position on the cleaner which
would be occupied by a tone arm, were this
a turntable, is the vacuum cleaner arm. This
is a solid aluminium arm, thick and strong.
It’s never going to deform or distort. At the
back it sits on the inlet for the vacuum. A lug
on its inside can have it in two places. One
is straight-forward for when it isn’t in use.
The other has it pointed at the centre of the
record. The length is just right to cover the
entire exposed surface of the record.
Along the underside of the arm is a long
slot, through which the vacuum draws air
with considerable force. A strip of soft cloth
runs down either side of the slot to protect
the surface of the record from the metal. The
extraction force is really quite considerable.
You wouldn’t want to try to lift the arm from
thesurfacewhilethevacuumis running,for
fear of bending the LP. A single rotationof
the record under the vacuum has itlooking
completely dry, at least to the nakedeye.
The process is simple. You mix downthe
supplied cleaning fluid—100ml is provid-
ed—at 10:1 or 20:1 with distilled, orat
least demineralised, water. (When youneed
more, the bottle sizes available for individual
purchase are 250ml, 500ml and 1 litre.)You
clamp down the record and set it spinning.
At this point I’d use a regular carbon-fibre
brush for a few rotations just to getridofany
loose dust. Then you put a few millimetresof
the cleaning fluid on the rotating disc.Then
apply the supplied goat’s-hair brushtothero-
tating surface. You spread the fluidoutevenly
and then position the brush so as toletthe
bristles penetrate the grooves. Howassiduous
you want to be is up to you.
I applied my long experience ofcleaningvariousotherthings(mostlyfloors,with
mopsandbuckets)tothistask.Mostly,I’d
workinthefluid,thenletit settleforfive
minutes.Pressed-ingrimeoftenneedsa few
minutesofcontactwithwatertoloosen.
ThenI’dadda bitmorefluidif required,and
repeatthecleaninbothdirections.ThenI’d
vacuum,usuallyallowinghalfa dozenrota-
tionsinbothdirections.
SoI likedit becauseI couldworklonger
ona recordif I judgedthatit wouldhelp.I
alsolikedit becausethere’sa positiveprocess
ofremovingthelooseneddebrisfromthe
grooves.
AndmostI likedit becauseit worked.
Asdiscussed,it didn’tworkoneveryrecord
becausetheproblemwithsomerecordsisn’t
dirt,butdamage.RECORD CLEANERS
Australian Hi-Fi 63
Graph 5. Aunty Jack album prior to cleaning.
®ŭƯŢēǠŗěðƧLJLJLJ̻ðdžļƯċ̻ČŭŠ̻ðỨI ̃®'
Graph 6̻ƯŢƧǍeðČŔðŗċƯŠðijƧěƓČŗěðŢŁŢĴLJŁƧļ£Ɠŭ͘eěČƧÙ ͘®̻
®ŭƯŢēǠŗěðƧLJLJLJ̻ðdžļƯċ̻ČŭŠ̻ðỨI ̋®'BEFORE AFTER