Analog Gear News

CleanerVinyl ProXL Record Cleaning System & UC-3360 Multi-Frequency Ultrasonic Cleaner

Mike Mettler  |  Oct 23, 2023

People always like to talk about spring cleaning, but we here at AP like to do it year-round — especially when it comes to making sure our records are as clean as they can be before we put them on our turntables. CleanerVinyl has a similar philosophy, and the company’s flagship ProXL record cleaning system and UC-3360 multi-frequency ultrasonic cleaner are clearly tailor-made for this all-important LP maintenance task.

CleanerVinyl’s ProXL system is intended for those of us who need to clean a lot of records. According to the company, the ProXL can clean up to 25 records within about 45-50min. The high-throughput cleaning system features an integrated drying position so you can clean up to eight records at 1in of spacing, up to 14 records at 0.5in of spacing, or up to 25 records at 0.25inch of spacing. Fast air drying of those records is said to occur within 15-20min. The rpm control is between 0.2 and 5rpm, and a built-in 7in singles adapter is also provided.

The following CleanerVinyl ProXL YouTube clip is chock full of more detailed, invaluable firsthand information about the overall process.

The ProXL works with any standard-size 15liter (15l) ultrasonic cleaner, though the company recommends using their own UC-3360 15l multi-frequency cleaner, which sports a three-frequency design that can automatically run sequences of 40/80/120kHz in user-programmable time intervals.

Additionally, CleanerVinyl’s Micron fluid filtration system can be utilized to filter down to sub-1μm particles. and circulates the tank more than once during a typical cleaning cycle. This process is said to take care of re-deposition issues, and also enables using the water for “many batches” of records before it needs to be changed. According to CleanerVinyl, this process is ideally suited for “serious users like record stores or collectors with thousands of records who do not want to spend time draining the tank, etc., between batches.”

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I asked CleanerVinyl owner and product designer Rudy Schlaf if he wouldn’t mind providing us with a deep-dive (so to speak) ultrasonic cleaning primer, and he was more than happy to oblige. “Ultrasonic sound waves generate vacuum bubbles in the water in the low-pressure regions of the standing waves that develop in the tank,” Schlaf explains. “These vacuum bubbles ‘cavitate’ mainly in front of surfaces, such as the records that are put into the water. During these cavitations, water jets develop that are directed toward the surface that induced the cavitation, and these jets do the cleaning. The energy in the jets is proportional to the size of the bubbles.”

Continues Schlaf, “The bubble size and density depend on the frequency. The higher the frequency, the smaller the bubbles are — but the higher their density is. This makes the clean more homogeneous, and also smaller features can be reached by the bubbles. High frequencies are better at removing chemical and bio contamination due to the more homogenous cleaning field. The lower the frequency, the larger the bubbles are — but there are also fewer of them. This causes a less homogenous clean and small features may not be reached, but each cavitation event has more energy. This makes lower frequencies better to do the heavy lifting — i.e., coarse dirt can be removed more effectively with lower frequencies. Think of them as the ‘jackhammer’ of the cleaning process.”

For these reasons, Schlaf believes, a good number of vinyl enthusiasts and professionals like to follow multi-frequency cleaning protocols. “First, a 40kHz clean is used to remove the coarse stuff to open up the surface, and then successively higher frequencies — 80/120kHz — remove the remaining smaller stuff from all the nooks and crannies in the grooves until nothing is left,” he explains. “This is a very efficient approach for records that come from undefined sources like eBay, flea markets, thrift stores, and the like. With this approach, basically, all eventualities are covered, and the best possible cleaning result is obtained regardless of the specific contamination of each record.”

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As for the respective SRPs, CleanerVinyl offers an a la carte approach wherein their components — which are all made in-house — are available individually with an eye toward the user being able to build their own custom setups. That said, the company does offer what’s called the ProXL Ultimate Kit, which combines the ProXL motor unit, Lift-ProXL lift/fan unit for drying, and the Micron water-filtration system for a cume SRP of $1,279. (Buying all those components individually would run you an additional $148.) The ProXL Ultimate Kit also comes with three free filters for the Micron system (itself a $57 savings value).

Meanwhile, the UC-3360 multi-frequency ultrasonic cleaner will run you $1,499, after you apply CleanerVinyl’s $100 “MULTI” discount code.

For more about CleanerVinyl, go here.
For direct ordering of any/all CleanerVinyl gear and peruse all the pricing options, go here.

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COMMENTS
JACK L's picture
Submitted by JACK L on Tue, 2023-10-24 18:11

Hi

Who are those who NEED to clean a lot of records ??

Brandnew records still sealed in their hard album covers hardly need to clean at all. Yes, old records hoarded on the shelves that are hardly ever played at all would need to be cleaned from time to time.

Hopefully there are not many record hoarders around who enjoy watching their huge dusty collection-on-the-shelves rather than enjoying their music with their ears.

Thank goodness, I don't need any record washing machines yet considering nearly all my small recollection (only 1,000+ LPs) were randomly picked up pre-owned from thrift stores for a buck a piece.

My cheapskate yet very effective way is to rinse them thoroughly in a bath of 100% pure distilled water (measured 0 PPM=part per million with my digital water purity tester) & hang them dry in my basement laundry room before ever playing them for the first time.

Every time before playing them, I moist them up by a soft nylon brush wetted with the same pure distilled water. Extremely effective way to kill record static crackles.

So far for some 7 years now ever since I switched back from digital to vinyl, I get no crackle problem with all my pre-owned LPs.

Be vinyl smart !!!

JACK L

JACK L's picture
Submitted by JACK L on Tue, 2023-10-24 18:43

Hi

Record crackles are soooo very often caused by the electrostatic discharge when pulling the vinyl record out from its inner sleeve inside the album hard cover.

Such electrostatic discharge can be up to 10,000V when vinyl record is pulled out from its skin-tight polyplastic inner sleeve in the album hard cover. Such static discharge attracts big or tiny dusts in the air.

My way to reduce static discharge, a dust 'magnet", is always uses PAPER inner sleeves for all my LPs. No polysleeves allowed & will definitely replaced with paper inner sleeves if already come with the records.

Very effective way to kill record crackles (mainly due to such static discharge) without need of using record washing machines !!!

Again, be vinyl smart !

JACK L

HiFiMark's picture
Submitted by HiFiMark on Tue, 2023-10-24 22:51

Happy to hear you have a method that floats your vinyl boat.

I would offer that for just a little more effort you can be vinyl genius! and get both static and dust, along with grime, mold release compound, finger prints, and more. While the Cleaner Vinyl system seems overly fussy and expensive, my own journey through LP cleaning regimens empirically informs me that it will surely produce terrific results.

As a student a long time ago, I marveled at Michelangelo's masterpiece in the Sistine Chapel. As an adult taking my kids there, I was astonished by the brilliance of the same masterpiece after its deep clean in the 80's and 90's.

So too with so many records after a good deep clean followed by a trip through the ultrasonic machine (not a Cleaner Vinyl system - what I have is cheaper and simpler).

I have no interest in dissuading you from your method, but I'd hate for newcomers to the world of recorded music on vinyl to settle. That would be like sending one to a gallery full of Monet's with dim lighting. Beautiful but...

Be vinyl genius!

JACK L's picture
Submitted by JACK L on Thu, 2023-10-26 08:42

Hi

Wow, where & how you get all those craps, even mold & finger prints. stuck onto your vinyl surfaces ? You leave the records outside their sleeves/hard covers for good to let them breath fresh air or what ? You even let yr dirty fingers grab yr records??

No wonder YOU need a record washer for ever !!!

First off, may I thank you for your flattery !

Let me tell you where I come from as you have nooo idea at all !

I am a hobby audio handyman for decades, thanks for my decades' career involvement the relevant electrical power engineering industries.

I design/built/upgrade most, if not all, analogue electronics for decades, e.g. all-triode tube phono-preamps, all-triode SET power amps, loudspeakers, 99.99% pure silver audio interconnects & power cords,..... !!! Tweaking like RFI/EMI noise cable suppressors, cable floor lifters etc etc.

Cleaning LPs is a piece of cake for me technically !!! My audio knowledge has saved me big big bucks to finance all those greedy audio vendors.

I can afford big bucks to buy any audios as I am making easy monies from the money markets (thanks to my darling wife who manages for me day in day out)! But not many brandname audio, particularly audio amps, can yet impress my vinyl-tube spoiled ears.

Be audio smart to save your hard-earned money !! Pal.

JACK L

HiFiMark's picture
Submitted by HiFiMark on Thu, 2023-10-26 12:20

And relax. It's all good. You have terrific qualifications, happy for you.

Records from the used buns, garage sales, and collections given to me often have the "craps." And most all new LPs have mold release compound residue. 45+ years of LP listening and I've found it's good to get rid of as much of that as possible.

In the end, for about .25c per record and a little labor, we can get to another level of clean, noise free, LP nirvana.

You are happy where you are and I'm happy for you.

JACK L's picture
Submitted by JACK L on Thu, 2023-10-26 13:37

Hi

First off, thanks for yr complements !

No free lunch out there. You get what you pay, right ? Unless you know the business well enough like yours truly.

As said in my first post above, all my 1,000+ LPs are pre-owned picked up from my neighbourhood thrift store (a well-known store chain across North America) in mint condition for a buck or so a piece. That includes 40+ digitally mastered/remastered LPs, in very mint condition.

Sorry, no garage junk sales for me. Why should I pay to get rid of others' junks !

Maybe I am sooo lucky. No moth & the like craps stuck on any one of them.
So I cleaned them up without any washing machines in my own way using 100% pure ozonated distilled water of only a certain brandname in large 4-litre plastic bottle, available in a certain chain grocery store, dirt cheap for only $0.75 a bottle. One such bottle can clean up quite many LPs.

I just feel bad for those record washer owners who got to pay big bucks for
so called "special-formulated" cleaning fluids for ever ever.

Knowledge is the power to enjoy much more for paying much less ! I am sooo relaxed !

Again, be vinyl smart !

JACK L

rl1856's picture
Submitted by rl1856 on Wed, 2023-10-25 10:06

US cleaning is the best affordable way to clean LPs. There are various ways to US clean, and the reviewed package is essentially an all in one solution for cleaning, and drying of multiple LPs at a time. However as with many jack of all trades solutions, there may be issues to consider. This product advertises the ability to clean 14 LPs with 1/2inch spacing and 25 LPs with .25 inch spacing (!). Numerous studies have shown that US cleaning efficiency is decreased by close spacing between LPs. Data consensus is less than 1 inch between LPs leads to diminished results. By incorporating cleaning and drying in one package, US fluid is limited to distilled water or a dilute solution that dries in the air without leaving a residue. Unfortunately water alone or a diluted solution may not be as effective in cleaning as a dedicated deeper cleaning solution. This package may be fine for most situations, but users may find that it may not suit all of their needs. A better solution may be to use a US cleaning process that allows for more space between LPs, a dedicated cleaning solution, and then a clean water rinse with separate drying step to ensure LPs are dry and without residue. More time and labor intensive, but if spending upwards of $500k (and $1k+ for most of the packages), it would behoove the buyer/user to ensure they have the most effective way of US cleaning LPs. My process is to use a Spin Clean for large debris removal and pre wetting. Rinse then US bath using a dedicated cleaning solution, then rinse then Vac dry using an old Nitty Gritty Machine. I can clean 4 LPs in about 25 min and up to 10-12 in an Hr.

Wymax's picture
Submitted by Wymax on Wed, 2023-10-25 10:09

Be... Just be... Find your own way, what wets your wistle, never take anyones word as final. I have over 3.000 records, used and new, and wash all of them. Used ones gain a lot from washing. One or the other method better, or just equal? Try it out yourself. I like to put it into the machine, washing and drying in one go, no pfaff.

HiFiMark's picture
Submitted by HiFiMark on Wed, 2023-10-25 13:01

And I'd enjoy hearing from others your methods and why you have settled on them.

Wymax's picture
Submitted by Wymax on Wed, 2023-10-25 13:54

But see my comment below :-)

Wymax's picture
Submitted by Wymax on Wed, 2023-10-25 13:54

Started out with the Moth RCM machine, made a lot of sense compared to others... No need for a double mat to avoid contamination, record floating in air. However, lips getting worn, not always sticking to the tube, and the rubbing of the vinyl against the lips.

Next an ultrasonic vat of 6 liters, room for several records. Needed ingenuity at that time, no artisan solutions available, mandating a planet motor and a custom power supply to accomodate the voltage needed. From cleaning then each record on to the Moth RCM to suck the water off.

Really wanted an Audiodesk or Degritter, but the money for those is just crazy, so have now settled for the Hummingbird. Can't say whether it does just as good a job, but for the money it is astonishing. Compared to my previous solution it doesn't seem to be any worse, but a lot more convenient. So, for me the expenditure was key, and I do sport a system of not just small change (I think).

HiFiMark's picture
Submitted by HiFiMark on Wed, 2023-10-25 17:06

I've landed here with terrific results:
1) 3-4 minute soak & brush with Audio Intelligence #15. Cotton diaper dry.
2) 1-2 cycles in Hummingbird with distilled & 2 drops Tergikleen.
3) Rinse with distilled & dry on Nitty Gritty vac.
Adding the Hummingbird earlier this year was a BIG improvement. Wet vac or Hummingbird US alone are good, but the pairing is next level.
4) LAST Preservative on LPs I anticipate will get much play. Some scoff, but in addition to "preserving," I an convinced that it reduces noise.
5) Dust with Levin goat hair brush each play.
My OCD side would say there's even more to be done or better methods within my regimen. My good side says STOP IT. Enough. Now enjoy.
It ends up being about 15 minutes per LP which for some is too long. I get it. Can do other things while US cycle proceeds so it's not too bad. In fact, Hummingbird is running as I listen to the HiFi & write this...

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