REBNZ

Jasper that is a mother of a wet dry vac! The vacuum port is OK with any tube size between 30 & 36.75mm diameter. The rubber grommet can accept up to about 34mm and without it up to 36.75mm. The vacuum does not have to fit exactly as the adjustable vent makes up for any leakage around the vacuum if it's not perfectly snug. Happy for other members to demo the unit Jasper has, if he is OK with that, AND you take it in the spirit it's intended - to trial the machine as opposed to cleaning your entire collection! 19 members paid up to date. Cheers

18 paid at moment. Cheers

Hi folks, just to let you know, the demo unit arrived with Jasper but unfortunately, the swing tube (the acetyl tube that is fixed to the main unit, that the suction tube sits in) broke off during transport. The swing tube is part of the redesign for the Mark II suction tubes and any risk of this happening has been fixed with the Mark II design. The new design has a lip at the top (for those of you interested, following is the pic of the new swing tube) to upgrade the joint. All units shipped to SN will have the Mark II design. Kind regards Ralph

Morning folks, FYI 14 confirmed orders. Cheers

Hey guys, I think I just hit the wrong button in PayPal and accepted everyone's payments. My intention was to not accept any payments until the goods had shipped. I am sincerely sorry for this. If anyone is unhappy with this please let me know and I will refund you immediately and eat the transaction fees.

Folks, Some of the Kiwi's that have purchased the KiwiRCM have also bought a foot pedal from Jaycar to turn the vacuum on and off. Much more convenient then bending over to turn the vac on and off or putting the vac up on your bench. The Aussie version of it can be found here http://jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=MS6144&keywords=foot+switch&form=KEYWORD. Cheers

12 paid so far. Dr Good Vibe, thanks for asking but I've already worked out the details with FR and he's pushed me as far as I can go. Cheers

Folks, FR has asked me to confirm a couple of things so here goes: 1. Delivery - as mentioned in previous posts, the Mark II suction tubes should be delivered to me mid-end of next week. Units will be shipped via NZ Post Economy Parcel. So I'm hoping these should start arriving in Aust the week of 7th Mar. Please note that I will not charge anyone's credit card or PayPal acct until the boxes have shipped. So don't be concerned if you do not hear a confirmation from PayPal. 2. The agreement FR and I came to was for a group buy of 10 units I would add two cleaning brushes, and for over 30 units - two brushes and a pack of inner sleeves. 3. At the moment there are 8 confirmed via PayPal. 4. The group buy will expire next Sun 6 Mar at midnight so we have a week to get the numbers up to 30. Also I want to extend deep thanks and respect to those of you who have contributed to helping Christchurch. Kind regards

Folks, I would like to challenge us as a group to support the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal. (Note: Micheal you may want to move this to a different forum?). As a start I have put info about how people can donate to the various support groups on my RCM website, and have added a PayPal button where people can donate directly. I will also donate $100 per machine sold between 22 Feb and 31 Mar to the appeal. I'm in no way trying to tell anyone on the forum what to do or suck eggs. But this is something really important to me and I think we have the opportunity to contribute in a small way. A great link to understand who is collecting is here Kind regards

Folks, As you know, Christchurch, New Zealand was hit by a devastating earthquake on 22 Feb. I will be donating $100 of every KiwiRCM sold between 22 Feb and 31 Mar to the Canterbury Earthquake Appeal. I encourage everyone to dig deep and help support the drive to raise funds for those in need due to this terrible event. In fact it would be amazing if those of you buying a KiwiRCM would match my $100. A good link to see which organizations are coordinating appeals is here. Alternately, you can go directly to one of these sites: Red Cross Westpac Christchurch Mayoral Fund ANZ/National Appeal ASB Appeal BNZ Appeal Salvation Army Kiwibank I've also put up a second PayPal button on my buy now page at kiwircm.co.nz where you can donate $100 by credit card. Thanks to all in advance.

Yeah my bad... midnight math...

I havent priced replacement suction tubes but I always order 10% more than required so will make them avail. The motor is not isolated in any sense that it has washers or some sort of sealed bearings. However, the platter is 10mm acrylic that is about 5mm less diameter than an LP. in the 1,000 or so albums I have cleaned I have never had any fluid get near the motor spindle. I should also point out the the motor on/off switch has a rubber boot and all fittings including the motor spindle are stainless steel. Cheers

And make sure your records are clean... over the years all sorts of goo will dampen the sound.

Hi folks, Sorry but been distracted by the horrible events in Christchurch. Where we are at: 1. I will send a new unit across to Jasper tomorrow. Hopefully it will arrive quickly. 2. rovellas is right again. I am not trying to build a Loricraft or Keith Monks. This is a humble wand style RCM at a good price. But then I figure you could buy about 30 Kiwi RCMs for the price of one Loricraft and just clean the album over and over and over an over again... It would probably end up just as clean 3. Mark I vs Mark II suction tubes - the current suction tube, the Mark I works perfectly well. In fact there is no performance difference between the Mark I and Mark II. The difference is that the Mark I has a 45 degree joint at the elbow, where as the Mark II is a much stronger mortise and tenon type joint at the elbow. The following pics illustrate this. Mark I with 45 degree join: [ATTACH=CONFIG]29277[/ATTACH] Mark II with mortise and tenon join [ATTACH=CONFIG]29278[/ATTACH] I also took the opportunity to slightly redesign the vertical tube that the suction tube fits into so it has a lip at the top. Note that neither one of these changes were necessary. I simply feel more comfortable with this change as it makes the unit stronger and so will last longer and make my customers happier. Also note that this means that I have thrown away 50 perfectly good suction tubes and tube inserts because it makes me happier! 4. Felt "lips" - the felt lips are self adhesive and are a consumable. I will include enough self adhesive felt for 2 sets of replacements. With the adjustable vent on the side of the unit you can 'tune in' (or attenuate as ilikecrumpets put it) the exact level of suction required to clean and dry your collection. A set of felt lips should last around a 100 records but they will wear out. I will obviously be able to replenish these as users require ($10NZ for enough for 2 sets). Note that with this design you don't need a second wand for 45's. Simply close the adjustable vent a little bit to compensate for the lost suction through the exposed end of the tube. Cleaning 45's will wear out the felt lips slightly faster, but it's still cheaper than buying a second suction tube. 5. Currency - Paypal automatically does currency conversion at checkout. 6. Warranty - One year return to base. 7. Vacuum suction (wixy) - the vac creates an enormous amount of suction. So much so that most vacuums will 'stall' a record if the adjustable vent is closed all the way. I don't pretend to be an expert (or even slightly knowledgable) in fluid dynamics, but it seems normal that there is a little bit of fluid left in the suction tube. I think its just the way that the airflow works. Maybe there is an engineer on the forums that can explain this?

Hmmm doesn't exactly sound like a vinyl enthusiast?

Hey folks, Ralph here. rovellas I completely understand where you are coming from so how about this. I will send across one of my demo units to whoever www.stereo.net.au deems most appropriate to try it, and feed back to the group. I'll pay shipping to Aust, and work out some way to recognize the shipping cost back to NZ. I would suggest that FR nominate someone? Note that this will be a Mark I machine with the current suction tube, not the improved suction tube that is currently being manufactured. Units shipped for the group buy would include Mark II suction tubes. My request is that whoever is nominated has some experience in reviewing equipment and is obviously a vinyl junkie and provides the forum, and me, with some honest feedback that I can use in promoting the KiwiRCM (use on my website...). The only risk here is that this will probably take a week or so to get a unit to whoever you nominate, and I will continue to sell these in NZ. So I suggest that if you want to follow the demo unit path we treat the group buy list as first come first served in case I fall below the 35 currently tagged for www.stereo.net.au, and the remainder can be made up in Apr when the second batch should be ready? Also, I think I have created some confusion on the Kiwi GST, apologies for that. The price is $499 Kiwi, and there is no deduction for GST for overseas buyers. The reason I can offer free shipping to Aust is that I use the NZ GST that I would normally give the NZ government to pay for international shipping and packaging. Of course any duties or taxes at the import end are the responsibility of the buyer. Folks, I have spend years iterating this design and am very proud of it. I know you will be blown away by it as well. I have $10,000's of my own money tied up in this and stand behind what I have done. FR and I have been emailing back and forth on something to recognize the group buy. As I mentioned to FR I won't be discounting the machine from $499 but am working with FR to throw in a few goodies to recognize the commitment from www.stereo.net.au. Finally, as with all products based on supply of overseas components, price of future batches is subject to change without notice. I trust you take this all in the spirit of transparency and building a great long term relationship with www.stereo.net.au. Thanks everyone Ralph

Folks, I just posted PM to Full Range. The response from you guys has been outstanding and I am humbled and exciting by the amount of interest. I have requested to FM that we lock the initial number of confirmed group buyers at 35, and then have a first come first served "stand by" list after this as there may be one or two folks that delay or pull out. I am also selling these in NZ at a good rate and want to hold a few back for Record Store Day on Apr 16th. There will be another run coming but due to supplier lead times these will be in mid Apr. Thanks again, Ralph Brayham

Hi folks, I'm happy to work something out for a group buy and have had an initial conv w FR on this. Please note that the price to Aust is $499 incl shipping, not $499 less NZ gst. The NZ 15% GST equiv pays for shipping to Aust and international packaging. I'm sure we will work out a group buy that works. Cheers

Lol. Trust me. It's very easy to empty... And no bailing required. For background I am one of the owners of Real Groovy music, a large format music store in Auckland. We carry 1000's or new and used LPs. My cleaner has been torture tested in the store cleaning many 100's of LPs per week. We used to use a Nitty Gritty but have retired that in favour of the KiwiRCM. Cleaner, faster, quieter and easier. Thats for all the enthusiasm. Cheers

Dr Goodvibe, adding a tap means there is one more thing to go wrong! The unit is very light and at the end of a cleaning session it is very easy to pour a little warm water in the tank, give it a swish and drain it out which keeps the insides clean. We did one run of prototypes with taps and found that it was too easy for the tap to get a knock while moving it around which could result in a leak. Cheers

Come on... Drill a hole!?! The waste water is tipped out through the vacuum port at the back of the unit. Free shipping to Aust. Note that free shipping to Aust is via NZ Post economy parcel which believe it or not is 2-3 weeks according to website. Expidited shipping is possible but would cost an additional $70nz per unit. Also, I have ordered an improved suction tube assembly which requires stock parts to arrive from Germany and then milled to my spec in NZ. These will be ready to ship in 12 days and are worth waiting for. So delivery from order is approx 4-5 weeks to Aust. Cheers

Hard to ship chemicals across to Aust as they are heavy and shoot price/shipping costs up. Could certainly look at a group buy. I'm looking at getting some brushes made so could add a couple (one for cleaning fluid, other for distilled water) for orders in lots of 10? They are simple microfibre covered foam which work perfectly with the machine (ilikecrumpets has been trying them out). Would take me about 10-14 days to get a group buy together which gives you time to get some folks together on your side. Thanks for the interest. Cheers

Hey folks, Ralph Brayham here from Auckland, NZ. ilikecrumpets very kindly posted some info on the record cleaner I have developed. I've been working on this for the last three years and have gone through a bunch of prototypes to get it to where it is now. To answer some of your questions: - this is a bring your own vacuum design as RCMs with built in vacuums are quite complex to design due to a number of reasons including local power (120v vs 220v), noise, heat generation, complexity of local electrical compliance and cost. The biggest complaint of RCMs with built in vacuums is that they are very noisy, and any attempt to cut noise generally leads to poor ventilation and therefore cooling problems. External vacuums are quieter and more robust than internal vacs. They are cheaper too. - I recommend a wet and dry vac for cleaning of any large collections. A number of people are using domestic vacs but you need to be careful not to suck any fluid into a domestic vac. Bunnings sells wet and dry vacs quite cheap. - the basic instructions for use are: 1. Put your dirty record on the platter and start the motor. The motor is built specifically for me and is a very high torque 17RPM DC motor. 2. Add cleaning fluid to the surface of the record with the brush of your choice (note no pressure is required to "scrub" the record, the fluid should do the work) 3. Swing the suction tube over the record and turn on your vac. The suction tube automatically lowers and sucks the dirty fluid of the record 4. With the motor and vac still on, put distilled water on the record with a second brush to rinse off any residual fluid 5. Stop the vac and the suction tube automatically lifts off the record 6. Stop the motor and repeat steps 1-5 for side 2 It takes less than a minute to clean both sides of a record. The suction arm is made of clear acrylic and has soft cloth 'lips' on it to protect the record. It is held up off the record by a spring. The spring is specifically designed with just enough springiness that when the vac is turned on, the suction power of the vac lowers the suction tube onto the record surface. The unit also has an adjustable vacuum vent on the side so that any vac can be used. By turning the vacuum vent open or closed you can set the right amount of suction. Vacs are all different and will change over time so this feature future proofs you to use any vac at any time. Check out kiwircm.co.nz (no www) for pics and more info on how to get your vinyl clean. For some reason my PayPal link is down at the moment but PM me for more info. Keep the questions coming and long live vinyl! Cheers

I bought a Mitchell clamp specifically designed for Rega's. eBay has 'em http://cgi.ebay.com/REGA-RECORD-CLAMP-J-A-MICHELL-/330519793668?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cf483d004. Clamps fine but I must admit I'm too lazy to use it on anything but warped records.

Wow... so got the interpretation of that subject line wrong...