HumminGuru Ultrasonic Cleaner Owners & Discussion Thread

[denimhunter]

There’s only need to drain via gravity feed.  What u hear is the water draining.  There is no need for a pump .  Pump for other rcm is for pumping water from reservoir back into tank.  In this case one has to manually pour water back onto the bank.

[awayward]

From the Kickestater comments.

We will be using an industrial graded water pump driven by a motor for the drainage system, which has passed multiple durability tests. We will also be testing the pump internally for verification. Hope this answers your concerns. 

 

Best,

HumminGuru

[Jakeyb77_Redux]

Pull it apart and have a look 

[awayward]

9 minutes ago, Jakeyb77_Redux said:

Pull it apart and have a look 

No need, it is obviously a water pump, medium noise when pumping water, louder when pumping air for 15 seconds or so.

[Jakeyb77_Redux]

Just got my advice for shipping. Says it should arrive by the 07/12. FedEx usually pretty good but it will get here when it does 

[awayward]

4 minutes ago, Jakeyb77_Redux said:

Just got my advice for shipping. Says it should arrive by the 07/12. FedEx usually pretty good but it will get here when it does 

Hopefully it will arrive on time, mine got stuck in Singapore for over a week, bit of a lottery these days.

[Jakeyb77_Redux]

3 minutes ago, awayward said:

Hopefully it will arrive on time, mine got stuck in Singapore for over a week, bit of a lottery these days.

 Not too worried. It will arrive when the gods allow. 
Just wanted to let people know that shipping has started

[eyeofnewt]

 

[a.dent]

I've had mine for a couple of weeks and I'm quite impressed.

Compared with my Consonance vacuum machine it is just so quiet and efficient.

The water certainly gets dirty after about 10 LPs even with the filter. It is removing something from the vinyl surface, hopefully only dirt.

I can't help thinking it would give a bit better clean with a surfactant or even a drop of plain detergent. I suppose it can't hurt to try even if the instructions say no.

 

[Bcdesign]

On 19/11/2021 at 5:32 PM, jeromelang said:

i have been saying for years now.

different water, different sound.

 

distilled water makes record sounds dead.

tap water can help revitalize the sound again

(assuming that the record is dried immediately without physical contact - that means no vacuuming or wiping dry with fabrics materials)

 

and it is not only vinyl records.

distilled water and tap water have the same sonic effects on optical discs.

rinsing under distilled water or under tap water (and how they are dried subsequently) will imbue the optical disc CDs and SACDs with the same sonic properties that can be experienced with vinyl records.

 

tap water sounds best.

 

 

Have you tried soda water?

Really puts the sparkle back in the highs.

[April Snow]

Looks interesting, shall follow and see what the comments & reviews are like.

[Monkeyboi]

On 19/11/2021 at 2:32 PM, jeromelang said:

i have been saying for years now.

different water, different sound.

 

distilled water makes record sounds dead.

tap water can help revitalize the sound again

(assuming that the record is dried immediately without physical contact - that means no vacuuming or wiping dry with fabrics materials)

 

and it is not only vinyl records.

distilled water and tap water have the same sonic effects on optical discs.

rinsing under distilled water or under tap water (and how they are dried subsequently) will imbue the optical disc CDs and SACDs with the same sonic properties that can be experienced with vinyl records.

 

tap water sounds best.

 

 

Well there must be something very special about Singapore tap water. 

 

Most scheme water in Australia contains a lot of minerals which when left on a surface to dry will leave behind a visible water stain (IOW a deposit).  These look like rocks under a microscope.

 

After a failure of a hot water unit last year I did an autopsy on the heat exchange unit and found it had a huge calcium build up which lead to its failure.  Where did all this calcium come from?  Only one place I guess - the tap water supply? Whilst hot water units aren't the same as record cleaning machines the hot water unit uses tap water which compared to demineralised or distilled water can be highly mineralised.

 

Now not being one to to comment without trying your tap water ideas out I indeed did investigate your claims. Unfortunately they didn't yield any audible improvements.  In fact quite the opposite in the case of vinyl.    Conclusion was "washing" optical media using your method produced no detectable sonic improvement over a well cared for, correctly handled and stored disc.  I'm yet to find a single manufacturer of pre-recorded CDs, DVDs or SACDs that actually recommends cleaning their optical media with water or any liquids for that matter.
 

Now back to vinyl as this is the topic of discussion in this thread.  I've tried wet playing records back in the 1970s.  Yes on initial and subsequent wet playings the background surface noise of the record (primarily clicks and pops) is significantly reduced, no argument there.  However after just one wet playing one can't return to dry playing.  The noise on the record seems to increase significantly if you do.    The only way I've been able to "revive" these records to an acceptable level was by repeated wet and vacuum cleaning on a VPI RCM using distilled water with a small additive of analytical grade isopropyl alcohol and a surfactant in conjunction with physically scrubbing the grooves of the record using the cleaning solution and a horse hair brush.    

 

IME, regular Australian tap water contains way too many mineral impurities which will dry to a "crust" of deposits in the grooves of the records surface thus increasing the surface noise rather than decreasing it.

 

Wet playing is probably reducing the surface noise by two mechanisms -

• The stylus tip is riding on a layer of water molecules that are acting as a lubricant, and
• The water is reducing the surface charge on the record surface thus reducing the static electricity charge differential between the record and the metal cantilever of the cartridge.

What are the disadvantages of wet playing vinyl records?

• Once you wet play a record you have to do so with every other subsequent playing.
• Returning to dry playing a previously just wet played record (no other cleaning) doesn't magically make the record sound better.
• Liquids can corrode the cantilever of the cartridge.  Yes, learnt this the hard way with a Beryllium cantilever. 
• Liquids can potentially wick up the stylus / cantilever assembly and into the cartridge where due to the presence of dissimilar metals might result in destructive corrosion.  Hmmmm.... try explaining this to the cartridge manufacturer when it comes to a warranty claim. No doubt on an expensive $10,000 cartridge the manufacturer isn't going to simply replace the cartridge without first investigating the failure mode and when they open it up and find damage due to the ingress of water or some other liquid something tells me the reply will be "warranty voided".

I guess that with all things audio, laboratory analysis of the Singapore tap water compared to tap water from other parts of the world or distilled water isn't going to be published here, nor any objective evidence offered that tap water improves the sonic properties or limitations of either vinyl or optical media over and above the "I said so, therefore it must be true....." subjective anecdotal evidence.

 

No one is disputing that you hear an improvement, however my experience is somewhat different.  Back in the 1970s when I first started experimenting with wet playing records and noticed subsequent dry playings sounded worse I approached a friend who worked in a chemical lab for an opinion.  He suggested that tap water was far too mineralised to be used for cleaning records.  Further to the investigation on a scientific basis we examined the grooves of a LP record under a microscope noting the area of the playing surface for later comparison.  We then wet cleaned the record with tap water and left it to dry standing vertically on a rack in a clean air cabinet.  After drying and re-examination the same area of the playing surface it was noticed that there was a significant increase of contamination on the record surface and in the grooves over and above what was there prior to cleaning with tap water.  The proof wasn't just in seeing the evidence through the microscope but was clearly audible in the playback as an increase in crackles and pops.

 

Would I use tap water to clean records?  The short answer is no.   Remembering that back in the early 1970s, Perth's scheme water supply was sourced from a number of water catchment dams and probably had a lower mineral content than it does now. Now catchment water is mixed with ground water and de-salinised seawater.  Anyone who lives in Perth will know our ground water is highly mineralised, evidenced by the reddish brown stains it leaves on surfaces as it dries.  Just imagine what it's leaving on the surface of your records.

 

Cheers,

Alan R.

 

[Jakeyb77_Redux]

 

[Hydrology]

13 minutes ago, Jakeyb77_Redux said:

 

 

 I find his videos either clickbait (its obvious even in his review its an ultrasonic but what better way to get people to watch your video than to say otherwise?) or just a rehash of other people's findings. I had none of the issues he found, with my unit and certainly in my testing I never once had a record that was left in such a mess as he implies. Also, the drying is perfect.

 

[John0001]

On 06/12/2021 at 2:57 PM, Hydrology said:

 

I had none of the issues he found, with my unit and certainly in my testing I never once had a record that was left in such a mess as he implies. Also, the drying is perfect.

 

 

Agree, the review was odd and didn't align with my experience at all.

[Jakeyb77_Redux]

Unit arrived today. 2 days ahead of time. 

[2Brix]

Has anyone ordered and had it posted to Perth recently? 

 

Could you advise the approx postage charge please..

 

Cheers

2B

[silencer13]

1 hour ago, 2Brix said:

Has anyone ordered and had it posted to Perth recently? 

 

Could you advise the approx postage charge please..

 

Cheers

2B

 

Mine is to Tasmania, but should be the same cost:

 

[April Snow]

4 hours ago, silencer13 said:

 

Mine is to Tasmania, but should be the same cost:

 

Currency converter says about $740.00 Aussie dollars in total then I think?. If that helps anyone?

Edited December 8, 2021 by April Snow

[2Brix]

HKD 2956 for the base unit, without 7"/10" adaptors

HKD 768 shipping guesstimate (without going to the checkout step)

HKD 373 get stuffed tax

-----------------

HKD 4096 

 

--> Google says about AUD 740    hey...same as @April Snow  

 

So should land it for under AUD 800.  Hmm, got me thinking...

[April Snow]

9 hours ago, 2Brix said:

HKD 2956 for the base unit, without 7"/10" adaptors

HKD 768 shipping guesstimate (without going to the checkout step)

HKD 373 get stuffed tax

-----------------

HKD 4096 

 

--> Google says about AUD 740    hey...same as @April Snow  

 

So should land it for under AUD 800.  Hmm, got me thinking...

Might be a little more because of import duty and GST to be added - I would allow for $900 and expect change..............

 

I am thinking about it too and interested in the reviews first

[Jakeyb77_Redux]

59 minutes ago, April Snow said:

Might be a little more because of import duty and GST to be added - I would allow for $900 and expect change..............

 

I am thinking about it too and interested in the reviews first

Mine was about $660 landed at my door. No duty, no GST 

[April Snow]

15 minutes ago, Jakeyb77_Redux said:

Mine was about $660 landed at my door. No duty, no GST 

wow you were lucky !! That is so good - how you finding it?

[Jakeyb77_Redux]

12 minutes ago, April Snow said:

wow you were lucky !! That is so good - how you finding it?

Haven’t opened it yet. I’ll probably look into it after the Holidays.

[denimhunter]

Replacement filter for RCM