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The pending price increase finally nudged me into upgrading to the Loricraft from my original Record Doctor bought from Audio Advisor, 15 years ago. The PRC-3 is such a cool machine - it is so British, so Newtonian. I love watching the clean black band grow across the record as the arm suctions away the fluid.Anyway - here are my newbie questions:
1. to what use does the short (~2-inch) plastic tubing get put? (I remember someone mentioning this is a recent thread but can't find it.)
2. Has anyone tried clamping the vacuum hose at the jar inlet to get a better seal and thus a better vacuum? I figured I'd run to the hardware store tommorrow for the clamp but if it makes no difference...
3. I tweaked the thread inlet pipe upward so it points to the top of the spool, but sometimes the thread still waddles around the base. Any solutions?
Thanks in advance,
Follow Ups:
1. never received a 2" piece of tubing, no idea2. waste of time IMO but you may want to try plactic cable ties not a metal clamp
3. no problem with the thread staying on the spool. My tube came from the factory "aimed" at the middle of the spool.
Mine has worked daily and flawlessly for years. But I never "f**ked" with it either!
I have been studying the original Keith Monks design and the Loricraft for an upcoming project. I plan to make a clone. Anyway, there are some differences between the two, and the major one concerns thread feed as it affects takeup. The Keith Monks used an extremely low speed motor to feed the thread at a constant rate, but the Loricraft relies on the end user for that task because of added complexity of an additional motor, and possibly inherent noise from the small geared motor that the Monks machine used. Most likely, there was also the added complexity of linking the motor to the thread, reliability concerns, and cost issues, as well. Although Keith Monks considered the possibility of thread bunching up, you must bear in mind that his original record cleaner sold for $5000. The price for the added convenience that today's Loricraft lacks was much higher than most people would accept, so most sales were confined to institutions and better audio salons. I don't know what price the Keith Monks family sells the new incarnation for, but I am sure it is higher priced than the Loricraft, and that may explain the decision by Loricraft to upgrade the model, hence the price increase. In any event, I suspect that your issue with the thread may result from using too much of it at once. It may be worth a closer study at your end. It's just a thought.
I'm thinking maybe its gravity, as the thread doesn't seem v. tightly wound onto its spool. If the the thread is not taut, turning the spool to feed another 1/4 inch sees an inch or two slip off the spool as slack. The spool has nothing to keep it from turning - it sits quite loosely on its post.One solution may be a couple small rubber grommets on the spool post to put a little friction on the spool so it doesn't slip and spin so easily. Not an original idea... the link below shows an example. I'll have to look if McMaster Carr has the O-rings.
Another solution was yours and perhaps you plan this for your clone - namely, to mount the spool sideways. That would mitigate the gravity effect, or at least handle it differently and not cause the slack pile at the base of the spool. In conjunction with a more fixed spool (a la O-Rings) that might do the trick.
A motorized thread feed would be neat, but on a commercial machine sees a cost-benefit leading to the price of the KM.
Otherwise, the machine is way cool. Who knew cleaning records was such fun!
Tim
Don't buy o-rings because I have a kit of metric ones. I'll be happy to send you as many as you need. Also, I'll take a look at the KM photos that I have to see how he handled the looseness issue. I can visualize a weak spring/clamp solution, but I don't know how easy it would be to implement. A few old typewriters used such a device to control the feed mechanism of their ribbons, as did some mechanical timeclocks. It would work perfectly in this application, but the pressure would need to be fairly weak, yet consistent, without affecting the Loricraft's good looks, or modifying its construction in any way. ...Do you think I used enough commas in that sentence? ;)
Thanks! Asylum e-mail gave a bounce back - send one to me and I'll forward mine to you.I haven't thought much about the problem, but I might look at sewing machines. Tension the thread off the spool, or transfer the thread to its own bobbin. Hmmm... horizontal mount with o-rings starts to look more appealing. ;-)
Congrats on your new purchase! I'm also very happy with my PRC-3.!) The short tube is to be attached to the underside of the lid where the dirty tread is sucked out.
2) No I haven't tried clamping...the seal is pretty tight already.
3) The thread will not get sucked into the jar if you use too much fluid as I have experienced. During cleaning when the thread bunches up just give the thread hose a few flicks with your finger....works everytime. I empty the jar and cut the excess thread when the fluid is an inch high.
I discovered the 'tube flick' by chance and its a good solution. I also do the DougD trick of swinging the arm to the back and letting the pump run with the other motors off after the record is finished. Kinda dries the tubing and thread making it less inclined to bunch.
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