Degritter Ultrasonic Record Cleaner

Ultrasonic cleaning works by creating a large number of microscopical bubbles in the cleaning bath, a phenomena called cavitation.

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Degritter Ultrasonic Record Cleaner

Discontinued replaced by Degritter MKII Version

Degritter Ultrasonic Record Cleaner

The core of Degritter is the 120kHz ultrasonic cleaning system.

It has been carefully designed in house to make sure that records are cleaned thoroughly and without any damage to the surface of the record.

Ultrasonic cleaning works by creating a large number of microscopical bubbles in the cleaning bath, a phenomena called cavitation.

The bubbles are a vacuum created by high frequency pressure waves moving through the water.

Every ultrasonic cycle bubbles are formed and collapsed, releasing energy as heat and minuscule strong water jets.

These effects combined thoroughly clean all surfaces down to a microscopic level.

A 120kHz frequency provides finer and more evenly distributed cleaning action than lower frequency systems.

In fact, this technology at even higher frequencies is used to clean parts in the semiconductor industry, where surfaces need to be pure on a molecular level.

Degritter uses a custom ultrasonic bath with a custom 300W ultrasonic amplifier that has been designed specifically for cleaning vinyl records.

The cleaning bath has four ultrasonic transducers (emitters), two on both sides covering the whole record.

Degritter also comes with Frequency Sweep feature, which provides better cavitation energy and power distribution.

Degritter Ultrasonic Record Cleaner is the only cleaning solution on the market working at 120kHz and having the Frequency Sweep feature.

Before & After

Degritter’s cleaning effect has been thoroughly researched under digital and an electron microscope.

They are confident in its quality, but have a look at the comparisons below to see for yourself.

Before

The before images are of a brand new record that has been exposed to nicotine smoke, covered with fine grain graphite dust, and soaked in beer.

Because of electrical conductivity the graphite particles are more clearly visible while beer is not that noticeable.

In reality, of course, dried beer creates a sticky film on the surface that keeps all the dust firmly in place.

After

The after images are of the same record once it has been through a 5-minute cleaning cycle with Degritter.

No detergents or solutions were used, just pure distilled water at room temperature.

It is evident that already one cleaning cycle has effectively cleaned the vinyl.

Active filtering solution

Degritter Ultrasonic Record Cleaner Detail

Degritter record cleaning machines come with an active filtering solution.

Active means that it removes small particles and dirt from the water during the ultrasonic cleaning process.

Dirt washed off the record is filtered out of the ultrasonic cleaning bath and it won’t end up back on the record.

Features of the filtering system:

  • Easy maintenance
  • Gets rid of both surface dirt and dissolved dirt
  • A fine mesh filter

Principle and Maintenance

The active filtering solution works by circulating water through the filter and then back into the bath while your record is being cleaned.

Water is pulled into the filter from the top of the tank in order to remove all floating dust and particles.

Heavy particles that settle at the bottom will be pumped out to the external water tank, which has a dedicated sediment section.

The filter is easily accessible from the side of the machine.

It is made up of a cylindrical steel mesh which contains a replaceable open cell foam filter.

The outer part of the filter is washable, which makes for easy maintenance and upkeep.

Configurable Drying Fans

The drying cycle with blower fans can be the loudest element of the cleaning cycles. In order to give users the control over drying fan speed, power, and noise, they have created 20different fan power settings that can be selected.

Setting the Fan Power to high will dry the record quicker, but it will also generate significant amount of noise.

On low settings, the fans will be almost inaudible, but the drying will take longer.

Software Updates

At the heart of their user experience is the control board that is connected to all the sensors, actuators and the LCD.

To make sure that the machines that have already been shipped out to their new owners are running on the latest software, they have added an SD card slot that allows the user to update its software.

7″ and 10″ Records

While the Degritter is designed to clean 12″ records by default, it’s possible to clean 7″ and 10″ records as well.

For this they have created a set of adapters that can be attached to smaller records to convert their diameter to 12” and clean them just the same.

Safety

Degritter is equipped with multiple sensors to constantly monitor the state of the machine.

This way the machine is able to detect and safely recover from any unexpected use cases like loss of power during the ultrasonic washing or if the water temperature rises to unsafe levels for vinyl.

As an extra safety net we also have software subroutines checking the status of the sensors to prevent any unexpected failures due to sensor malfunction.

Degritter is capable of recovering and warning users in the following situations:

  • sensor malfunction
  • water temperature too high
  • water in the cleaning tank due to switch off during wash
  • external water tank missing
  • insufficient water
  • pump failures

Cleaning Fluid

Every Degritter machine comes with a batch of cleaning fluid concentrate.

It’s not necessarily mandatory to use it, but it does have certain benefits.

The concentrate is made out of anionic surfactants which help remove the dirt.

It’s safe to use and won’t harm the vinyl.

They recommend using of 2 ml of concentrate per one water tank of 1.2 liters.

This creates a solution where surface tension is lowered enough to allow ultrasonic energy to break the water more easily while anionic molecules are delicately extracting the dirt from adjacent surfaces.

In short here’s what the cleaning fluid can do:

  • Improves the cleaning effect further
  • Shortens the drying time
  • Creates an antistatic layer (can also be rinsed off if needed)
  • Fully safe for vinyl

 

The Degritter package includes:

  • Removable water tank with lid
  • 100ml of cleaning fluid
  • Five spare open-cell filters
  • Fluid dosing pipette
  • Water level measurement strip
  • AC power cable

Degritter supports all commonly used voltage standards. This includes 120v used in U.S.A., 100v used in Japan, and 230v used in EU.

Degritter Ultrasonic Record Cleaner Specifications

Degritter Ultrasonic Record Cleaner specifications
Dimensions 37 × 28 × 21 cm
14.6 × 11 × 8.3 in
Weight 9 kg
20 lbs
Supported Voltage 100 V – 240 V AC
Ultrasonic Cleaning 120 kHz / 300 W
Frequency Sweep
Water Tank Removable
1.4 L
0.37 gal
Noise Levels 50 dB – 70 dB
Depends on the drying fan power settings
Cleaning Medium Distilled water plus 1-2 ml of cleaning fluid
Cleaning Time 5 min – 10 min
Depends on the washing program and drying settings

Additional information

Colour

Black, Silver

Brand

Degritter

The team behind Degritter started in 2015 with a clear vision of creating a practical record cleaner that: is simple to use would clean thoroughly has great build quality looks good does not sound like a vacuum cleaner And we they are confident that it lives up to the expectations. Degritter uses ultrasonic cleaning in a water tank followed by a separate drying cycle to provide superb cleaning effect. To create the best ultrasonic cleaning system they experimented with different frequencies, virtually simulated the energy distributions and made multiple physical set-ups to measure the energy levels. They built their own custom ultrasonic amplifier to power the system and spent long hours under a high resolution microscope to assess the safety of the device. Degritter's distinct minimalist look was created in close collaboration between their team and an accomplished industrial designer to achieve a sleek product that can be proudly displayed next to a high-end audio system. Throughout the whole technical design process we also paid close attention to the noise levels that the device will put out. For this reason we have created a unique pumping solution that together with silent dryers and inaudible 120kHz ultrasonics forms a product that makes almost no noise at all. As a result of the meticulous design and build process we have come up with something that we can take pride in and feel that our customers will appreciate as well.

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