Cleaning old cartridge

[Ki Choi]

As I was going through all of my turntable related stuff, I found the original Shure Type III cartridge - the very first cartridge I had bought in ~1975 along with a Technics SL1300. I wanted to clean the Type III and thought.. how about if I were to drop it into wife's ultrasonic jewelry cleaner? If it works, I could clean the Ortofon A90...

[rockitman]

That would be a first..ultrasonically cleaning a cart. Let us know how that works...

[microstrip]

As I was going through all of my turntable related stuff, I found the original Shure Type III cartridge - the very first cartridge I had bought in ~1975 along with a Technics SL1300. I wanted to clean the Type III and thought.. how about if I were to drop it into wife's ultrasonic jewelry cleaner? If it works, I could clean the Ortofon A90...

I would be very prudent about such approach - ultrasonic cleaning releases gas bubbles inside the liquid that will exert some pressure on the surfaces if they are not allowed to be freely released. Can you imagine the action of such bubbles in the gaps of the fragile coil layers? As far as I remember micro-eletcromechanical devices should not be cleaned using ultrasonic cleaners.

[Dre_J]

Agree with your assessment.

[Ki Choi]

The thought of cleaning the cartridge and stylus came to me when I saw some close up photos of other people's cartridges with lots of dusts even those presented for sale. I guess the most important area for cleanliness is at the stylus tip that can be cleaned with fluid and brush and let the rest of the cartridge to be seasoned with a little dust.

[Johnny Vinyl]

Personally I prefer NOT to use any type of liquid. I use a stiff brush (Ortofon stylus brush) before every play and the Zerodust Onzow about every 5 albums.

[MylesBAstor]

The thought of cleaning the cartridge and stylus came to me when I saw some close up photos of other people's cartridges with lots of dusts even those presented for sale. I guess the most important area for cleanliness is at the stylus tip that can be cleaned with fluid and brush and let the rest of the cartridge to be seasoned with a little dust.

I think how to clean a cartridge is a topic of much debate. Perhaps Stirling can chime in here!

There are people like Peter Ledermann who are adamantly opposed to cleaning the stylus with any ROH based fluid. His contention is that at the molecular level, the ROH "freezes the glue" and loosens the stylus bonding. I don't know how much of a worry that is nowadays but IIRC some early Spectral cartridges ran into that issue. If anyone is worried, I just advise them to contact the manufacturer since after all, Clearaudio makes their own stylus cleaner.

Personally I just try and limit the amount of times that I use a liquid cleaner. Instead, I use a combo of the Oznow and Mr. Eraser cleaning process (the Mr. Eraser has actually in one instance rejuvenated a cartridge) in addition to lightly brushing with a fine hair brush anything that is on the cantilever. I also keep a small magnifying glass around to periodically recheck for gook.

[Ki Choi]

I'll have to say that since I started to clean my LPs even the ones that came from the Half Priced Book Store on the KLaudio, my stylus stays very clean with no visible dust or residues after playing.

[MylesBAstor]

I'll have to say that since I started to clean my LPs even the ones that came from the Half Priced Book Store on the KLaudio, my stylus stays very clean with no visible dust or residues after playing.

That's true to a first approximation. Your cartridge/stylus shape also makes a difference. I find for some reason, the Atlas tends to pick up more gunk after cleaning than other cartridges. On the other hand, it's the quietest cartridge I've heard so I imagine it's getting deeper into the groove.

[Johnny Vinyl]

That's true to a first approximation. Your cartridge/stylus shape also makes a difference. I find for some reason, the Atlas tends to pick up more gunk after cleaning than other cartridges. On the other hand, it's the quietest cartridge I've heard so I imagine it's getting deeper into the groove.

Interesting comment and I concur. I've always found the Grado carts I've owned were more prone to picking up dust than others. My Dyna 20x2L also picks up more than the Ortofon 2M Black ever did. I don't recall it being much of an issue though.

[Ki Choi]

Also correlated to VTF?

[allenh]

After over a year of spinning LPs, I'm beginning to hear distortion in some sections, and I wonder if my stylus just needs a good cleaning. Has anyone tried this?

[mep]

Personally I prefer NOT to use any type of liquid. I use a stiff brush (Ortofon stylus brush) before every play and the Zerodust Onzow about every 5 albums.

I use Onzow every time before I play a record. It has to be cleaned regularly too because it gets full of gunk which is all the more reason to use it every time before you play a record. Not using Onzow every time before you play a record is like not wiping your butt.

As for liquids, I have been using Stylast for many, many years and I know it works great and will make your cartridge last for a 100 years. Just keep the maid and her dust cloth away from your cartridge and you are good to go

[MylesBAstor]

After over a year of spinning LPs, I'm beginning to hear distortion in some sections, and I wonder if my stylus just needs a good cleaning. Has anyone tried this?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n2874[/ATTACH]

I wondered about it too. Fremer reviewed it a couple of issues ago.

http://www.analogplanet.com/content/flux-hi-fi-electronic-stylus-cleaner#1cVzm2bKYZgYUY0C.97

[allenh]

I wondered about it too. Fremer reviewed it a couple of issues ago.

http://www.analogplanet.com/content/...2bKYZgYUY0C.97

Think I should give it a shot? I'm not worried too much about the $150 investment - MusicDirect will take the return if I'm not happy. I'm more worried about the cart!

[allenh]

I use Onzow every time before I play a record. It has to be cleaned regularly too because it gets full of gunk which is all the more reason to use it every time before you play a record. Not using Onzow every time before you play a record is like not wiping your butt.

As for liquids, I have been using Stylast for many, many years and I know it works great and will make your cartridge last for a 100 years. Just keep the maid and her dust cloth away from your cartridge and you are good to go

Maybe I should get one of these, too. It doesn't leave any residue on the stylus?