You do seem to be running this thing harder than a lot of folks here by virtue of your huge collection, so your frustration is very understandable. I hope they are able to help you out. Otherwise, maybe it's time for a more industrial, 6-LP at a time setup?
I mean my takeaway from this thread is that it’s a great machine for someone starting out or with a small collection.
Yeah, I feel like over a certain collection size it's worth investing in either a commercial-type machine or something high-end like a Degritter, at least if you're thinking about it in terms of running cost per LP cleaned.
I can't imagine the noise of 6 of these things running all at once.
I’ve cleaned 1500+ LPs with it with minimal issues. Had to swap the PCB out which was an 5 minute fix and about $50 in parts/shipping. Others here have cleaned as many or more. The Vevor ones are a no go for me because I just don’t have space for a huge drying rack for my records. Degritter is also a no go for me because it’s like $3,000 which would be more than any individual component in my whole system.
I think one thing to keep in mind too is that they tell you not to run this thing non-stop without giving it time to cool down. I think that's an easy thing to ignore and it pushes it beyond what a starter model like the HG is designed to handle. But for a clean as you go model, working on new pickups rather than trying to go through a massive collection, I think it works really well. And even with a massive collection, I think it can work well if you aren't testing it's limits. I don't know if that's what happened to everyone on here, but probably a few based on what I've read. Also if you do a cost analysis, how many times are you going to run your whole collection through it? Even if you go through two or three of these until you get the collection cleaned and are only doing new additions or occasionally cleaning an old record again, you don't really need more than this and you'd still come out spending less than getting one of the heavy duty ones.
Absolutely. I'm sure there are lemons out there and it absolutely sucks to be in the situation @Poly-Rythmo is in especially after all the waiting and fixes. I'd be beyond annoyed too. But I'm about 500 in and feel like I've gotten my money's worth already. I know I'd pay an extra dollar for each of my records to arrive ultrasonically cleaned and in a poly liner. I have 2500 to go, so I'm sure mine will shit the bed before then, but it's still been a heck of a purchase that I have no regrets over.
I have only cleaned a handful of 7" or 10" but could definitely see water leaking in as I found the same you did--you really need to fill it up close to the brim to get all the 7" cleaned.
Since I read the first messages of it failing, I definitely became more strategic in what I cleaned. I did all my African and Colombian albums first. Last month or so, I've done 300 or so African 7s. So it's less painful now. That said, I've found the best results on new, not really worn, vinyl so I'm reluctant to go without a cleaner.
@Poly-Rythmo has done thousands, often double-cleaned!
Man. I use two clean and one dry for used records that look particularly dirty, but just a standard auto clean/dry cycle for new or clean-looking used records.
Yep, my Spinclean was better than just wiping with a cloth and spray, but it's no comparison to the HG. I've had to redo all those too. It really does make a noticeable difference on new records, so much more than I ever anticipated.