Today I used a new, diy system for getting/filtering the water back into the bath portion of the cleaner after each cleaning. I used this large Clever Coffee Dripper.
RELIABLE AND REPEATABLE A fool-proof and inexpensive full-immersion method of brewing coffee, this little gem is as familiar as a drip machine - it uses #4 filters - and is as simple to use as a French press. The resulting coffee retains much of the delicious body of a French press, but does...
cleverbrewing.coffee
And I bought these aquarium filter pads, which seem like the exact material used for the filters that come with the HG:
I cut one strip of the filter pad to about 1 1/2" x 4", folded it in half, and pushed it (lying flat) into the bottom (inside) of the Clever Dripper. Then I cut a much larger piece of filter pad to shape (as best I could) against the inner wall of the Dripper, as a coffee filter would. The underside of the Coffee Dripper has a gasket that keeps the water in until a moveable piece is lifted upward, the idea (for brewing) being that you pour the water in to steep the ground coffee, let it brew, and then when you place the filter on a cup, the underside piece is lifted and the liquid quickly exits the cone.
After cleaning and drying a record, I placed the Clever Dripper (with pads as described) on top of the HG, took the lid off the water tank, and poured the water into the Clever Dripper. After setting down the empty water tank, I used the fingers of both my hands to act as the rim of a cup and lift the moving piece on the underside of the Dripper to allow the water to flow into the cleaning reservoir. If this is working as it should, the water is being filtered through three layers of the filtering material. After a few tries, it was faster than pouring from the water tank, and a lot less frustrating because I had more control over where and how the water was moving.
On another note, after cleaning 20+ records today, I've confirmed beyond all reasonable doubt that records I've recently cleaned with my Squeaky Clean
do not dry in the HumminGuru. (Two new records dried just fine; all the others, previously cleaned, had water droplets on them after the drying cycle.) This is something I thought I'd noticed last time I cleaned, but now I'm certain. And I have to believe it's related to the cleaning fluid I've been using (L'Art Du Son), though I'm not quite sure what's going on. I know I read back when I decided to buy the stuff that there was some debate about whether it left a residue on the records. Some people said yes, others said no. I'm pretty sure the company that makes it claims that no rinse is required. With the Squeaky Clean, I basically decided to split the difference by putting the stuff on the record, brushing it in, letting it sit a short while, then adding distilled water, brushing that in, and then vacuuming. Not sure that any of this matters, but it is a bit mysterious.