I threw $60 at a used record cleaner and it nearly ruined my vinyl collection

Last month I bought this old Nicotiny record cleaning machine off a guy on Craigslist. Looked alright in the photos and he said it worked fine. Got it home, fired it up, and the suction arm started dripping dirty fluid all over my records instead of pulling it off. I tried to fix it myself but ended up scratching a few of my favorite LPs in the process. Total waste of cash and time, now I'm out the $60 plus I gotta replace a couple albums. Anyone else get burned by used analog gear like this and have tips for spotting duds before you hand over the money?

2 comments

2 Comments

charles91910d ago

Man that sucks, I feel your pain. Did you actually test the machine with a junk record before running your good ones through it? Thats kind of the golden rule with any secondhand audio stuff, always bring a throwaway LP to check for leaks or scratches before you trust it with your collection. If the guy selling it gave you attitude when you asked to test it, thats a huge red flag right there. I learned the hard way with a used turntable that looked clean but had a bent tonearm, now I always bring a voltmeter too for testing suction and motor stuff. What did the Craigslist guy say when you told him about the damage?

river_hall4410d ago

Read an article last week about how some older vinyl cleaning machines have a common seal failure point that ruins records if they're not caught early. Seriously makes me want to buy a test pressing or two just for checking gear before I risk my original pressings. The voltmeter tip is genius honestly, I would have never thought to check the motor draw like that. Hope you didn't lose anything too expensive to that bent tonearm.