[78-L] Cleaning Aluminum Discs

[Doug Pomeroy]

Hi Kevin,

I know of no studies of the best means of cleaning recorded,
uncoated aluminum discs.

There are many aluminum cleaners on the market (popular with motorcycle
owners), and the strong ones will actually etch the surface, which is
obviously to be avoided.

The active ingredient in Noxon is ammonia, and I have seen no evidence
of damage from using it to polish the discs.  It only removes surface  
tarnish,
and I believe the particles of tarnish are infinitesimally small  
compared with
the size of the recorded groove, so there is no degradation of the  
audio.

A brush which really gets the Noxon into the grooves removes tarnish
from the groove walls, and in my experience this results is a slight  
reduction
in surface noise.

Corrosion is another matter.  I use an old tooth brush with Noxon to  
help
remove all the loose material.

Good luck

Doug Pomeroy
POMEROY AUDIO
Audio Restoration & Mastering Services
Transfers of metal masters, lacquers,
shellac and vinyl discs & tapes.
193 Baltic St
Brooklyn, NY 11201-6173
(718) 855-2650
audiofixer at verizon.net
===============================================

> Message: 22
> Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2010 23:31:01 -0700
> From: "Kevin P. Mostyn" <lists at mostyn.com>
> Subject: [78-L] Cleaning Aluminum Discs
> To: <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
> Message-ID: <98D3C716EE0E46E2937969A609475F00 at KPME6400>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="us-ascii"
>
> Bare naked aluminum, that is.
>
> Recently Mike Biel made an oblique reference to a previous  
> discussion on
> this list about cleaning aluminum discs. Does anyone remember the
> approximate date of the thread? I would like to read it but the list
> archives do not appear to be indexed.
>
> I watched the N.Y. Times video regarding Doug Pomeroy's work on that
> recently discovered jazz collection, which included some aluminum  
> discs. I
> noted with interest what appeared to be a container of Noxon. Is  
> this a
> recommended treatment for said discs?
>
> Thanks for any help.
>
> --Kevin Mostyn