[AV Media Matters] Candle Wax follow-up

[Graeme Jaye <gjaye@retemail.es>]

Hi All

First of all, many thanks to all those who offered suggestions, both
on and off-list, to the problem of removing a large amount of candle
wax which was present of all four sides of a 2 LP set.

Secondly, I was asked to let everyone know how I got  on - you never
know, it may be you next time:-) - so here it is.

Basically, the suggestions fell into three categories, with various
sub-variations on the theme;

1. Heat the disc

2. Cool the disc

3. Find a solvent for the wax which would not affect the vinyl.

Firstly, I selected the visibly worst side to experiment with (on
the basis, there was the least to lose if it all went wrong).  That,
in itself, was a challenge, as they were all pretty bad.

Considering the three methods, I thought that heating might be a
little dangerous for the record and I was concerned that the hot wax
might flow even more into the groove.

A solvent sounded as though it might be even more damaging to the
record if I chose the wrong one.  As I am not a chemist and I didn't
get a mail from Duane Goldman extolling the virtues of his magic
fluid, I assumed even he was stumped by this one :-).

Cooling seemed the least likely to damage the disc itself, so I
decided I would try that first.  I am happy to report it came up
trumps first time.

Firstly, I made a work surface to support the disc using a piece of
6 mm plate glass with a soft towel laid over the top.  Under the
heat of a 60 watt bulb in an Anglepoise lamp about 2 feet above the
disc, I used a sharp-pointed toothpick (the flat type) and removed
as much of the excess wax as possible - trying to avoid actually
digging into the groove.

Having done that, I let the disc cool down to ambient and then put
it in the 'fridge for a couple of hours.  When it had reached the -4
deg. C the fridge runs at, I took the record.   Then I used the
toothpicks again, this time trying to catch an 'edge' of wax and
pull it out of the groove.

This seemed to be getting somewhere, but the wax was heating up too
quickly and losing its hardness.  Next time, I put the record in the
freezer - this runs at -20 deg. C (!).

After the disc had cooled down, I tried the toothpicks again and the
wax lifted out like a dream.  I had to put the disc in the freezer a
couple of times to re-cool the wax and make it brittle again, but
generally, the technique works fine.

Having cleared out as much as I could, I warmed the disc under the
lamp again and played the record through a couple of times using an
old pickup, set to track at about 12 grams.  I know this will
horrify the audiophiles, but - believe me - this was no worse than
the record had already suffered in its (somewhat cosmopolitan) life
and I didn't really think I could cause any more damage than already
existed.

The first time through, the stylus gouged out some more bits of wax.
I cleaned the stylus and ran it a second time.  The second check of
the stylus under the microscope showed the stylus to be clean, but I
ran it a third time for the hell of it.  Then I washed the side
properly, using a Monks, and played it for real.  The results were
hardly the pristine sound of a well-kept album, but they were
certainly in line with what the poor physical condition of the
record had led to expect anyway.

All this took me two whole days - and I am still working on side
three - but it did work and I expect the finished restoration to be
well up to the clients expectations (if not mine).  This will please
him greatly, as I had already said I had my doubts if we could ever
do anything for him.

Once again - thanks for all the tips and suggestions.  One day, I
hope I can return the favour.

Graeme Jaye
gjaye@retemail.es

Personal-CD - Affordable Audio Restoration

http://www.personal-cd.com