RE: [AV Media Matters] Transcriptions

[rwarren@pantheon.yale.edu]

Hi all,

Some lacquer discs have played with less noise when wet with distilled
water,
some not. I've never tried acetic acid. Lane Audio's cleaning fluid has
helped
temporarily remove the tan-to-white decomposition residue from many discs,
as
has Lagniappe Chemicals' formula (Disc Doctor), though the cleaners do not
usually change the sound but rather allow playback without frequent gumming
of
the stylus and consequent mistracking. I've been told that the reason is
that
the noise is a result of the decomposition and may be irreversible.

Richard Warren

At 08:21 PM 04/06/00 -0700, you wrote:
>smolians@erols.com wrote:
>
>> Playing lacquer discs wet with a solution of acetic acid, etc., actually
>> restores to the molecule an atom that has vanished during the aging
>process.
>> Or so the folks from the Manchester Polytechnic informed when I
>demonstrated
>> this phenomenon at a JTC conference 198?.  Different lacquer formulations
>> require different chemicals to effect this recompletion.  There are some
>for
>> which I have never found anything that works.
>
>This is a new one on me!
>
>Can you give a little more detail and proceedure on this?
>Could this simply be a case of the acetic acid "wetting" the surface
>like some people were doing with LP's?  Many of the discs so used could
>never be played dry after, I suspect because of deposited mineral
>content from the water used... it should have been distilled, but often
>was ordinary tap water.
>
>What concentration of acetic acid was used... common household vinegar
>is 5%.
>
>I wonder if Kodak acetic acid intended for stop baths could be applied,
>appropriately diluted, although I don't know what the "indicator" is
>that Kodak uses and whether or not it would be harmful.
>
>Comments?
>
>
>... Graham Newton
>
>--
>Audio Restoration by Graham Newton, http://www.audio-restoration.com
>World class professional services applied to phonograph and tape
>recordings for consumers and re-releases, featuring CEDAR processes.