The ADS Vinyl Cleaner stands upright, eliminating the turntable from the equation. You add 4.5 liters of distilled water and a 20ml flagon of proprietary cleaning solution, which enters a reservoir. A proprietary sponge goes into a small side trough and, during the cleaning cycle, traps debris. The record is placed into a main trough between two rubber guides. Pushing the “on” button transfers the cleaning fluid from the reservoir to the trough that, when full, initiates a record spin cycle. Four microfiber rotors gently agitate the cleaning fluid around both record sides. After a minute or so, the fluid drains back into its reservoir, starting a four- to five-minute blow-dry cycle. A dinger indicates a complete cycle and, voila, out comes a super-clean record.
In layman’s terms, the cleaning process uses ultrasonic frequencies that create microbubbles and minute liquid jets that enter the grooves and literally blow out contaminants. For particularly dirty records, pressing the unit’s “on” button for a longer period extends cleaning time. A green light indicates a full fluid reservoir, a yellow light shines during cleaning, and a red light signals the need for a refill. One full tank of fluid handles up to 200 LPs, fewer if your discs are seriously grimy. The sponge needs to be periodically removed and squeezed out; microfiber rollers get replaced after cleaning 500 records. Fluid replacement is easily done via a release port on the unit’s rear of the unit (do this in a sink) and repeating the set-up process.
A physical effect called "cavitation" results from the generation of ultrasonic frequencies in a liquid. In this cavitation process ultrasonic "compression waves" are created by an ultrasonic transducer. When the amplitude of this soundwave increases to a level where the surface tension of the liquid is broken, the fluid will "tear" apart leaving behind millions of microscopic vacuum bubbles. These vacuum bubbles then rapidly compress or implode creating millions of tiny liquid jets small enough to clean inside the smallest grooves of an LP. This process, also called "microagitation," displaces any contaminants on the surface of the LP.