mint

Wild Fi

VPI - Final Tweak

If you do not get enough suction force from the first tweak, or the VPI is leaking water, then you have to do a thorough maintenance.

WARNING: Unplug all electricity input to your VPI machine before the task. Consult a certified electrician or employ his labour. The following can be a dangerous task and risky. And the pictures below may cause discomfort!

Detach the bottom cover of your VPI machine you would know that it is just a very simple machine. A running motor, a vaccum motor and a water filter does all the work. There are 2 pieces of sound absorbing material. In my case they are full of black mould as there happened a water leakage at the water filter.

		Here we are: Steel-made water filter, connected to the hose Vacuum Motor Running Motor Sound Absorbing Material

The water filter is the only place to have leakage. First take away the vaccum motor to a side. Then dismantle the steel-made water filter from the machine. Peel off all the old silicon gel. Re-apply silicon gel, use a lot of it!

After fixing the water filter to the box case, apply a very thick layer to seal off the outer-edges of the filter to make sure there can never be any leakage again.

Leave it dry for two days. This is a very important step. Remember, two days to make sure the thick silicon gel gets stable.

The vaccum motor can be rusty owing to moisture. Do not worry, use a sandpaper to brush the rust away. Then paint a thick layer of red oxide primer over it. This prevents the motor unit from rusty again.

The wooden board supporting the vaccum motor has become rotten in my case. Hence I cut a piece of arcylic board to replace it. This makes my machine somewhat 'water-proof'.

A capacitor is added to the electricity supply terminal to 'eat' the sparks created by the vaccum motor.

When everything has been dry affix the vaccum motor unit again. Note I have replaced the foam rubber to improve the contact between the motor unit and the water filter.

I have replaced the foam rubber to improve the contact between the motor unit and the water filter.			Finally screw back the bottom cover.

When you vac-dry you should now notice an increase of at least 30% power from your machine and it really roars with noise. Now I always wear a pair of industrial safety use ear-muff when washing my LPs with machine.