Repairing skips

NeverEnoughMoney

I'm trying to repair a skip with a sewing needle. I've dragged the needle through the scratched part of of the groove a few times, but the record is still skipping in the same spot. Anyone have any tricks that work for them and that may be helpful?Thanks.

SoulOnIce

I tried the "press down on the needle and draw the record
back & forth over the skip" method for the first time
yesterday, and it actually fixed a couple of skips ...
it still had a click/pop where the skip was, but no jump.

holmes

I tried the "press down on the needle and draw the record
back & forth over the skip" method for the first time
yesterday, and it actually fixed a couple of skips ...
it still had a click/pop where the skip was, but no jump.

I also tried this for the first time the other day & had success.

NeverEnoughMoney

How hard did you press? I don't want to press to hard and damage the needle...

holmes

I just turned the weight up to full & ran it back & forth over the affected groove a couple times.

Secret_Chimp

I think somebody posted this link a while back (I've never tried it myself):

http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/7049/skips.htm

hammertime

2. If a record skips or has unacceptable surface noise because it's just plain dirty and cruddy (generally from good-intentioned cleanings, I suspect) or moldy (alas, I have seen this), don't despair - just wash it. I use a tub of hot tap water, dish-washing liquid and a shaving brush with nice, long, soft bristles. I work up a good lather on the record, and go around and around it in both directions. I submerse the whole thing. Don't worry about the label; it's very hardy, and never shows any adverse effects from the dunking. Then I rinse the disc off under cold tap water, shake off whatever water will come off, pat the flipside dry, put it on the turntable, and play it - still wet! So far as I can tell, this hasn't harmed my stylus or cartridge.

SoulOnIce

2. If a record skips or has unacceptable surface noise because it's just plain dirty and cruddy (generally from good-intentioned cleanings, I suspect) or moldy (alas, I have seen this), don't despair - just wash it. I use a tub of hot tap water, dish-washing liquid and a shaving brush with nice, long, soft bristles. I work up a good lather on the record, and go around and around it in both directions. I submerse the whole thing. Don't worry about the label; it's very hardy, and never shows any adverse effects from the dunking. Then I rinse the disc off under cold tap water, shake off whatever water will come off, pat the flipside dry, put it on the turntable, and play it - still wet! So far as I can tell, this hasn't harmed my stylus or cartridge.

Why suspect? I wash really filthy records like this all the time.
It works very well. Records are a little more durable than
some of y'all seem to think.

hammertime

you dunk the whole thing in water?

JLR

you dunk the whole thing in water?

as long as you don't sink the labels you are fine. You should rinse with distilled water though. Tap water left residues that DO sound when playing.

Kinetic

I wash almost all secoind hand records I buy as a matter of course these days.

Except for 150+ KPMs cause fuck that!

hammertime

you dunk the whole thing in water?

as long as you don't sink the labels you are fine. You should rinse with distilled water though. Tap water left residues that DO sound when playing.

well yeah I realize water won't ruin the actual record itself, i guess I took exception to this:

"I submerse the whole thing. Don't worry about the label; it's very hardy, and never shows any adverse effects from the dunking."

Kinetic

In washing 100s of records, there's only been a handful of times where I have noticed a little bit of colour run from getting the labels wet. Was usually 60s things too.

JLR

In washing 100s of records, there's only been a handful of times where I have noticed a little bit of colour run from getting the labels wet. Was usually 60s things too.

RED AND YELLOW LABELS ARE NOT TO BE FUCKED WITH

NiteKrawler45

you dunk the whole thing in water?

as long as you don't sink the labels you are fine. You should rinse with distilled water though. Tap water left residues that DO sound when playing.

well yeah I realize water won't ruin the actual record itself, i guess I took exception to this:

"I submerse the whole thing. Don't worry about the label; it's very hardy, and never shows any adverse effects from the dunking."

That whole dunking thing wierds me out.

I wash all my really dirty vinyl with distilled water and a tiny percentage of hydrogen peroxide, then I go back over them with just distilled H2O. I never submerse a label. I play it wet with a spair set of needles and a decent amount of weight. The needles pull out the wet grime and then I just clean the spairs and repeat a few times.

I think the most important part is what you use to wipe the surface.....brush, old tee shirt, etc....what do you all use?

hammertime

when I clean records I use that Groovy solution from Bags Unlimited...no idea what's in it but it's probably nothing special. I have some lint-free cloths I got at an auto supply store and I just wipe the shit out of them (literally).

NiteKrawler45

I tried the "press down on the needle and draw the record
back & forth over the skip" method for the first time
yesterday, and it actually fixed a couple of skips ...
it still had a click/pop where the skip was, but no jump.

sometimes it helps to heat the tip of the needle