Adding damping fluid to Audioquest PT arms ????

Howdy Wayne, I believe I have the Paperwork here for the AQ PT-6, and I'll pass on what it says ASAP.

I'm not aware if there are/were any changes between the AQ Arm I have, and the one you have, but I believe that there was no mention about varying the amount of damping by how much the screw cover was screwed down? I'll have to check on that.

What I noticed on mine (If I remember correctly), that there was some sort of Dimple inside the cover, and that a certain quantity of Oil had to be added for the Oil to contact this dimple to have any damping effect on the arm.

I would assume Audioquest themselves should also have the Damping Oil for these Arms, but I don't have any idea as to price? The Vial that was supplied with my Arm when I bought it, was a very small Vial, probably no more than 12-15 drops of Oil in it. Mark

Wayne, Thinking some more about this, that might be possible, adjusting how far the well cover protrudes into the damping oil bath as a means of varying the amount of damping, but with the cover slightly loose, I would then wonder if vibrations-resonances from this cover being loose could somehow have a detriment on sound, and the tonearm's performace would/could somehow be compromised?

I don't believe I ever read mention of this with the paperwork that accompanied the arm (Which really wasn't much) I believe they only mentioned varying the damping by just how much Oil you would Put into the well. Mark

According to the Elusive Disc's website, the Expressimo Heavyweight for the AQ PT Arms is still available.
I just ordered one for myself! :-) Reckon I'll give it a try, and see if it offers an improvement on my Arm. Mark

Wayne/all This is from from the manual, and specifically pertains to damping:

Medium Mass, Adjustable damping allows higher effective mass and/or use of Cartridges without internal damping (Such as Decca and Grado)

The AQ PT-6/7/8 features optional viscous damping.Damping allows the arm to behave as though it has additional mass at higher frequencies without affecting the moving mass at low frequencies. Too much weight, or resistance would prevent an arm from following the groove as it moves. On the other hand, behaving like a heavier arm at higher frequencies prevents the movement of the stylus tracing the groove from affecting the tonearm. Damping allows the PT-6/7/8 to provide a proper platform for almost every type of cartridge.

Not all Cartridges need damping. You may experiment to determine whether damping will improve your sound. The Large bearing Cover easily unscrews. Place a SMALL amount of the enclosed damping fluid in the chamber, and replace the Bearing Cover. If you fill the little cup. most of the fluid will spill out when the ball under the bearing cover fits into the cup. You can easily clean out the cup that holds the damping fluid if you decide to use less, or no damping.
Hope this helps you, Mark

Hi Wayne, To tell the truth, when I got my Table, and arm back in '96, the first thing I did was add the Damping Fluid to the well.

I added just enough through trial and error till I seen the resovoir full enough to see the fluid just contact the little dimple on the well cover, and that was it.

Honestly, I haven't looked in there since, and who knows, it may have dried up? (or turned to glue!) lol

Since I'm using the Benz Glider, it was probably something I didn't need with this particular cartridge, and the arm may perform better without it? Only one way to find out I reckon. None the less, the arm, and tracking abilities with torture test tracks have performed well, with no problems. From what I understand the Glider is a great tracking cartridge, so probably whatever I do with my arm probably don't have any ill effect one way, or the other.

I may decide to empty it soon for the heck of it.
In a few days, I should have my Expressimo Tonearm Weight, so maybe at this time, I'll go over the arm, and sponge the old oil out for good? Mark

Wayne, I'm getting the impression that the Expressimo weight bears no mechanical resemblence to the original, and that it only slides, and then locks with an Allen Screw?

If so, I can then understand the difficulty of attaining first balance, and then the proper tracking weight.

It should be here before the weekend, and I'll probably tackle it during some free time on the weekend.
I'll just have to keep telling myself "have patience", and one always should be in a happy mood when doing such fiddly procedures as this! :-)
I'll keep you all posted as to the results. Mark

Hi Wayne, I had figured it had to use some sort of clamping with screw because of its teardrop shape, and couldn't see how it could rotate on the CW Shaft due to this oblong design.

I'll bet it is a bugger getting the correct VTF. Hopefully my meager Shure VTF Gauge will be up to the task of again acquiring a similar VTF with my Glider, and most importantly hope that I don't in any way damage the Cantilever-Stylus by the repeated fiddling.
Mark