Bearing well oil - NEED ADVISE


Recently ran out of oil for the well of my Nottingham Horizon T/T. Does any one know if I can sub. in any other oil than from the manuf.? My thoughts were Black oil (Moly D & Graphite mix.), 3/1 oil, or some other type of very light viscosity oil. All thoughts are welcome. Be nice now!
bluespwr101
My favorite (as long as the bearing assembly contains no plastic or teflon parts) is the van den Hul Spindle Oil which is "doped" with zirconium oxide (micro ball bearings).

The zirconium oxide particles prevent actual metal-to-metal contact, reducing wear and lowering the noise floor (or so vdH says :~))

I used some in my Goldmund Studietto, but the old stuff had been in there so long, it had to sound better (right?) and it did!
any synthetic motor oil will do it does not break down i use it on my simon yorke turntable
Contact the manufacturer !!! Many turntable bearings are designed to operate with high viscosity oils (like 80 weight hypoid gear oil) NOT low viscosity oil. The bearing materials may also be adversely affected by friction modifying additives like sulphur and molybdenum disulfide. Don't take a chance as you could trash the bearing.

For example using low viscosity oil in a Rega will sound awful and potentially ruin the bearing in short order.

It is counterintuitive, but a higher viscosity oil will often (in fact usually) sound better than a low viscosity oil, and will cause a negligible increase in the power required to turn the platter.
At the rotating speeds and temperatures that these bearings are put to, break down of the lubricant and viscosity aren't really concerns as to the life of the bearing. The viscosity, however, will affect the damping of the sound of the bearing. Any oil, even grease, will work to protect the bearing, but they might sound differently, depending on their viscosity.
I second the synthetic oil (5W30) recommendation as a good "forget about it" oil to be used in turntable bearings.
Bob P.