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BIX TT Won't Hold Speed - Bearing Lube?

Gents,

About a year ago, I bought a BIX turntable, which came with its own synthetic bearing lube, which I used. The bearing is the middle vintage with the built-on platter collar, not the latest one with the oil grooves.

It seems like I have to adjust the playing speed quite often with this TT, and it seems to be related to temperature. In the winter, when the indoor temp is lowest (65-72) it runs the slowest, and in the summer, when the temp hovers around 80, it runs fastest.

The bearing has a very tight tolerance, so I think it's the viscosity of the oil that is affecting the speed. What type of lube would give me the most constant speed in this type of situation? Has anyone else encountered this problem?

My other TT is a Michell Orbe and I've also used a lot of the VPI tables in the past, and never had this problem with any of those.
plato

Showing 2 responses by dan_ed

dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
I have to admit upfront that I'm ignorant as to what type of bearing the BIX uses. What you describe kind of sounds like temp related issues, but I have a hard time believing that a few degrees difference inside your house between winter and summer could be causing this, at least as it might relate to lubrication. Very strange, indeed.

One experiment you could try is to get a can of freeze spray (Rat Shack maybe?) and some kind of digital temp sensor. Then you have a direct method for cooling down the bearing while watching the temp at the oil bath. Measure the speed with a strobe while the temp is low, then again at a normal room temp in the summer.
dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
I agree, ATF does work well. I think you might want to avoid any that contain certain additives, like teflon, etc, but I'm not sure. Maybe try a search on this over at AA.
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