Don't use this to lube your VPI Classic bearing


I recently lubricated the bearing on my Classic using white lithium grease purchased from ACE Hardware. The brand is AGS; it came in a white 1.25 oz tube. After about a week, I heard a whooshing sound coming from (under) the platter at each spin. I removed the platter and the sight was not pretty - some of the grease turned into a gooey brown substance and pooled at the bottom of the shaft; there were some chunks of the grease inside the hollow. I didn't use that much of it and it looked worse than after a full year of use with the original job performed by VPI.

I cleaned it all out, and the whooshing sound went away. So if your Classic is due for maintenance, stay away from this particular product.

Does any Classic owner have a brand/product they can recommend for lubricating the bearing? Considering that you only need a little bit of it about once a year, $26 for the lube from VPI is a bit steep.
actusreus

Showing 2 responses by stringreen

I have to agree with Actusreus....I put just a bit on top of the ball of my Classic platter (on a Scoutmast/rim drive) and it's fine.
The Classic platter comes stock originally lubed with a special dry lubricant. If too much lithium grease is used later, it mixes with the dry lubricant and may even prevent the platter from rotating (that happened to me when I got the Classic platter for my Superscoutmaster/rim drive). After lots of self flagilation, Mike at VPI told me to just wipe the stuff off and start again with a tiny bit of lithium grease. I used a Q-tip to clean the well, and applied just a minimal amount of lube on the ball, and it works absolutely fine now.