How to reduce the friction in the bearing

Hi there,

First off, a Mark II brand new? Seems odd since Oracle has been shipping Mark V's for some time now. In any event..maybe this is an obvious question, but have you used the syringe to load oil into the well before you inserted the platter? Cheers, Jeff

I bought it new in 1986 from Oracle. However, as I tried to set it up in 1991 first time, the motor broke in the first 10 hours. Oracle refused to service under warranty. Back in the box. Just got an origin live motor. Now the bearing seems tight. Are you saying to use a medical syringe to insert the oil. Have not heard before. Where would I get a hold of such a syringe? Thanks in advance.

I think these questions should be directed to Oracle. They no best what to do for your problem. Do not use sandpaper on your bearing that will be sure to involve expensive repairs. As I recall, their should be a small container of oil that you can use for lubrication, pull the platter and add a few drops, then reintall the platter. If you don't have the oil, contact Oracle!

If your 'table has been sitting around that long then you may want to spend the $150 and buy Oracle's maintenance kit they sell. You can order this from your Oracle retailer or from Oracle's website. Included in the kit is a medical syringle pre-loaded with oil that must be put into the bearing well before the platter is installed.

If you would prefer not to go that route you can carefully add some bearing oil into the 'table, many folks use 3-in-1 oil for this purpose. It'll take about 5cc's to fill up.

Good luck, Jeff

The Delphi II only required light machine oil. I read that in the Maintenance kits they started to recommend more oil (1-2cc) http://www.oracle-audio.com/maintenancekit.html

Try taking the platter off and place upside down on a pizza box with a hole in the centre. Undo the screws that hold the bearing housing and remove. Clean the bearing housing with alcohol and wipe the platter bearing with alcohol.

Apply some light machine oil to the platter bearing and spindle and fit the bearing housing onto the upside down platter spindle. Give it a spin. If the bearing housing spins freely then voila...problem solved.

Let me know what happens. You can email me directly for more info.

The issue of bearings has come up on other threads. Perhaps letting your Oracle lie dormant for so long has changed something (oxidation, etc.). It was suggested elsewhere and I suggest it here: clean both the shaft and the bearing well thoroughly, using a touch of alcohol (I use isopropyl) as well, and let dry. Use a good metal polish on the shaft, rubbing lightly (don't want to actually cause wear) until it shines brilliantly, and clean off thoroughly. Then use a lighter oil such as sewing machine oil first attempt to see how this works, then moving up to something better, cleaning the shaft and bearing well each time and try again. I hear elsewhere that oil for guns/rifles is an excellent quality oil in this application, and I'll be heading out to try this. There's also something called "Pronatur".

I agree with most of the above. First call Oracle to see what they recommend, and follow what they say, if they say anything. If they say you are on your own, then remove the platter and spindle, and clean spindle and bearing thoroughly, as suggested above by others. Get the proper oil in the proper amount from Oracle and put it in the bearing, and then replace the spindle and platter.

From what you have described, I see that this problem existed in the early stages of ownership and burned out the original motor. I don't know exactly why this is happening, but you must cure it or the table is useless. If the bearing or spindle is defective, then it must be replaced from Oracle, whether there is a charge for it or not.

Good advice from all the above. If you do end up cleaning and polishing the bearing shaft and/or spindle as Johnnantais described, go VERY lightly and use the finest polishing compound you can find. It would be easy to overdue it, and your suggestion of sandpaper makes me worry you may not realize that. Just a word of caution...

While i have never tried this specific application, if you are having a problem with friction / drag on the motor, why not use the slipperiest substance known to man?

Tufoil has 11 World patents and is also listed in the Guinness book of World Records as being the "the slipperiest substance known to man". It combines Teflon with other additives to achieve a lubrication factor that is "slipperier" than Teflon can achieve by itself.

Never used it to lubricate TT's, etc.... but i have used it inside of car engines. It works as claimed as far as i'm concerned. The only "oil additive" that i've ever used that actually gave me very measurable gains in gas mileage. As a side note, i've had oil analysis performed on several different motors and was already using what i've found to be the best oil on the market. As such, i wasn't counting on this stuff to "band-aid" deficient lubrication qualities in a cheaper product.

One thing though. This stuff is pretty thick, so it might be tough to use it in this application. I would imagine that if you can apply it in some manner, that the benefits of having such a lubricant with the associated reduction in drag might be beneficial. Especially if you've already got bearing related problems. Before doing so, i would do my best to clean out the existing "grunge" in a non-harmful manner. No sense in trying to reduce friction when the source of the friction is still running rampant / going to dilute the results of what could be a possible solution Like anything else, proper preparation can net better and more timely results. Sean
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I spoke to Oracle. They tell me that the teflon in the bearing gets bigger with time. This means that the gap in the bearing gets smaller and makes the platter not move freely.
They suggest sending the bearing back and have them remove excess teflon. Does this make sense???
Thanks