Think I ruined stylus

That should not ruin your stylus. Try cleaning it with 50 alcohol in water with a soft brush.

A couple hours is nothing. Sounds like the stylus picked up a lot of dust. There are dozens of stylist brushes and cleaners. Just be very gentle. 

A couple of hours tracking the Dead Wax is very common, there are plenty of late night naps that are close to this time period, not all are known to cause damage, but serial nappers do use devices to lift the arm wnen in the Dead Wax. 

The arm lifter may be the ideal device for other activities that can create extended Dead Wax Periods for the Styli as well. 

In the days of old, when I was Tantric Guru, the Styli used be left to ride the Dead Wax for a few days at a time 😁

Stylus on cartridge, it should be fine. 
 

The other “stylus”, well, that could be another story…

It always costs you, one way or another.  :) 

Get little Little Fwend. 

@tsbarro I think your stylus was jealous!

I second the idea of the stylus picking up a dust wad. Even if it was ruined, it should have been worth it.

Exact is a nude mounted stylus tip. Look closely at it in a strong light. If you see the diamond tip there, it’s probably fine, just dirty. Bonded tips can shear off, but nude ones…I have never seen it. Little Fwend or Safety Raiser in future, stylus cleaning gizmo now. Hudson HiFi has an electric one that combines a solvent, a vibrator and a brush effect for $40.00.

Depends on which album you were listening to. For example, most modern pressings of Bolero have proactively removed the Dead Wax in anticipation of such events. Others, it's pretty much hit and miss.

Perhaps an tonearm lifter would be a good investment?

Hope your dynamic range is just as impressive upstairs as it is downstairs.

Some of my larger cartridges physically impinge upon the large SME clamp sitting on top of the label, which makes for a rude awakening if the music has soothed my savage breast. I had not thought of that as an advantage, but now I shall try.

How's the stylus look? If the groove in the dead wax passes under the edge of a slightly eccentric label, I could see it being damaged by collision with the label edge.

I've done worse. Probably just needs a proper cleaning as stated by others.

Did you even bother looking at it when you realized what you did??

@thecarpathian 

are you referring to looking at the stylus, or the other activities mentioned in the OP?

to be sure...send it to Soundmith in New York....cleaning, checking etc.

@mahler123 ,

🤔😂

@tsbarro - did you examine the stylus under magnification with a good light? (You don't need to remove the cartridge to do this). Playing the dead wax /run out groove is not a big deal- I do have some records where the run out is not "locked" and the arm/cartridge/stylus will go right to the label itself unless the arm is lifted. If that happened, your stylus picked up some paper from the label. It should be easy to see. And there are any number of ways to clean a stylus without damaging it, some of which are mentioned above. 

I'd check the stylus in situ first under lighted magnification. That will give you far more information to work with. 

OP

It's been 2 days, was it a dirty stylus or not?????????????

He’s…Uh…. Busy again.

I reckon the OP has taken up on the Tantric Tip 🧘

Next time, just put one of Qobuz's playlists on.  Lasts hours.

We know what he's doing.  Probably left his needle in the dead wax again. Don't come running to us!

Don't leave stray hairs on your needle.