Will a record weight harm the motor in a direct drive turntable?


I've considered buying a record weight for my Denon DP-59L turntable, but I'm concerned that adding the weight would put added strain on the direct drive motor.  Does anyone have experience or advice with this?

aggie88

Thanks everyone for the info.  It’s especially good to hear the comments from the Denon technician.  I’ve owned quite a few turntables over the years (Sony linear tracking, Ariston, Thorens, Music Hall, Fluance, etc) but the Denon DP-59L is my favorite.  I purchased it about 6 years ago recapped and restored from a guy in Dallas who sources the TT’s through a friend in Japan.  

Regarding the Technics SP10 MK3, I seem to recall hearing about a commercial which showed a man standing on the platter while it was spinning. Was I dreaming?

I have an SP-10MKIII. Technics claims: The inertia moment of the 10kg platter is of 1,1 ton/cm2... The platter has a 1,5cm copper alloy core (inner platter), supported by a diecast aluminium outer platter.
1,1 ton/cm2 is, BTW, the equivalent of 1000 tonearms all tracking at 2g.
 

I have a Three Metals for Platter Mats, Duraluminium - Gun Metal - Stainless Steel

I have Two non OEM metals as Platters - Gun Metal and Stainless Steel.

Record Weights owned can be used at more than 1Kg.

Certain configurations must be getting up to 14+Kg

The most recent design on the table will end up with another 3Kg+ of Acetal added to a Platter.

As I make it a personal thing, about the quality of the Platter Bearing. In relation to the sacrificial parts selected for the bearing being brought into the modern era. Where materials selected are modern materials and the parts selected are undergoing a machining that is as tight a tolerance as achievable. A Specialist Design for the Lubrication at critical interfaces is also put in place when one is gh adopting this methodology.

A Bearing undergone a overhaul on a owned TT, which is designated to be in regular use is not overlooked, there is always the intention to have periodical inspections.

This approach to having a Bearing Inspection periodically undertaken is quite different to how many many TT's from recent era's of production to Vintage era's of production are being looked after.

Keeping the Objective Focused only on a Denon DP-59L.

The 59L is a 40ish Year Old Model, which it can be assumed, in its usage life has undergone a total rotations of ?????? when the Bearing was at its optimal and has undergone ???????? rotations since the Bearing began to be non-optimal and has been progressing in the journey to being non-optimal through deterioration.

There are conditions that are known to be present as a result of excessive use of a non-optimised Platter Bearing, of which a few are totally not wanted to be occurring within a Bearing Housing.

If a TT user does not know the condition of the Inner of Platter Bearing Housing on the TT being regularly used and the TT owner is considering adding additional items at another Interface under the guise an improvement can be found.

Keeping this to Weight added at the Spindle or Perimeter or a Clamp attached to a Spindle. I'm not seeing how looking into how a Source Medium is to undergo a change for the design for it to be in contact with the Platter through the adoption of using additional ancillaries is going to compensate for unknown off underlying issues at another critical mechanical interface for the TT's function.

The only way for a Stylus in a Groove to not receive an unwanted transfer of energy from a Platter Bearing Housing,  which will be an energy received and sent on as a adulterated signal to be further amplified. Is to have a Bearing Housing that is having the mechanical interface within optimised for their functions, and sending energies that are much much less in their destructive capability.    

I thought the subject was record weights, not platters, and the assumption in considering what limits to place on record weights is that the platter bearing is in good functional condition according to the design parameters of the maker of the TT, whatever those may be. Of course no one would argue that the latter is of primary importance from the get-go. But most of us are not going to be replacing the OEM bearing with a custom made aftermarket one, unless the OEM bearing is found to be defective due to wear. The main way we have of detecting bearing wear is bearing noise. If there is audible noise which one may perceive as a kind of rumble, of course the bearing has to be serviced.  I guess you are saying that the bearing of a vintage TT is per se worn to the extent that it is suboptimal, just on the basis of its long term of service, whether one perceives "rumble" or not.  For the Denon DP80, and probably for the DP59L, Denon in their sales literature and owners manual stipulated that the bearing would "never" need service.  I think they actually used the word "never".  But I also think they did not contemplate a 40-50 year lifespan for their products. Let's also keep in mind that we are talking about a bearing that turns at the very slow rate of 33 rpm, most of the time; this is not the engine of a Formula 1 car.