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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
lewm
12,556 posts
 
Dave, You forgot to add, "Bahdum-dum", a la Law and Order.
actusreus OP
733 posts
 
Thanks all.

Doug, I don't know what "functionally equivalent to the OEM lubricant" means in this case. As the poster directly below kindly cited, the manual simply speaks of "white lithium grease." White lithium grease does not sell for $26 for a small tube. If a VPI uses a different blend on their end, and it's superior to white lithium grease they recommend, they should say so. Otherwise, what do you use if a gourmet recipe calls for "butter"? I used white lithium grease I got at a Home Depot last year and it was fine. With this particular grease from Ace, there was no indication whether it was mineral or synthetic based. I now find out there is white lithium grease and then there is white lithium grease.

Frustrating to say the least.
bpoletti
1,531 posts
 
How about "Phil's" Green Bicycle Grease?
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,383 posts
 
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.
actusreus OP
733 posts
 
Stringreen,
This is news to me. I'm pretty sure my Classic was factory greased with white lithium grease (or an equivalent) as I saw some of it seep down the shaft with gravity.

VPI has an excellent customer service, but their manuals are often subpar. A lot of times, it seems VPI owners learn by trial and error, which is frustrating. The oiling of the motor is another example - people had no clue exactly where and how to apply oil to the motor. I read some of the threads discussing this and to my horror, some owners actually dismantled the motor assembly thinking that "below the brass piece" meant literally that since there was virtually no space between the pulley and the brass plate. This should have been made much clearer in the manual. Btw, VPI now makes their motors with a much wider space between the pulley and the plate, doubtless in response to owners' inquiries and confusion regarding this issue.
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