Home Spindle Lube Test


In anticipation of an phono preamp switch I gave my 30+ year old Dual 1219 turntable a lube job. It's rim drive so the platter spins freely with the drive disengaged. The test involved only common household lubricants that have other uses.

Procedure: clean the mating surfaces with 99% isopropyl alcohol; lightly lube all sufaces using Q-tip; spin platter by hand at high speed for a few minutes.

The test (taken at 58F degrees room temperature): Engage drive at 33 1/3 then disengage it, noting how long it takes the platter to come to complete rest. I repeated each test once to verify the result. The results in the order tested:

Light machine oil - Gunk Household oil: 105 seconds
Bicycle bearing grease - Castrol Synthetic: 65 seconds
Automotive motor oil - Mobil 1 grade 0W40: 160 seconds

Note: when mounting the platter on the spindle, with Gunk the platter seemed catch as it slid down. On dissasembly, the Castrol had coated the surfaces reassuringly. I left the Mobil 1 undisturbed!
rockvirgo
Let me throw out another one to try. Automatic Transmission Fluid, some good stuff like Valvoline. I did this type of experiment in a MMF 7 I used to own and I liked this stuff a bit more than the Mobile One that Music Hall recommends.
Sean,
I agree to a point about your saying different oils should be verified, but one oil that was not checked was olive oil!

You might be surprised to find that it allows the platter to turn even longer than the motor oil.

BTW, longer turning time does not indicate that the lubrication is better, just that viscosity of the lubricant is lower therefore allowing more shearing of the lubricant itself which puts less drag on revolving spindle.
In fact too low a viscosity could be bad, since the lubricant barrier formed between the metal parts would break down and then we would have metal touching metal and increased wear. The platter, however, might turn for much longer, since the actual friction of metal to metal (sometimes ceramic) surfaces might be lower than with the lubricant between them.
Motor oils are for much harder lubricating conditions than a "babbit" bearing, which a turntable bearing is basically. That is why I said that motor oil is over kill. For lubricating a simple spindle, a light machine oil is all that is needed and while I might have been facetious in saying that olive oil would be just as good, I am sure that that is true! Try it, you might like it! (Pun intended).

Salut, Bob P.

PS. As a professional Chemical Engineer and having managed synthetic lubricant plants for several years, I am quite sure of my views on the subject of lubricants and their applications.
Bob,

What would you recommend? Something like Starrett oil, or a type of sewing machine oil? I ask because while I used the oil Chris sends out with the Teres bearing, I'm always open to suggestions. If a lighter oil will work better, I'm all for it.

Joe
I agree. About the only thing you could do to cause harm is to not use any lubrication. Heck, even water is a lubricant.
I judge a spindle lube based on how much extra noise I hear or don't hear from the platter.
Now that's the kind of post that makes this site truly interesting and worthwhile. Bob, your expertise is appreciated. My Gyro SE comes with a thimbleful of oil, which can be replaced for a mere $15.00. As an engineer, I was quite certain that Michell doesn't have a refinery create a unique oil for their application, and that any motor oil would think it was on vacation circulating around in my turntable. Thanks for confirming my suspicions.