How often to lube platter shaft / motor

My old '76 Sansui manual reads "Every 3 months or 200 hundred hours of play - lube the platter shaft & motor with a few drops..."

Is this excessive, not enough.... I think the last time this table was oiled was 2 years ago, and it still works great.

Every 3 months sounds like alot. A couple years is probably too long.

I would put a drop or two of sewing machine oil on the motor bearings about once a year and add a few drops of oil to the center spindle bearing also. The object there is to keep it full so that oil completely surrounds the center spindle inside the bearing.

Every few years it's a good idea to clean out the center spindle bearing and refill it with fresh oil.

They sell special oil for turntable bearings in web stores and on eBay. Seems a little (OK... very) overpriced though. Anyone know what kind of oil to use? One of the "turntable" oils I bought said it was synthetic. Don't know any more than that.

Hi. I brought the table in to a technician yesterday, and he outfitted a different cartridge into a seperate headshell, so i could switch off as I prefer. He also told me that my Grado black stylus was in great condition, but looking at it under the spy glass, he saw a build-up of lots of gunk from 'discwasher' record cleaning solutions. He asked me if I played lots of used records - - I do. Some people use inferior solutions that leave gunk on the LP, and that gunk gets picked up by the stylus. I use the LAST stylus cleaner.

Anyhow, he lubed the platter shaft with Marvel Mystery Oil, was excited to explain it's merits, and told me I don't have to use very much, and it lasts a LONG time.

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Originally Posted by igloomaster

My old '76 Sansui manual reads "Every 3 months or 200 hundred hours of play - lube the platter shaft & motor with a few drops..."

Is this excessive, not enough.... I think the last time this table was oiled was 2 years ago, and it still works great.

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Mobil One is the best lubricant that I know of that you can use. Use it today and don't worry about it for a few years. Great stuff to lubricate anything from hinges to turntables.

Do not use a lubricant such as 3 in 1 oil. It won't harm your turntable but it is not the best of choices.

Yep, I was thinking synthetic motor oil would probably be fine. Maybe a thicker grade like racing oil or something.

Or the Marvel Mystery Oil... Do you remember any of what the tech said about the benefits using that? Just curious.

Overall, tech said if you use Marvel Mystery Oil, you dont' have to worry about oiling again for a LONG, long time, unless you are playing records all day every day for a couple of years Something about it's viscosity and lubing properties... blah blah blah

I might give it a shot next time. You gotta' love the name!!!

Problem now is that my turntable with the "normal" bearing is in the closet. I took a brief look at the direct-drive I'm using now. Getting to the bearing looks like it's going to be a little bit of fun. Someday I'll get bored enough to do it!!! Probably hasn't been lubed since the mid 70s. I hate the thought of messing with it though. Finally got it all level and perfectly adjusted... Been changing turntables, cartridges, and phono stages for a few years now and I finally like the way my vinyl sounds. I really do enjoy vinyl more than CD, even with my modest analog gear. Maybe just brings back memories.

Turntable spindles are (usually) made with a VERY close 'fit' to the supporting bearings.... otherwise rumble and wobble would be excessive. That said, you want to use a very light oil to match these fine fits. Mobil-1 0W-30 is your best and safest bet.

Marvel Mystery oil is NOT compatible with many (most) synthetic oils, and neither is automatic transmission fluid because most synthetics will precipitate the detergent additives in trans fluid. The result is not pretty. Of course, Dextron-3 is tempting but you must know what you are 'mixing' it with.

You brought up a good point in that if you don't know what kind of oil is in your bearing, it might be good to clean it out and start fresh.

I did a little more research on the subject and it seems you're correct. 30 weight seems to be a safe bet for any turntable. Although, thicker weights (even bicycle grease) are recommended for turntables with worn or lower quality bearings.

Also read that ideally the oil shouldn't have detergent additives. And saw a few more recommendations for Marvel Mystery Oil, one from a manufacturer of very high precision turntable bearings. (recommended Marvel Mystery Air Tool Oil)

Think I'm sold on the old Marvel Mystery Oil. Seems like you should use the lubricating or air tool oil though. Not the oil/gasoline additive most people are familiar with.

THere are as many opinions about lubricants as there are about audio cables. Fortunately, some authoritative references are available. My favorite starting point is "The Handbook of Lubrication Technology".

Some key points to consider are
1. Synthetic oils such as Mobil-1 and AMSOIL are INERT and will not oxidize to form acids. (AMSOIL is notably better than Mobil-1, but slightly more expensive and more of a bother to acquire). Dino oils will oxidize, slowly or quickly depending on temperature and air supply, to form acids that just love metals.
2. Mobil-1 is easily found, say at Wallyworld.
3. The piston-ring analogy is moot because your turntable is (usually) operating at room temperature while piston rings usually are NOT operating at room temperature.
4. You want a 'thin' oil when you are lubricating very closely-fitted moving assemblies. Hence the 0W recommendation.
5. The synthetics will form a lubricating boundry film far quicker than will dino oils.
6. A heavy or 'thick' lubricant would never work in my turntable because such a lubricant would cause hydraulic lock that would prevent the spindle from settling into the proper position in the bearings.

Amusingly, I just asked this same question on another forum. I was concerned about my own table which shows no signs of noise, wear, or roughness. But its been sometime since I originally set it up.

One main concern is that if I don't know what was originally in the spindle tube, how do you know that the oil you insert will not have an adverse reaction?

Maybe testing for compatibility or cleaning out completely.

How do you do that? What would you use to "neutralize" the old lubricant.

BTW: One of the suggestions given to me that is commonly used in Europe is "Prolong". The motor oil additive.

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Originally Posted by royphil345

They sell special oil for turntable bearings in web stores and on eBay. Seems a little (OK... very) overpriced though. Anyone know what kind of oil to use? One of the "turntable" oils I bought said it was synthetic. Don't know any more than that.

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The special oils are very special in that they are specially engineered to seperate the audiophile from his cash a little appreciated and highly specialized lubrication function ;-)

lubricating a turntable platter bearing has to be one of the least demanding lubriction tasks of all time, room temperature, low stress continuous low RPM operation, synthetic motor oil is far and a away the best oil you can use for a new table or and older table with low hours and very tight bearing clearances use 0 W 20 for a normal application I use Castrol Syntech 5 W 50, be sure to wipe and or flush out all the old lubricant and whatever
metal particles and crud is in the bearing well before re-filling cheap aerosol brake cleaner
is excellent once you've swabbed out all the old oil.
FredJ