Can you improve the stock techie bearing???

[DSJR]

Thanks, I'd appreciate it

[UV101]

Thinking about the michell clamp, if you press down on the clamp in order to press the record against the platter when you tighten it, surely the reaction to the force is to lift the spindle off the thrust plate?????? The extreme result could be that the spindle is not in contact with the thrust plate and that the circlip is rubbing against the underside of the brass collar???

I'd expect this not to be the case with a weight???

[DSJR]

Gravity rules here guv'nor... The spindle will always drop back into position on the thrust pad.

[UV101]

DOH! Of course, must have started too early on the silly juice yesterday!!!

[Mike_New]

Hi UV101
I was not going to respond to this thread, on the basis that it has all been said before, years ago. Then I realised that a lot of newcomers to, and readers of this forum would be totally unaware of the ample discussions on the subject of the humble Techie bearing. And humble it is too!!

Your excellent images of the bearing show just how lightly designed and built the bearing is. All the so called modified bearings can be no better than the housing which contains the shaft and it’s support. Which are the same very feeble and flexible light alloy castings supplied as standard. The ratio of shaft length to diameter greatly magnifies this problem.

The Bearings I have designed and produce have a shaft diameter of more than twice the standard, with the taper being an integral part of the shaft. (not a piece of brass pushed onto the spindle) This shaft is contained in a massive one piece brass housing. machined from solid bar. The sintered bearing is honed to a few microns to very precisely match the precision ground and polished nitrided shafts.
The shaft is supported on a carbide pad and special nitride ball contained in a sealed oil well at the bottom of the bearing.

Unfortunately the above procedures do cause the cost of the bearing to be a bit more expensive than the alternatives, however the sonics prove the worth of this option and perhaps it is worth saving one’s cash to obtain the best.

The reason being that for any rotating system the bearing is the most important component. Especially when the rotating mass diameter, to bearing diameter ratio is so very high.

In the high resolution image of your own bearing it is possible to see the score marks on the inside surface of the brass insert. These are most probably caused when the brass insert is reamed out to a standard hole size using a steel tool and would probably exist in all the bearings to a greater or lesser degree.

In short there is not much that can be done to positively improve the sonic quality of the existing bearing without a total redesign of the housing.

[Stratmangler]

Thinking about the michell clamp, if you press down on the clamp in order to press the record against the platter when you tighten it, surely the reaction to the force is to lift the spindle off the thrust plate?????? The extreme result could be that the spindle is not in contact with the thrust plate and that the circlip is rubbing against the underside of the brass collar???

I'd expect this not to be the case with a weight???

The platter is tight to the spindle, with or without the clamp.
The clamp does not pull the spindle upwards, and the circlip does not come ino contact with the brass collar.

[Qwin]

The plastic thrust pad at the base of the bearing is probably Teflon.
As this wears the spindle will produce a dimple in the plastic, increasing surface contact and noise.

People who have Thorens decks (TD-150 etc) have a similar thrust pad and an upgrade for that is to replace the Teflon with a hardened polished metal shim, which looks very much like a shim off an overhead cam engine. Metal on metal, I know!
I tried this part on my Thorens and it did run quieter, so maybe that is a possibility on the Techie?

Rega use a steel ball bearing for the bottom of the spindle to run on. Isokinetic sell a beefed up spindle and bearing, plus a “Ruby Sapphire” replacement Ball, could this be used? And would it be an improvement?

I think a priority would be to get the WHOLE thing running in oil, top bush as well.
Not easy to achieve but if it could be, it would allow the use of thinner oil. My preference on the Thorens is 2/3rd sowing machine oil 1/3rd straight 20 grade without additives, flick the platter round without the belt on and it goes round and round and round – you get the picture.

Those are the options I can think of. The stock bearing was not designed for heavier platters and record clamps. If you use these, you may have to look at a bearing re-engineered from the ground up - in steps Mike New.

[UV101]

Not sure how I managed to miss the replies here!

One thing is for sure, the std bearing housing is extremely flimsy as compared to the Mike one. By dismantling, inspecting and cleaning the std item, I can easily see why its possible to make significant improvements. I think short term, I'll just keep it oiled with the origami oil but I know longer term it needs replacing with a proper one........

[jagdesign]

Standard housing seems pretty stiff to me?

[UV101]

I'm sure by comparison the alloy is far more flexible than brass.

Clearly I don't means its made of jelly but having dropped it apart, its easy to see how the brass block machined housing on Mikes bearing is far stiffer and more substantial.