How do you know how long you've used your cartridge for?

[Clive197]

This is not a question about how long will the stylus last but how do we know how many hrs the stylus has.

I would bet that nobody on here uses a timer that you turn on/off every time you listen to a record (maybe that's a good idea).

We have ALL quoted hrs when we sell, replaced or bought a s/h cartridge but how accurate is that information? Is it important?

Back in the day when I used MM cartridges, I replaced the stylus annually. I'm sure I wasted my money doing that but I did not want to damage my vinyl and got quite anal about it.

[struth]

Lot of folk use clickers that count sides. I,m not that fussed but some of the old ones are rather quaint

[Barry]

I just examine the stylus with a 60x eyepiece about once a month. You used to be able to buy a counter (think it was made by Colton) that was activated by the cartridge magnet.

Alternatively you can estimate the hours used by assuming each LP played uses 2/3 hour of stylus lifetime. So if you play three LPs a night, that's 14 hours a week, 60 hours a month or 720 hours a year.

[RobbieGong]

I think most people quote an approximate based on a calculation of roughly how many hours they spin vinyl each week or month etc. For most of us it's the only way.

[struth]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hand-CLick...MAAOxyCTtTdL~x

This sort of thing..the older onesxwere much better

[Macca]

Wasn't there a Jap deck that kept track for you? Can't remember who made it.

[Barry]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hand-CLick...MAAOxyCTtTdL~x

This sort of thing..the older ones were much better

Can't complain for less than a fiver.

[Nigel]

Everytime I listen to a side, I mark it down. I tick a box on a piece of paper which I've placed a load of squares on. I work on the average of twenty minutes a side. So three sides equal an hour. Sad man that I am I could tell you how many LP sides my cartridge has played.

[walpurgis]

Does it matter? I used a Technics EPC-305MC as my main cartridge for about thirty years. No idea how many thousands of hours were on it. It was always tracked at 1.75 grams and when inspected under a microscope the elliptical diamond tip showed no wear.

[Simon_LDT]

I literally just note it down. I've got a spreadsheet with all my LP's on and I make a note of any issues upon first playthrough. Plus I make note if it has been cleaned on my RCM (new feature for me since I got one recently). After each session of LP playback I just add the relevant no. of hours. Say if I had a session from 7pm-10pm, I'll add 3 hrs to stylus use, even though techincally I might have only played 2 1/2 hrs worth. That gives some leeway and I'd rather over-estimate than under.

Sad, I know.