Bearing examination

[colinB]

Im ashamed to say in the 2 years ive owned my Technics i havent oiled th center bearing. I thought i would have replaced it with one of the modified bearings by now but it was not to be. Is there a way to examine the bearing to see if there is any damage? :rolleyes:

[sparrow]

I've had my 1210 for two years and haven' oiled it either..how do you go about oiling properly?

[DSJR]

Fella,s, DON'T WORRY!!!!!!!

If you have the Technics oil, a good few drops to the top of the bushing (under the tapered bit) should be enough. As for the bottom thrust assembly, I could be wrong but I believe it can be got at via the hole in the casting. As Timestep suggest, ordinary non-viscous oil could be "flung out," but I get round it by using good old EP80, which stays where it is and doesn't appear to do any harm. It's not expensive either and should be fine for a standard bearing. Obviously the very close tolerance "super-bearings" out there need specialist treatment, but the stock techie bearing should take many thousands of hours of absolutely dreadful abuse I think, and many of them have...

[chris@panteg]

The standard bearing only needs oil every 2,000 hours , two years of use should be fine .

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300561723225

[colinB]

Thats a relief. Glad im not the only one.

[Jac Hawk]

As Dave says EP80 is a good cheap oil to use, the stuff i get also has molyslip in it http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300475401684&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

[Alex_UK]

I've owned my Garrard 401 for 25 years... Finally got round to ordering some oil for it last week! :lol:

[WOStantonCS100]

I recently examined the stock bearings from two of my oldest 1200's. While they still rotated quite freely (I keep them properly oiled), it was easy to see that gunk had built up around the area below the taper (where oil is applied) and the exposed portion of the spindle underneath. (I'm not sure how else to explain that without a picture.) I took a cotton swab, raised the spindle (as there is vertical play there) and removed the gunk (careful not to wipe away any lubricant on the thrust pad) and then re-oiled the one I put back in. The other has been replaced by a MN bearing. The open nature of the stock bearing seems to allow finer particulates to work their way in. I'm not a smoker nor do I use the fireplace in the room since moving the gear in; however, fighting dust is a never ending battle. And, invariably, the stuff makes it's way into the innards of turntables, amps, etc. Moreover, if your 1200 previously did duty in a club, that might be cause to check. Who knows what could be on there... spilt ale, salsa, sweat from girl friday... :eek:

I'm sure my 1200's ran for decades without attention paid to this area. I'm certainly not trying to advocate folks to take apart their decks. But, for those who obsess about these things...........................

[colinB]

The deck was an ex-club deck but the guy who sold it refurbishes Technics and is trust worthy. I know some center bearings can be checked for scoring but the Technics one is encased in the alloy housing.
What got me going is a thread on vinyl engine where some dude changed the stock bearing to a fresh one and sound quality improved. He also had not maintained the bearing. Plus when i can i want to send it to vantage for upgrade and i dont want to send a tatty one.

[Mike_New]

Good point Biff,
The fit tollerances on the stock bearing are such that a few drops of oil, say once every year would suffice to keep the shaft/bearing brass properly lubricated, the residue will slowly fall down the bearing and settle on the pressure pad where it will serve to lubricate it.
This way there is no need to dismantle your TT and remove the bearing for oiling of the lower pressure pad.

This brings me to another point, for those who have decided on the alternative modified stock bearings, which are claimed to have tighter shaft fits. Then these bearings will not easily permit the permeation of oil down the shaft, and so will require that the lower pressure pad is regularly checked for oil by dismantling the SL1200. and inspecting the bearing.

This is why in my High Precision Bearing the shaft bearing matterial is of a special syntered and vacuum impregnated material. The lower pressure pad being a totally sealed, oil filled space. This way your SL1200 never requires to be dismantled to check the lower bearing pressure pad for oil.

In reality the lower pressure pad is of the utmost importance as this is where the weight of the Platter is concentrated. The bearing per se, experiences little lateral friction (and therefore wear),as it operates in the vertical mode.

[sq225917]

"Little lateral friction" if you've managed to find one that hasn't been dj'd maybe... But otherwise it'll probably have experience quite a bit with all that scratching and back cueing.

[Mike_New]

I Guess you are correct Simon, in regard to DJ'ed TTs, I was considering only the situation in normal non DJ situations.

[colinB]

Having done dj work in the past i remember queing up a record on the resident technics and feeling the platter dip noticeably under my fingers which im guessing is lateral wear.