Rega Planar 3 question about oil

[graeme uk]

Yes, rega use gear oil, but its hypoid gear oil for high pressure.

This ensures there is a film of oil at the bearing contact.

3 drops is fine, in a rega bearing, 4 drops will start to come out of the top when the bearing is fully seated.

Of course, the size of the drop will alter

 

[graeme uk]

Another thing...

Light oil isnt always a good idea.

I spent ages playing with bearings and oils on my TT (not rega, but high tolerance bearing) and although a thinner oil reduced spin down times, it sounded worse than with a thicker oil.
I think my motor benefits from a little oil drag.

Other TT motors may not, i dont know, but its an easy thing to experiment with.

 

[Conrad Hoffman]

IMO a general recommendation on viscosity is impossible because bearing clearances differ as does the design of the thrust point. I avoid penetrating oils like 3-in-1 just because of the smell. Something is evaporating out of that and I don't want it in my tt. Many frown on automotive oils because of the additive packages, but I've yet to hear of anyone on the planet having an actual problem because of it. Castrol Syntec in whatever viscosity you need seems to work well. Ideally you want a lubricating oil with anti-wear additives, commonly known as a turbine oil or spindle oil, but you'll end up ordering a gallon at least. An anti-wear hydraulic oil also qualifies and can always be had locally. Gear oil worries me a bit because GL-5 oils used to attack bronze. I don't think that's as much of problem today, and the more compatible GL-4 oils are quite rare. Sewing machine oil is (I believe) almost pure mineral oil, with no or very little additive package. OK, but not a high performer. It's also a bit thin. If you want something just a tad thicker, but still a clear mineral oil, Hoppe's gun oil is a good choice. A synthetic ATF looks like a winner until you remove the cap. The smell can be too horrible to imagine! I also use Break Free CLP on many lube points, but I've never tried it in a tt bearing. It does have Teflon, if you're a fan of such. I believe TriFlow is similar.

CH

 

[stonedeaf]

I am utterly baffeled

I don't get this - folks we are the caretakers of these musical instruments - hopefully long after we are gone someone's going to be deriving at least a fraction of the pleasure we have from our turntables ? So why not use the extremely common and outright cheap 80 weight gear oil that Rega recommends ? Rega doesn't mind selling expensive after market parts (white high performance belts ?) - they simply haven't found anything that works better in their specific bearing design. Why risk trashing a table by very prematurely wearing out it's bearing ? This ain't broke - so don't "fix" it.

 

[gixxer]

Grill cloth

Here is the Solen Part number "X-14204-W" . Hope that helps .

Gixxer

 

[BaMorin]

IMO a general recommendation on viscosity is impossible because bearing clearances differ as does the design of the thrust point. I avoid penetrating oils like 3-in-1 just because of the smell. Something is evaporating out of that and I don't want it in my tt. Many frown on automotive oils because of the additive packages, but I've yet to hear of anyone on the planet having an actual problem because of it. Castrol Syntec in whatever viscosity you need seems to work well. Ideally you want a lubricating oil with anti-wear additives, commonly known as a turbine oil or spindle oil, but you'll end up ordering a gallon at least. An anti-wear hydraulic oil also qualifies and can always be had locally. Gear oil worries me a bit because GL-5 oils used to attack bronze. I don't think that's as much of problem today, and the more compatible GL-4 oils are quite rare. Sewing machine oil is (I believe) almost pure mineral oil, with no or very little additive package. OK, but not a high performer. It's also a bit thin. If you want something just a tad thicker, but still a clear mineral oil, Hoppe's gun oil is a good choice. A synthetic ATF looks like a winner until you remove the cap. The smell can be too horrible to imagine! I also use Break Free CLP on many lube points, but I've never tried it in a tt bearing. It does have Teflon, if you're a fan of such. I believe TriFlow is similar.

CH

I'm going with Conrad here, and expound a bit on what he mentioned about odor. It's called "out-gassing" and probably the #1 cause of belt "aging".
Not to change the subject......nor am i trying to steer it in another direction.....but the AR XA tables are a prime example of what out-gassing does. Pretty much every one that sat a while with the dust cover on, the mat melted itself into the platters, the belts turned hard as a rock, and the top plate paint turned to goo. Synthetic oils out-gas much less than normal motor oils. For those who oil the TT motor top bushing, 100,000 cst silicone is the best I've found.
Just my 2¢ worth

Marc