Rega recommended lubricants

[lordvader]

Sorry to resurrect this, but I can't find the solvent cleaner required to clean out the bearing hub.
I checked RS Components (Australia), but the required cleaner doesn't seem to be there ...

Any advice ?

[coolmaster]

After removing the ball bearing, I'd push in some medical absorbent gauze with a disposable chopstick to remove any remnants of old lube, a second time soaked in some alcohol and wipe it all up, repeating till you're satisfied. With a tweezer, soak the clean ball bearing in some lube and drop into cylinder. Apply 2-3 drops of oil on one side of the platter spindle and refit carefully without turning the spindle till its fully seated..Done!.

I think if the solvent was in a spray can, it could be messy.

GhettoSQ : Your Valvoline shouldn't be very different from Castrol EPX. I'm thinking any run of the mill quality EP80/90 gear lube would do just fine.

[lordvader]

So it's not strictly necessary to use a solvent cleaner with trichloroethane, as recommended by rega ?

[coolmaster]

Originally posted by lordvader
So it's not strictly necessary to use a solvent cleaner with trichloroethane, as recommended by rega ?

We as owners just have to use a pragmatic approach in getting the job done..afterall what I suggested gets the job done anyhow and am confident it'll not have any adverse effects.

[Panicos K]

I am quite surprised to read about using 80W/90 lubricants for a turntable bearing.I think this is a ''damping''oil not a lubricant.I have had a very rescent experience with a rega P2 which simply refused to deliver fine detail and air,until we have got rid of the supplied bearing oil and replaced it with a thinner type sent to us by a friend.Do we really need such a thick lubricant for a turntable?I would never thought of going back to the original in any case.Please let me have some comments on this really tnterresting topic.

[coolmaster]

Its never occured to me that a thinner oil would could improve sonic detail. Linn recommends SAE30 or similar right?
I suppose its no harm changing to the thinner viscosity Mobil 1 synthetic. Any lube is better than running dry or ill maintained. Afterall, I only need a few drops and I could obtain some for free from freshly discarded Mobil 1 containers at the nearest car service center.
There's also some belief that by replacing the ordinary ball bearing to some hi-tech ceramic ball could also improve things.
What I've done not too long ago was cleaned out everything, replaced the ball bearing to an easily available Swedish SKF ball bearing, re-lubed it with the suggested Castrol EP80W90 gear oil and free spun it with the glass platter on. It took about 2min 45sec for it to come to a stop. From my view, its as good as frictionless. I think I couldn't ask for more as it performs to satisfaction..no problems.
I'm thinking we have to bear in mind an AC motor inside a Rega spins a little more than 33rpm, perhaps the decision to use a thicker lube contributes to getting the speed nearer to 33rpm.
On another note, I had an opportunity to help service a Planar 3 already fitted with an upgraded motor. After the service, a speed check with a strobe (the 2 tables spinning at the same time, both connected to an AVR PSU exactly 230VAC/50Hz) seemed to me it was spinning a little faster than my P3/2000. I'm lucky and glad my P3 is much closer to 33rpm.

[Panicos K]

I also thought that the thicker oil is used to bring the speed of the p3 closer to 33rpm,but on the other hand how difficult is for a turntable manufacturer to get the 33rpm right?The same test you did with the platter on,I did with the hub only.The very low weight of the hub showed more than clearly that with the original oil,the hub stopped much sooner than with the other oil,which actually is a 0W30 synthetic.The difference in sound was noticed by another person there.It seems there is more than just speed.With less friction,is nearly the same as having more torque and less stress to the motor.Less stress to the motor means less noise,and less friction is like having a better bearing.I can see nothing good in using thick oil really,unless the bearing has bad tolerances and needs the thick oil to fill the gaps.One last thing we noticed was that the p3 started and reached the 33rpm a bit quicker and smoother with 0W30.
Now about the changes in sound,I think it is something that makes sense.If there is a difference between say 80W90 oil and no oil at all,then there is a difference with anything one may use in between,maybe less,but it is there,waiting for us to decide where to stop.

[coolmaster]

Whether lube viscosity can improve sonic detail or not doesn't matter, but a frictionless spindle/bearing assembly should be as steady to 33rpm as possible with minimal wow & flutter. Any undue strain can cause w & f to worsen.
Rega P1 to P3 are budget tables and there's a limit to what and how much can be improved without breaking the bank, we have to bear that in mind.

If anyone insists on exact 33rpm, a Quartz locked TT is obvious and Rega TT's should not be on one's shopping list.

I've not seen the new Rega P3-24 fitted with 24VDC motor in action, and it has the option of an external Rega PSU thats supposed to stabilize the speed more. I hope to test drive one for comparison.

[Panicos K]

Coolmaster,I agree with you that speed stability is of prime importance,it is just that I wonder if this is good to be achieved at the expence of freedom of rotation of both the bearing/spindle and motor.And since lubrication of spindle/bearing is one of the issues in this discussion I just say my observations as the choice of the oil seems to have an effect on nearly all aspects of turntable performance.And let us not forget that in the case of belt driven turntables we also have the presure the spindle has on the inner walls of the bearing due to the belt tension.Reduced noise from the motor,belt tension and bearing/spindle friction,are some of the things a better turntable offers and to my opinion it is not so dificult to improve these points to a not so expensive turntable.And P3 is not bad at all to experiment.
Just a small correction,the P3-24 comes with a 24volts AC supply not DC.