Posted by Kuja [ 212.62.63.128 ] on June 17, 2005 at 19:03:01:
Hi!
I've read many posts here regarding oil for Thorens bearings.
Majority of posters recommended Mobil 1 car engine oil.
After some more searching, I discovered that Thorens recommended Caltex Regal Oil B is still produced and that it is now named Texaco Regal R&O 46. Alas, I can't find it my country.
Regal Oil is a turbine oil. Mobil has a very similar product called Mobil DTE but the smallest package you can buy is a 20-liter barrel and I guess that the same goes for Regal Oil...
So I listened to the advices here and bought the least viscous Mobil 1 that I could find. In my case, it is 0W-30.
The Mobil 1 I got:
0W-30's viscosity of 56 cst @ 40°C is close enough to Regal Oil's 43,7 cst. 10W-30 has 62 cst, 0W-40 has 80 cst...
0W-20 is ideal with 43 cst @ 40°C, but I saw on Mobil's web site that it is discontinued now...
Before I pour Mobil 1 in, I would like to hear some first hand experiences, good or bad.
My TT is TD126 MkI. It is in my possession for twenty years and I never changed its bearing oil.
My guess is that the bearing is doing just fine for now.
It makes no noises.
Without the belt and with the outer platter back in place, I spin it vigorously and it keeps spinning for full five minutes.
If you need a procedure that you can repeat yourself (your hand spinning can be different to mine), I measured that after the point that it slows down to 33.33 rpm, the platter needs around one minute and thirty seconds to completely stop.
I guess that it's not such a bad result.
So, what is the final verdict on Mobil 1?
Is there a consensus that it is 100% safe?
My main fear comes from the additives - can they damage the TD126's bearing?
Thanks,
Aleksandar
[ Turntable Forum ] [ Help ]