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The top plate on my Ariston TT is a problem. When I got it (20 years used of course)the metal was darkly stained with dirt. I cleaned the deeply brushed material, aluminum altho' it could be stainless,with mineral spirits and the Magic Eraser and then wiped on - wiped off Never Dull, again with the whie Magic Eraser. Nice and shiny! Now after a month the same dingy grey soil marks are back. Is it tarnish of some sort. Would it be worth it to remove (a real PITA) and give it an acid or some kind of bath and lacquer or plate or what? I hardly ever vacuum my place but it's really importan to me that the Turntable shine! Ya know?
Betcha it's oxidizing. You might want to apply a clear coat to prevent this.
I used to have two Ariston tables, one of the metal ones that the JA Michell looks like and the one that Linn modeled theirs after. I don't know what kind of horrible paint Ariston used, but it always looked faded and nasty,no matter how often I cleaned it. I finally ended up getting the metal pieces acid dipped and re-powder coated. Regards, Lee
I don't know what a magic eraser is (I know what it is conceptually, but I have no idea what it's made of) but it may well be your problem now. As wayne says, it's probably oxidation, but it may be the oxidation of residue deep in the brush marks of the metal. Before I tried anything else I'd try the Never Dull again (the cotton batten impregnated kind?) by itself, or some Brasso and a clean cotton rag, something like that.
Wellll, I haven't done anything yet. Still have the radio and the tower 2Pi's to do. And I'll wait until I'm ready to build a new base for the table which is why I'm looking at finger joints.