Questions to J.A. Michell turntable owners...

Thank you to both members for such a succinct and detailed reply! 

I am currently on a 4 year bearing cleaning/oiling plan and will bump that down to a 2 year schedule, at the minimum.

It is my understanding that the small ball bearing at the bottom of the hydrodynamic bearing is only a 'catch bearing', and comes into use only when the platter spools down to zero RPM.  The bronze bearing shaft rests on the small ball bearing, thus maintaining the proper oil reservoir level.  The instructions I received with my table are vague on this subject.

I had not considered 'build up' from the 'O' Ring belt drive onto the platter itself.  

What detailed method do you utilize to clean the platter drive belt grooves? 

The platter has a (unknown type of ) black coating on it and I would not want to remove it with harsh chemicals or over aggressive  'scrubbing'.

Once again,  thanks for the great feedback.......That is what makes this such a great site!!

@quincy I checked the oil; this is the Mobil 1 0W 40. show this

What is your Michell's model that you do not know yet?

You have the platter black color?   Clean it only from dust or for a more thorough cleaning use a wet sponge with soap and water (better if it is neutral) and then dry with a soft cloth.

I hope he understands my bad English ... sorry

best-groove. 

Thank you.  Your english is just fine.  I understand you perfectly. 

I may try a gentle soap type cleaner on a few cotton balls and gently press them into the platter grooves where the 'O' rings runs. 

I'll let you know how dirty the cotton balls came out once I perform the experiment.  The platter grooves have never been cleaned........

I may try a gentle soap type cleaner on a few cotton balls and gently press them into the platter grooves where the ’O’ rings runs.

Yeeees....perfect idea....but have two belts or one? Show your turntable pls

The platters don’t come "coated with a black substance ". They were aluminum first with aluminum bearing model , then delrin platter with an inverted bronze bearing. Delrin is like acrylic but closer to the composition of vinyl making it a better cunduit to let vibration travel through it and not reflect back to the cartridge. The best thing I found to safely clean the grooves of the platter of a Gyro is q tips dipped in endust for electronics. Its all natural and leaves no residue of its own and easily removes the residue the belt leaves from use. A micro fibre rag is good for the final wiping folded on edge into the groove to clean the groove . There is no scrubbing involved.
Make sure its "endust for electronics" in a blue spray bottle and not endust the furniture cleaner which has waxy oil residue to polish. The endust electronic cleaner is all natural based and works well , for this and for cleaning faceplates safely. Squirting it on the rag or q tip is more effective for obvious reasons.