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recommended oil for well tempered spindle cup

have classic well tempered TT and arm from the 90's, upgraded to black arm and platter.
can someone give some insight for the contradiction i read in several forums:

"The type of oil can be specific to a turntable design, but in general, motor oil is not a good choice.

Motor oil is usually multigrade and contains all sorts of additives. This bad. Light multi=purpose or sewing machine oil is a bit to thin. I use a monograde oil sold for air compressors at about SAE 20 or 30. Quite cheap. Synthetic is better than mineral oil if you can find some. I am just using mineral oil as sold at Tradetools for about $10 a litre bottle."

on the other hand:
“...any synthetic motor oil of any brand within a viscosity range of 5W-50 is acceptable.”
and this:
"For the spindle, he said Mr. Firebaugh, the designer, has updated the fluid to be synthetic motor oil, 5w20 or 5w30, whichever is cheaper. he said viscosity is not that important."

 

128x128stone1
clearthinker's avatar
clearthinker
1,582 posts
 

And how often should you change the oil?  I do it on my Simon Yorke S10 about every two years.  After that time there is a bit less left in there.  It must evaporate a bit and will therefore thicken, perhaps slowing the table fractionally or introducing more rumble.  I use the oil Simon supplied.  Dunno what it is.

But I guess you need a different grade oil when running at 45rpm than at 33.  Very troublesome if you run 78s as well.

stone1's avatar
stone1 OP
112 posts
 

as i wrote, right now i use sewing machine oil.
plan to check if there is any difference with what was recommended by the designer

elliottbnewcombjr
5,373 posts
 

I forget how I found it when researching for lube for my Reel to Reel Tape machines, this stuff is the unreal deal

Liquid Bearings

"Liquid Bearings is a custom blend of the highest quality 100%-synthetic components currently available in the world. It is formulated using a process that re-arranges the structure so all the molecules are uniform in size, shape, and weight, an ideal phenomenon that does not occur in nature."

that's pretty close to audiophile speak isn't it?

https://liquidbearings.com/

 

 

stone1's avatar
stone1 OP
112 posts
 

thanks, looks like a very good choice, and they ship to my country ( not all of them do) .
made the order of the first link.
 

corelli
977 posts
 

Liquid Bearings is the exact oil I used on my Project table.  A pure, light weight, full synthetic oil is the way to go. You don't need all the additives that a high temp combustion engine requires.  And you don't want a natural oil that will oxidize over time.  

Liquid bearings also serves as a great clock oil.

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