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Have anyone replace VPI SSM belt with string?

Most heavy platter tables like Verdier or Micro Seiki use silk or string to drive the platter and reason is obvious. VPI SSM or HRX both have heavy fly wheel that motor has to drive. I can hear my VPI SSM belt noise when it is not perfectly clean and will wobble and shudder especially running at 45RPM. This is more obvious on the two small belts driving the flywheel which much more work than the long belt driving the platter.

Has anyone tried using string or dental floss to replace the belts on VPI tables? I know for SSM or HRX, making two identical length strings for the motors will be extremely difficult and that means different load for each motor. But is this idea feasible at all? Are there any downside to the string?
semi
shiprepair
16 posts
 
I have a Ludlum turntable and the platter is driven by dental floss. This is very easy to do as the platter drive capstan is remote from the turntable and you can move it as far or near to the platter as practical.

Just take a length of unwaxed dental floss, join with a reef knot, put around the platter and the capstan and adjust motor speed as per a strobe platter.

The dental floss is terrific as it seems to last and last and because it is so thin and light it doesn't transfer any vibrations from the motor. I did use 2lb weight fishing line initially but sometimes I would forget to turn it off at night and it had parted by morning. I think it was the heat.

Great turntable. Silent as the grave. No rumble, nothing.
shiprepair
16 posts
 
Concerning the turntable above it is not Ludlum it is a Lumley turntable.

Sorry for the typo.
semi OP
649 posts
 
wow, didn't expect this old thread to revive after 3 years.

I sold the SSM and got a SSM Ref with rim drive, PRAT was definitely improved. I also picked up a Nottingham Hyperspace and have been playing with strings, no luck so far with what I have at home. sounds like cotton string is the ticket to get good grip and just enough stretch to couple the motor to platter.

can someone share the "proper" way to tie the knot?
rbanta's avatar
rbanta
3 posts
 
My black belt was totally stretched on my Aries II. I boiled my belt for 2 minutes floating in a steamer pan. Belt returned to original length. Saved me 30.00 dollars.  The sound is now more vivid and fuller
barrysandy
192 posts
 
I tried this a couple of years ago on a VPI HW-19 MKIII using silk thread. You will need a motor controller to get the right speed (I used a Phoenix Engineering Roadrunner).  Ultimately, the set-up was too much of a PITA. Although I liked the sound somewhat better, I went from having too much bass to not having enough. The thread slippage was always a problem for me.  I was using a clear belt. VPI's black ones are much better IMHO.

I now have a TW Acustic TT.
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