Oil for TT bearing - any advise?

How about some opinions on how to clean out the bearing housing before adding new oil, assuming one is restoring an old idler or direct-drive type. Would you use a solvent to remove dried residue, for example? If so, what solvent is safe? Thanks.

I would assume when a manufacturer no longer exists, one has to then try to make the best choice as to what lubricant will work best.

If one visits Galibier's website, and does a little reading about thier bearings, and bearing principles in general, one will gain some good knowledge, that oil viscosity can be dependent upon bearing tolerances.

Tight tolerances will equate to thinner viscosity lubricants. A thin lubricant in a bearing with larger tolerances will permit bearing rock. As Galibier folks explain, using a heavy viscosity lubricant on thier bearings would most likely result in never being able to seat the bearing. The other problem would be an inappropriate lube for such tight tolerances, too much drag, and other problems.

I don't know much about Harry's (VPI) inverted design, but I gather the use of greases was used for a specific reason, and more than likely, gravity dictated that a lubricant was needed that would stay put.

VPI's greases were not meant to be used on thier older conventional bearing designs. Those bearings used, and still should use a high quality oil of the appropriate viscosity.

Then there's probably the more exotic designs, and in these instances, perhaps one would be smart to play it safe, and use exactly what the manufacturer recommends.
Mark

Thanks for all the good advise...since I became an audiophile (which in my case means I am all of a sudden depending on good sound, and hence can no longer really enjoy the obscure 70s private pressings I have in my collection)...and since I now have come to terms that Power Cords actually DO change the sound (and quite a bit)...nowadays, when I read that something (anything) improves the sound - I will as a general rule believe it's true (the door opener being the 'PC sound impact' realization)...so, in this case - I do believe different oils will change the sound (and will continue to do so until I have proved myself wrong ;-)

I will tread carefully avoiding using anything that can be harmful for the bearing of course and will read up on Galibier's and VPI's offerings...

To me the 'non-detergent' part seems important somehow - where do you go shopping for '30 weight non-detergent machine oil' (as Viridian advise) here in the USA?

More input appreciated!

Just regular old Mineral Oil in my V.Y.G.E.R. I believe they are in the tight tolerance light oil camp.

Go4vinyl,

Markd51 nailed it: your TT manufacturer recommended a specific bearing lubricant. The fact that other lubricants work well in or improve the sound of other turntables is irrelevant, they don't have the same bearing.

VPI and Linn bearings have fairly loose tolerances, so they need something heavy like grease. If I tried that in my Teres or a Galibier bearing I'd never spin a record - the tolerances are so tight the bearing would never settle into place. Likewise, if I put the thin oils recommended by Teres or Galibier in a Linn or VPI bearing, there'd be bearing chatter and probably damage.

Thomas Scheu recommended 30 weight, non-detergent oil. Use that until you meet somebody who knows your bearing better than he did. Any auto parts store should have some, or any shop that supplies machine oil, as Viridian suggested.