How to reduce the friction in the bearing

The issue of bearings has come up on other threads. Perhaps letting your Oracle lie dormant for so long has changed something (oxidation, etc.). It was suggested elsewhere and I suggest it here: clean both the shaft and the bearing well thoroughly, using a touch of alcohol (I use isopropyl) as well, and let dry. Use a good metal polish on the shaft, rubbing lightly (don't want to actually cause wear) until it shines brilliantly, and clean off thoroughly. Then use a lighter oil such as sewing machine oil first attempt to see how this works, then moving up to something better, cleaning the shaft and bearing well each time and try again. I hear elsewhere that oil for guns/rifles is an excellent quality oil in this application, and I'll be heading out to try this. There's also something called "Pronatur".

I agree with most of the above. First call Oracle to see what they recommend, and follow what they say, if they say anything. If they say you are on your own, then remove the platter and spindle, and clean spindle and bearing thoroughly, as suggested above by others. Get the proper oil in the proper amount from Oracle and put it in the bearing, and then replace the spindle and platter.

From what you have described, I see that this problem existed in the early stages of ownership and burned out the original motor. I don't know exactly why this is happening, but you must cure it or the table is useless. If the bearing or spindle is defective, then it must be replaced from Oracle, whether there is a charge for it or not.

Good advice from all the above. If you do end up cleaning and polishing the bearing shaft and/or spindle as Johnnantais described, go VERY lightly and use the finest polishing compound you can find. It would be easy to overdue it, and your suggestion of sandpaper makes me worry you may not realize that. Just a word of caution...

While i have never tried this specific application, if you are having a problem with friction / drag on the motor, why not use the slipperiest substance known to man?

Tufoil has 11 World patents and is also listed in the Guinness book of World Records as being the "the slipperiest substance known to man". It combines Teflon with other additives to achieve a lubrication factor that is "slipperier" than Teflon can achieve by itself.

Never used it to lubricate TT's, etc.... but i have used it inside of car engines. It works as claimed as far as i'm concerned. The only "oil additive" that i've ever used that actually gave me very measurable gains in gas mileage. As a side note, i've had oil analysis performed on several different motors and was already using what i've found to be the best oil on the market. As such, i wasn't counting on this stuff to "band-aid" deficient lubrication qualities in a cheaper product.

One thing though. This stuff is pretty thick, so it might be tough to use it in this application. I would imagine that if you can apply it in some manner, that the benefits of having such a lubricant with the associated reduction in drag might be beneficial. Especially if you've already got bearing related problems. Before doing so, i would do my best to clean out the existing "grunge" in a non-harmful manner. No sense in trying to reduce friction when the source of the friction is still running rampant / going to dilute the results of what could be a possible solution Like anything else, proper preparation can net better and more timely results. Sean
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I spoke to Oracle. They tell me that the teflon in the bearing gets bigger with time. This means that the gap in the bearing gets smaller and makes the platter not move freely.
They suggest sending the bearing back and have them remove excess teflon. Does this make sense???
Thanks