idler rumble, heat, and record wear--a connection?

Maybe there's a heat lamp hanging over the turntable.

I'm thinking the massive ply plinth does not allow enough ventilation. Seems like after 1 hour of use when I remove the LP, it's like it was in a warm car. I've had tons of turntables, even a good number of idler drives, but this is my first idler ROK. With the clunky motor, the heat generated isn't so much my concern, its record wear from a warmed, softened LP.

I figured it was motor heat. If it is indeed anything to do with friction in the bearing generating that much heat, it's new bearing time. Maybe the bearing or the ball bearing is toast and the rumble is coming from there.

If it is the motor running hot, replace the capacitor.

I'd defer to any real scientist, but warming vinyl (up to some point which I don't know) might make it less susceptible to damage, not more.

Cooling vinyl to below room temperature reduces its elasticity. Vinyl subjected to impact stresses in that state will more easily chip or crack.

Warming vinyl to (somewhat) above room temperature presumably increases its elasticity. Vinyl subjected to impact stresses in that state would flex, then return to its original shape.

If the above is correct, *slightly* warming an LP should reduce the likelihood of stylus-induced groove wear or damage.

Caveat #1: there is *some* temperature above which vinyl loses its elastic tendency to return to its original shape after being deformed. Hot vinyl behaves more like a liquid than an elastic solid. This explains why LPs are made by pressing hot vinyl into a mold, and why the vinyl must be allowed to cool before removing the mold.

Caveat #2: warmed vinyl might be less susceptible to stylus-induced wear or damage, but the sonics of a softer groovewall would certainly be softer too; less HF information, less low level detail, softened microdynamics.

It's a compromise, like eveything with this wacky, loveable medium.