Vintage DD turntables. Are we living dangerously?

My Experience with being willing to investigate the condition of
Vintage TT Platter Bearings, has helped me form the Viewpoint that they should not be 'Trusted as being in a Good Condition' and not left without undergoing a Internal Inspection.
Once having access to the Internals of the housing a  Cleaning and Service will be the best practice.

I first learnt of this through my purchasing a Garrard 401in the 90's.
I looked upon it as Vintage Car in relation to the Mechanics, and felt it would be best Serviced where the Moving Parts were concerned.

This lesson was furthered when I got involved with Lenco GL 75's and was reading much of the information that is available on the Bearings Condition and Servicing undertaken.
Note: Idler Drive Platter Bearing Housings are well thought out in relation to retaining a lubrication, and a residual of a Lubrication will usually be discovered within the housing.
The above TT's have a reasonably easy access to a Bearing for removal of the Housing from the Chassis.

Note: The following DD TT's have a few extra parts requiring removing to remove the Bearing Housing, so a little bit more of a Photo Documentation will support the reinstatement of any removed parts.

I now have as addition to the TT Collection, a selection of DD TT's,
that are made up of the SP10, TTS 8000, DP 80 and Aurex SR 520.
The SP10's Platter Bearing has been Serviced for me as Part of the TT's Overhaul.
I have personally undertaken the investigations the other DD TT's Bearings.

I have discovered TTS 8000's which have had a noticeable side ways movement on the Spindle when hand pressure is applied.
I also know that other TTS 8000's have been reported to have a eccentric rotation, and it is the above condition that 'could ?' be the contributing cause.
More recently a TTS 8000 has been discovered to have a Scribed Groove etched into the Base of the Spindle.

My reports on my findings have produced a extended thread on another forum, where other TTS owners have reported on what they witnessed when carrying out their own inspections.
Note: The DD TT's I have Inspected the Bearing Housings Internal on have all shown no evidence of any quantity of Lubrication Residual,
it is safer to say they have developed into running as a 'Dry Bearing'.
There has been evidence of a colouration left on the Spindle, but this has a more of a friction, rather than being slippery.

The methods used at the Sump to retain lubrication are not so impressive either, a little extra thought will produce a much improved interface for the seals used. 

More concerning and one of the reasons I continually report on this, 
is that there has also been Gold Coloured Dust seen in the Spindle Housing of a TT I have Inspected.  
It is believed the dust is from the Spindle when rotating be able to rubbing against the Sintered Bronze Bush and the Dust is produced through friction and accelerated through the dust being abrasive.
The Dust will also be capable of sealing the Perforations in the Bush and trapping the impregnated lubricant.
What ever way this is perceived, abrasive particle within the Bearing Housing is an unwanted condition, especially when the bearing appears to have developed into running as a Dry Bearing. 
Vintage DD Bearings are not a everyday item to be come by, so any efforts made to keep them in the most usable condition will be a good practice.   
      
I am not reporting on this to cause an upset, but it is a report that a Vintage TT's Platter Bearing can be in a condition that would benefit from an Investigation for the condition and while learning of the condition a follow up,
thorough cleaning of the Bearing Housing,
undertaking a exchange of the Bushes,
expressing a little extra thought on , or inquiring how to treat the Sump Parts, to keep a lubricant within the Housing avoiding a acceleration of Lubricant Seepage,
and adding Lubrication during the rebuild are all considerations and actions that will offer a increased peace of mind to the TT user.
  
   

I am using a Home Designed Purpose Produced Rack for my TT Set Up, and the Top Shelf has an assembly of Tiers built on it, to offer the TT a good foundation to perform on.
The AT-616 Pneumatic Feet have a permanent place in the assembly.
They were the Icing on the Cake for a good period of time.

I have used them for many years and today they are resident under a Sub Plinth for the TT and Solid Tech ’Feet of Silence’ are used under the TT’s Plinth.

The AT-616 have been tried out on visits to other HiFi owners homes and in one case used under Speakers belonging to a friend who was finalising a Decision to buy Townshend Isolation Bases for them.

I heard the Speakers with both the AT’s and as well when Two versions of the Townshend’s were put to use, was equally impressed by the improvements to the presentation from each Support.

The Solid Tech’s to my perception have the most impressive affect on a TT, hence why they are in direct contact with the TT’s Plinth.
I also like the idea that I can play with the Suspension Configurations, and the Weight Load contact points on these, in a way that the use different Materials or Different Diameter Materials can be utilized to produce a slight variant of a attenuation.

The Solid Tech’s have also been out more than the AT’s on home visits to other HiFi Enthusiasts and have been quite successful at creating a good impression for the other TT Owners when used on their TT’s in their own homes.

They Triggered Off my Local HiFi Groups Search for a more affordable challenger to be used for the same purpose.
I know there are Isoacoustic GAIA in use on at least two of the systems at present.

One friend took it to the extreme and produced a Platform based on the Design Principle for his TT.

I am as well experiencing a similar excitement for Vintage DD's,
I have been slowly bringing a Plan to the forefront to be undertaken

As part of my owned, but not used 'Daily' TT;s I have 2x TTS-8000
2x DP-80 and 2x Aurex SR-510;s.

I have a design in place to exchange an amount of the Original used parts on the TTS 8000 with a seen to be improved materials.

Some the most important exchanged components are to be produced in Duplicate from similar materials that are composites, and known for their stability to perform without change in any ambient environment and will remain unchanged in their properties when used on a TT.
The Duplicate Parts with have a variance in their Shore Hardness Scales readings, these Parts will then further allow for a fine tuning of a Attenuation when the TT is set up in its permanent set up.

The End User will (if wanted) be able to make some slight alterations to the Presentation of the TT, by swapping out a Part that has a Identical composite of materials, but produced to have a change in a property at the time of Manufacture to be a material that can be optimised for certain types of application.

I can then make a plan for the Other TT's if this Design Change to the
TT-8000 is seen as a improvement over the standard model.
As I am not seeing any restrictions on any of the the Stripped Back TT's that suggest the TTS redesign is limited to that model only.

There is a Plinth design Drawn Up as well, which is going to allow for a TT to be mounted in a Plinth that can be inserted into a Substantial Permali Support, in which the Tonearm is attached to.
This will allow for the TT Trials -
Original Model vs Exchanged Parts Model - to be carried out in with the exact same Tonearm Cartridge and be exposed to an identical Impact from the Ambient Environment.

When all this intention comes to fruit, and I have selected DD TT's from the group that have been the most impressive.
I can then produce a Plinth to be inserted for my other TT's be it Idler or Belt and carry on with a furthering of the comparison trials.

Obviously the above has a not so common approach to a
Preparation and Investigation into a Experimentation with a whole range of TT's used in a Standardised Set Up.

One of the parts used in the Standardised Set Up will be one of my sets of the AT-616 Pneumatic Footers, as these have lest a good impression on me for a Long Time