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VPI bearing oil/grease?

I know this has been discussed and forgive me but I'm a little confused. Most of my confusion is from talking with Mike at VPI. I called VPI years ago to ask what type of lubricant to use, the answer was white lithium grease. ( no mention of any of this in the owner's manual) After my bushings were replaced a few years later with bronze, I inquired as to what oil/grease was recommended. The answer was 40W oil. After reading other posts here, I've read that Mike has recommended Mobil synthetic, I don't ever recall them recommending VPI bearing grease to me or anyone. I'd like to get a definitive answer from VPI users here. Thanks.
128x128slaw
dover
2,182 posts
 
Beware teflon additives and oils. A fully qualified engineer ( proper engineer, Imperial College London ) advised me that the teflon additives can attach to the metal surfaces and that metal particles can embed themselves in the teflon, resulting in increased bearing wear.
My experience using teflon oil in a TT in the 80's was, after checking the bearing after 6 months, the oil was the dirtiest I had ever seen. Never used teflon oil again.
In defense of Slick 50, tests done on a Chevy 6 cylinder engine by the University of Utah Engineering Experiment Station found that after treatment with the PTFE additive the test engine's friction was reduced by 13.1 percent, the output horsepower increased from 5.3 percent to 8.1 percent, and fuel economy improved as well. Unfortunately, the same tests concluded that "There was a pressure drop across the oil filter resulting from possible clogging of small passageways." Oil analysis showed that iron contamination doubled after the treatment, indicating that engine wear increased
actusreus
733 posts
 
Dover,
I remember you mentioning it, perhaps even in this very thread, but I wonder how much of an issue it is for a turntable bearing where the contact surface is so small, as is the amount of the lubricant used. The very lubricant VPI recommends and uses contains PTFE as well.
flemke
595 posts
 
I bought a tube of the Royal Purple and applied it last night.

Tim
slaw's avatar
slaw OP
20,433 posts
 
Frogman: No, not the Royal Purple. It seems a little higher viscosity and in applying it, feels more stable. I used it my first round for about 7 months, looked at it and could not notice any breakdown at all. In that time, there was no noticable increase/decrease in platter rotations after turning the motor off as I've experienced in every other lube I've tried. A slight sonic improvement over the white lithium I was using also. I use a ceramic ball bearing.
dopogue
1,773 posts
 
Re Slick 50, it took me forever to get the sludge that stuff left behind out of a TNT-2 bearing well.
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