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Don't use this to lube your VPI Classic bearing

I recently lubricated the bearing on my Classic using white lithium grease purchased from ACE Hardware. The brand is AGS; it came in a white 1.25 oz tube. After about a week, I heard a whooshing sound coming from (under) the platter at each spin. I removed the platter and the sight was not pretty - some of the grease turned into a gooey brown substance and pooled at the bottom of the shaft; there were some chunks of the grease inside the hollow. I didn't use that much of it and it looked worse than after a full year of use with the original job performed by VPI.

I cleaned it all out, and the whooshing sound went away. So if your Classic is due for maintenance, stay away from this particular product.

Does any Classic owner have a brand/product they can recommend for lubricating the bearing? Considering that you only need a little bit of it about once a year, $26 for the lube from VPI is a bit steep.
actusreus
captain_winters
133 posts
 
VPI currently sells Super Lube (Bearing Grease) with PFTE for $26. Follow link below for the Music Direct add. If you look at the picture you will notice on the tube that Super Lube is registered. Therefore I suspect this is the same Super Lube with PFTE that you can also buy at hardware stores or online.

http://www.musicdirect.com/p-4595-vpi-suuper-lube-bearing-grease.aspx
brf
1,715 posts
 
Super lube is synthetic oil impregnated with teflon as a thickener to form a grease. Magic Lube is a Teflon based product with no mention of the suspension agent. Since Magic Lube forms a seal, I would guess that it contains some form of silicone.
semi
649 posts
 
so is this Super Lube the same Super Lube I have been using for years for my bike? this product has been around for 30 years, it has worked wonder among all the grease I have used, their oil is superb too.
swanny76109
382 posts
 
Yes, I have a 3 oz bottle coming tomorrow from Amazon for $6.50. It looks like great stuff, and I can use it on my bike components, car battery terminals, and garage door too. Now I have to clean out the bearing again! The magic lube I put in actually has been working great, but I'll go to the official stuff now. Thanks for everyone's help clarifying this.
captain_winters
133 posts
 
I just did my classic 3 with Super Lube, first I cleaned out the old Lithium grease using q-tips and also a little alcohol. The hardest to clean were the top of the bearing and where it mates to the middle of the flat teflon "race". Since the teflon race is flat and the bearing is round there is a small contact surface which you want to ensure you get the now "black" colored lithium grease off. The inverted ball bearing is on the shaft which mates with a flat teflon surface on the top of the platter. From previous correspondence from Mike at VPI, he had mentioned to me that the VPI CLASSIC 3 Tolerance on the inverted bearing to platter is .0005". I added Super Lube on the shaft, top of bearing, inside the platter, and on the teflon race. I inserted the platter, and guess what, the air tight seal would only allow the platter to go about half way down. If you pushed it down, it would compress, bounce and come back up. The tolerances are so tight, that they don't allow the bearing grease to squeeze out the sides of the shaft, it just forms an air tight seal. I then put the belt on and let the platter rotate for about 10 minutes with the center weight and peripheral weight, still no luck. Finally, I figured I had too much grease. I took off the platter and removed some of the grease, and tried again. Each time it went further down the shaft. After about 3 times of removing grease, I finally arrived at the following. Put a dab of Super Lube on top of the bearing. Coat the shaft with a thin coat. Coat the platter with a very thin coat, then just a dab on the teflon surface. This will get the platter down to 70%. Put the belt on and let the turntable run for at least an hour. If you see some progress after and hour, then you are in good shape. Mine seated fully after about an hour of play. I haven't listened to it yet, to see if there is any difference. I will say, that Super Lube is night and day difference from White Lithium grease that it comes with. After just 6 mos, that Lithium grease doesn't seem to hold up very well, there is hardly any of it left also. Not much to clean out.
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