Garrard 301 advice

[mafioso]

Dear ara,

The original 301 manual only mention the term "oil" regarding lubricating the motor and does not give any specifications of it. Through the years I used Shell's handy oil to lubricate my 301's. Hope it will help.

Kind Regards

Charles

That frackin' Shell oil's no good, Charles

Castrol Final Drive EPX 85W140 does the job for me.

mafioso

[fdlsys]

Thanks. Will bear that is mind. Any advice from the people here on what oil to use on the motor and also the motor is running completely silent so do I leave it or is it still better to add a bit of oil?

G.,
Motor stripping does have it's difficulties and introduces a bit of risk.

As far as oils, here's a good post from Vinylengine :

Hi, can't speak to the spindle oil, since I'm a greasebearing user myself.

However, to the motor oil.

Three oils come up in this connection, and one of them makes very good sense.

    Sewing Machine Oil (singer) -- generally SAE 10 or lower, very thin lubricant made not for electrical sewing motors, but for the fine, low-mass mechanisms that address the needle armature, etc. This is the same weight of light oil that would be appropriate to copiers, printers, other light machinery.

    Electric Motor Oil (3-in-1 electric motor, blue label) --- SAE 20, and designed for medium sized electric motors, as in fans, drills, blenders, etc. Forms an appropriate oil film at motor temperatures. Contains no additives, won't emulsify or evaporate.

    Automotive Oil (mobil, etc) --- SAE 30, 40 and up. Designed for the high-mass parts of a car engine; contains detergents, additives, and other elements designed for running at the high temps & high revs of combustion engines. Not appropriate for turntable motors.


The time-honored recommendation of sewing-machine oil I believe to have devolved from what works on the idler-wheel-bearing, a very small bearing that uses the sewing oil perfectly. The electric motor is best run not with sewing oil but with ..... electric motor oil.

(Btw, sewing machine companies themselves advise against even the lighter weight Red label 3-in-1 oil as too heavy for their machines.)

Again, I've got no recommendation on the platter bearing oil, but for the motor, there is something satisfyingly logical going on with that 3-in-1 Blue Label. (The lighter, red label 3-in-1 has some objectionable additives that can result in stickiness at elec motor temps, I seem to have read somewhere.) And at least in the US, it's almost as easy to find as the Red, if you look in larger hardware stores.

http://www.3inone.com/products/motor-oil/

J.

On the other hand, Loricraft routinely recommend Singer Sawing machine oil. I would guess that with frequent servicing and top-ups, it must a viable option.

[Agaton Sax]

That frackin' Shell oil's no good, Charles

Hell,Hell,Please no Shell

[ara]

Did some further cleaning and all looks okay far. Just a question. How "tough" is it to change the speed from 33 to 45 to 78 rpm. The reason I'm asking is that the knobs are broken (not "lever" and is just round now) but I can't really turn the speed knob as it is to hard. The ON/OFF I can easily turn. Can someone try and turn the speed knob without using the "lever" bit, i.e. by just holding the round bit of the knob. Is it possible?

[Rudi]

if everything is properly setup it should be silky smooth and you should be able to do the selection
here is your source for spares

http://www.perfectsound.co.uk/

[ghostinthemachine]

Damn - looks like some people do still get bargains on these things...

[fdlsys]

...but I can't really turn the speed knob as it is to hard...

You didn't try to turn while it was spinning, perhaps? You can't. You can only change the gear while the other on is on the "off" position.

[ara]

You didn't try to turn while it was spinning, perhaps? You can't. You can only change the gear while the other on is on the "off" position.

I figured that one out very early  but because of the broken knobs I'm not sure whether it is to stuff or not. Will swing by sometime and come show you.

[ara]

if everything is properly setup it should be silky smooth and you should be able to do the selection
here is your source for spares

http://www.perfectsound.co.uk/

I guess I'll first get a new control knob before I judge whether it is to stuff or not.

[Family_Dog]

Have you heard anything from Martin B?


-F_D

[ara]

Have you heard anything from Martin B?


-F_D

Finally faxed him today via mweb's mail to fax service. It says it go delivered.

[charles]

Dear ara,

I also had a 301 that had the same type of broken knobs. I could not turn the speed selector. When replaced with an older model's knob, it worked well. Garrard made some earlier t/t models that used more or less the same knobs - The only difference is that its shaft is a bit shorter, but it works well.

Kind Regards,

Charles

[ara]

Dear ara,

I also had a 301 that had the same type of broken knobs. I could not turn the speed selector. When replaced with an older model's knob, it worked well. Garrard made some earlier t/t models that used more or less the same knobs - The only difference is that its shaft is a bit shorter, but it works well.

Kind Regards,

Charles

Thanks for that info.

[ara]

Now on to the next question. The last thing on the Garrard that needs work it self is the black face plates. On the one there is a small (about 4mm square) piece where the clear coat has is very damaged and on the other plates there is very small "bubble" almost on the plates. Any suggestions on fixing the clear coat over the black paint?

[mafioso]

Hi

I don't think it is black paint on the legend plates. More likely a deposition of black colouring by chemical process or black anodising IF the plates are made from aluminium. I'm guessing so because the lettering is extremely hardwearing.

If one is into restoration and prettifying audio gears, it is very useful to acquire an airbrush and a small compressor with a moisture trap. These things can easily handle the wide variety of automotive finishes  - base coat for the colour and 2-pack clearcoat to protect the finish.

mafioso