Tonearm Damping Oil..what to use.

lmfree

lmfree

Active Member
What does everyone use for tonearm damping oil. The owners manual says to use 1 ml of silicone damping oil in the tonearm well. Where do you get it or is there a common substitute? This is a Jelco tonearm if that matters.
 
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I use the 300k weight fluid that I purchased from a local hobby shop.
This is typically used in the shock absorbers of radio control trucks and cars.
It works very well.

Al. Wise
 
I was under the impression that the Jelco arms use the same fluid for damping that they use for cueing. The hard part is getting the fluid into the cylinder. The entry hole is VERY tiny. If you figure that part out let me know.
 
I picked up some 120,000wt and 20,000wt at a local hobby shop today. I looked at the 300,000wt which flowed like thick molasses when cold; in other words it didn't flow much at all. The 500,000wt was in a jar and was a paste. The 120,000wt flowed very slowly so I picked that up. I hope I didn't make a mistake but I just thought the 300,000 looked like it had too much resistance for damping the tonearm lift elevator.
 
I use 50,000wt in my SME 3009 Improved arm with the fluid dampen kit. Here is the brand I use.

http://www.vinylengine.com/phpBB2/album_showpage.php?pic_id=14264

I have used 30,000wt but like the 50,000wt better. I'm using a Denon DL-301 MKII cartridge (high compliance).

Using fluid dampening really sounds good if you have the correct amount of fluid in.

For a Jelco arm I read that you only need a few drops. One thing I don't like about the Jelco arm is: How are you suppose to take out the fluid if you put too much in? With the SME 3009 arm it has a trough and it is so easy to remove any amount of fluid.
 
Keep in mind, that damping oils can be blended. One can take a lighter 10,000cSt viscosity, and blend it with a heavier cSt viscosity.

In regards to the Damping Oil-Fluid that was supplied with Jelco-AQ Arms.... The fluid was not that thick in my experiences.

In these instances, a lighter fluid may be more suitable, than a heavier one. And also keeo in mind, you're not looking to drown the damping trough. The differences in damping can occur with as little as one drop just beginning to "touch" the Paddle.

I would say in most instances, you won't need damping oil in a dual pivot arm like a jelco, unless you're running some really weird cartridge (Grado, or such)

The Unipivots may be more prone to acting funny with a larger number of cartridges. even though the particular cartridge may be said to work perfectly fine in other, similar mass arms. Mark
 
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Way back in the day, one of the magazines (Audio? Stereophile?) printed an article showing DIYers how to damp their own tonearms. Ingredients were a vinyl clamp that fitted around the tonearm, a thin machine screw and some matching nuts, a tiny piece of sheet metal to serve as the paddle, the bottom of a plastic bottle to serve as a reservoir and, for damping fluid, a small amount of STP (a once-popular very thick engine oil additive).
 
I think we're talking about two different things here. The OP was asking about cueing (tonearm lift elevator), not tonearm damping with a trough. I think some may have been confused by the wording in his original post.

As has been mentioned, you can mix different viscosities to get a custom thickness. Most have had success with 300K-500K--it is typically smeared on the lift arm shaft just to create friction between it and the cylinder housing, and that's why a high viscosity is needed--but the Jelco may be different. Just be aware that if you order from turntablebasics as you could end up waiting a long time to receive your order. I'd stick to the hobby shops.
 
I use 50K on my Pioneers and DUALS, but it may be just a bit thin for the DUALS. The Duals come down kind of fast, but the Pioneers are slow (3-5 seconds to touch the LP).

Larry
 
markd51 said:
Keep in mind, that damping oils can be blended. One can take a lighter 10,000cSt viscosity, and blend it with a heavier cSt viscosity.

In regards to the Damping Oil-Fluid that was supplied with Jelco-AQ Arms.... The fluid was not that thick in my experiences.

In these instances, a lighter fluid may be more suitable, than a heavier one. And also keeo in mind, you're not looking to drown the damping trough. The differences in damping can occur with as little as one drop just beginning to "touch" the Paddle.

I would say in most instances, you won't need damping oil in a dual pivot arm like a jelco, unless you're running some really weird cartridge (Grado, or such)

The Unipivots may be more prone to acting funny with a larger number of cartridges. even though the particular cartridge may be said to work perfectly fine in other, similar mass arms. Mark
Click to expand...

I have a Grado GF-1 on my Dual 1228, is it a good one and is there anything special I need to do for it? You mention above that it's a "weird one" I don't know much about it, thanks.
 
moonphish said:
I have a Grado GF-1 on my Dual 1228, is it a good one and is there anything special I need to do for it? You mention above that it's a "weird one" I don't know much about it, thanks.
Click to expand...
Hi, that thread is from 7 years ago. regarding grado as "weird ones" .....they can exhibit what has become known as the "grado dance" The cartridge reflects the polar moments that are trying to occur in the arm. Frank Van Alstine addressed this issue with the longhorn modification.
One of our members here is producing them again. If you have a Shure test album with resonate frequency bands, and at the resonate frequency the cart starts moving in a "weird" figure 8 motion, you might consider a longhorn for it. If it doesn't, then your arm is fine.
 
What oil is used in Garrard turntables .
I've got a garrard 990b what weight is used in it .
300.000 weight is that ok the cueing mechanism don't seem like its coming down soft .
 
I've used traxxas differential (diff) fluid that is meant for RC cars and comes in 500K and other weights (1000 to 1M weight available). Works great and is probably available at your local hobby store. (not hobby lobby or craft stores, but ones that sell radio control cars, planes, scale models, etc.)

Used the 500k stuff on a Dual 1229Q several (3-4) years ago, still working great. Very thick stuff. Was easier to just apply to the inner tube and twist around. No way that's getting injected anywhere. If the tonearm descends too slowly, wipe some off and experiment until you get a speed you like. The little vial I paid $8 for could probably service 30 turntables, lol.
 
Well guys I got the record changer working right on dropping the record .
But the tonearm is off on where it sets down on the record .

Can there be something sticking under the turntable .
It don't seem like it's lifting all the way up .
I'll fool with it this weekend when I got time .
I'm working second shift 330 to 2 am now .
I got one thing fixed and have too solve the other .
Oh I lost the stuff c clip on the idler wheel .
I thing the hardware store will have something close .

They have a bin with c clips I remember seeing that there .
If all else fails I'll get one from a guy who fix's them .
 
The smaller c-clips or e-clips are hard to find locally, however, I did find a multi size box at harbor freight that had a lot of sizes and 300 pieces for $7, so all but the two smallest that I needed (1.5mm and 2mm, I think) Ended up having to get the little ones online and I'll dig through my email to see if I can find where.

https://www.harborfreight.com/300-piece-e-clip-assortment-67653.html

I'm sure I have at least 10 or so hidden in plain sight in my office/workshop. I used one of those neodymium magnets on a string and went fishing by taking it for a drag around the room and managed to recover 2 or 3.
 
Well at least I got it working half ass for now .I don't have time till the weekend too work on it .
If you find a c clip let me know .I'm in no rush .
 
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