Linn Karousel Bearing oil check?.

[Wayne C]

Linn Sondek LP12 | Facebook

Group for enthusiasts of the Linn Sondek LP12 and associated turntables. Healthy debate encouraged, all welcome. See 'Announcement' pinned post and please answer questions to apply. You will need...

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Won’t allow me to view it ?? , says this content not available at the moment , think you need an invite or something to view the content , I hardly use Facebook but I’d like to read the article that mentions my deck!

Says the owner only shared with a small group of people , changed who can see it. And it won’t allow people possibly who haven’t been invited to see it ?. If the forum isn’t allowing people to join to view content at the moment guess I’ll have to pass it by!.

 

[per-Sony-fied]

Won’t allow me to view it ?? , says this content not available at the moment , think you need an invite or something to view the content , I hardly use Facebook but I’d like to read the article that mentions my deck!

Says the owner only shared with a small group of people , changed who can see it. And it won’t allow people possibly who haven’t been invited to see it ?. If the forum isn’t allowing people to join to view content at the moment guess I’ll have to pass it by!.

You need to join the group to get involved. The Join button is just below the pic on the right.

 

[Jazzer]

I think there are two reasons.

Firstly, contaminants can get in. Although the bearing is tucked away under the platter, dust and debris can get in there over time and anything in there other than oil will cause wear and scoring of the bearing surfaces.

Secondly, although it's a very low intensity application, the oil does deteriorate over time. Especially the standard Linn oil. I have pulled bearings apart and found thick, tar-like goop at the bottom of the well or you can see a hard black ring at the top of the spindle.

Whatever the exact mechanics, it does make a difference. I've pulled very old bearings which were like new and others which were destroyed. Spindle rocking in worn liners and the tip worn away. Considering the trifling cost, it's best practice to change it occasionally.

How often you should change it is like asking how long a car wheel bearing lasts. It's going to depend on the type of oil, how much use the deck gets, how clean the environment is, lots of things. The accepted wisdom was once a year but I rarely do that. I also use J7 (Audio Origami) Booster Oil which is a noticeably better oil than Linn oil and has been specifically developed for turntable bearings. Linn oil is just Mobil1 with some molly slip added and, as far as I am aware, it hasn't been changed in decades. The J7 oil both lasts longer and sounds better. Yes, it actually sounds better. If you don't believe me, try it.

A different perspective here.
When I was servicing my Axis about 20 years ago, I managed to lose some of the oil.
I phoned up Linn and managed to one of their service engineers directly.
He told me that it was basically automotive gear oil, which made a lot of sense to me.
Gearbox oil is designed for extremely long operational life and I had some semi synthetic motorcycle gearbox oil to hand so I replaced the Axis bearing oil with that.
Straight away I thought it sounded better and I don’t usually notice minor changes.

I have since replaced the oil in my LP12 and again I preferred the change of oil.
I won’t go back to Linn’s own black oil.
I have changed the oil once on each deck in the last few years and not noticed any changes, which leads me to believe that it is fine to leave for long periods between oil changes.
I still have a good supply of the oil that I used so that’s me set for life on both turntables.
Unless of course I ever get that Idler…..
lol

 

[per-Sony-fied]

I guess this may be your turntable

Video

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[John]

I guess this may be your turntable

Video

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Doesn’t look good but I can’t recall running the motor and belt without an outer platter in place.

 

[matfff]

The issues that were encountered with the deck on dismantling included damaged top plate , damaged internal plinth, ? Practically imperceptible ( To my eyes at least ) buckled platter ( I couldn’t see this but Peter said he could, and I trust his experience ), etc etc the following parts went straight into the bin after assessing the start and rotation failures by motor / power supply at cymbiosis - motor / Majik power supply / on off button / various screws and springs etc. and I’m thankful for Peter taking the time to look at it!, he could of thought not my concern but the decent man he is, he kindly helped me out and I’m grateful for it!. Only experts or those knowledgeable about these decks through experience know that things could be hiding a lot of problems.

???????

 

[Mr Pig]

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I'd never seen an out of balance LP12 platter in decades then saw two in the space of a few months. The first was replaced under warranty. The second was a brand new platter which I took out of a sealed box myself. I've heard that Linn quality is not what it used to be. I ordered a new platter from Peter Swain and asked him to check it before sending it out. It's the best platter I've ever seen. Most have some kind of slight shading variances in the lacquer but this one is perfect.

I don't know what he means by internal plinth. Could mean sub-platter?

The power button for the Majik comes wired into a plug which connects to the board. As all Majik PSUs will come with one and it's not likely to fail maybe they don't see any value in it. Or it could have been chucked in a bits drawer.

 

[per-Sony-fied]

I don't know what he means by internal plinth. Could mean sub-platter?

Looking at pictures on facebook I think he may mean the the wood strips that hold the top plate in place.

 

[Wayne C]

Looking at pictures on facebook I think he may mean the the wood strips that hold the top plate in place.

I can’t see these images myself with respect which is kind of annoying for me personally , even relatives can’t join this group so they can let me have a look of the deck. The damage to the plinth was caused I’m guessing by a drop / shunt / bang into a door ain’t got the foggiest but the corner of the plate near to the on off switch was bent upwards and obviously had come into contact during this shunt with the plinth edge causing damage to that. Sorry that’s all I know. Peter said that someone had been in it before and not done a good job at it !!. All in all a depressing scenario for me personally as now I’m over £3300 and labour into this deck when I could have bought a minter with Ekos from Peter for 3k .. but things are fine or as fine as they can be after peters expert hand in install of the upgraded power supply!. That’s all I can say the deck is now as good as it’s going to be without upgrading to Keel or Kore or better arm in future years when I can afford to!. It’s I’d say as good as this deck is going to be now with what it has on it and I’m really pleased with the outcome. To be honest with you I wish I’d have investigated cymbiosis before hand and not waited till I needed an expert to sort out other peoples problems. As you all know the Linn dealers didn’t wish to know locally and thankfully Cymbiosis had no such concerns and gladly helped a guy out!.

 

[Mr Pig]

Looking at pictures on facebook I think he may mean the the wood strips that hold the top plate in place.

Right. I've not seen the pictures.

It's such a risk buying used LP12s unless you know them and can check them out properly. I've walked away from decks that looked like really good value because when I've checked them in person I could see how much it would cost to put them right. Damage or wear that looks trivial can add up while people talk about ' the bounce' which costs literally nothing to fix.

 

[Wayne C]

Right. I've not seen the pictures.

It's such a risk buying used LP12s unless you know them and can check them out properly. I've walked away from decks that looked like really good value because when I've checked them in person I could see how much it would cost to put them right. Damage or wear that looks trivial can add up while people talk about ' the bounce' which costs literally nothing to fix.

Now that’s the truest statement without a doubt, I bought the deck thinking, Less than two years old nothing could possibly be wrong with it!!

 

[Mr Pig]

Now that’s the truest statement without a doubt, I bought the deck thinking, Less than two years old nothing could possibly be wrong with it!!

To be fair that wasn't a bad assumption, I'd have thought the same. The Majik PSU failure should be covered under warranty as the LP12 has a five-year warranty. The platter should be covered too unless it has been dropped but they do come out of he factory with issues.

The main thing is that it's sorted now and hopefully will give you years of nice music.

 

[per-Sony-fied]

Well this took me an age to find but I think this is the damage...

 

[chiily]

Well this took me an age to find but I think this is the damage...

Is it just the particular perspective or is that innermost mitre way out of wack?

 

[per-Sony-fied]

Is it just the particular perspective or is that innermost mitre way out of wack?

Doesn't look good, my thoughts too.
There's another pic that shows damage to the plinth in the switch area which is possibly the cause of this.

 

[Wayne C]

Well this took me an age to find but I think this is the damage...

Thanks for posting the image . When I bought the deck you couldn’t obviously see that damage without dismantling it first, with respect to the previous owner he more than likely didn’t know about it also. But this is the problem with buying used You don’t know what’s lurking till you have to get things repaired / serviced and set up again. If the power supply wasn’t broken I would have probably sat happily with it in that state till an upgrade which ironically would have been a lingo 4.

 

[Wayne C]

Rather than start another question / thread will the tonearm follow the same arc as current set if I have to increase the VTA?. After setting a new height the arm base in the collar will either be a mm to the left or right from were it currently set.

 

[Joolzdee]

Rather than start another question / thread will the tonearm follow the same arc as current set if I have to increase the VTA?. After setting a new height the arm base in the collar will either be a mm to the left or right from were it currently set.

Why would you need to alter the VTA now? If Peter Swain has set the turntable up it will be spot on. No need for any meddling until you change the cartridge. And possibly not even then.

 

[Wayne C]

Why would you need to alter the VTA now? If Peter Swain has set the turntable up it will be spot on. No need for any meddling until you change the cartridge. And possibly not even then.

In order to get this Krane Tonearm level for VTA, from what I could see Peter has had to set the arm very low In relation to the arm collar. A consequence which has lead to the stylus not clearing 180gm records in the raised position. For 140 it’s fine but most of my current records are 180 or more, Peter has advised as a compromise that I increase the VTA, hence me having to alter it myself.
Peter himself said this Krane arm which he doesn’t sell isn’t a perfect solution as setting VTA isn’t that good with it, to get the arm perfectly level in relation to the vinyl it is touching the disc elevated on some records so as a compromise and to prevent damage to my records lifting it on and off it needs to go higher up. At cymbiosis he set the VTA with a linn alignment disc and a 140gm record which are considerably thinner than a lot of my vinyls especially the 200gm UHQR.

 

[Darren L]

Seems a bit odd, do you mean the rear of your cartridge is touching the record due to the increase in thickness? @Wayne C is your cartridge suspension on the way out?
I've never had a cartridge bottom out using a variety of tonearms and cartridges, I've a variety of records, some are super flimsy 100g or 120g while others are thick 180g or maybe 200g, though I can't be 100% sure what the weight or thickness is of my set up records, they could well be 180g.
I suppose the obvious answer is to set your VTA using one of your thicker records or alternatively use a couple of different mats with different thicknesses.