LP12 left on

Hi-Fi Corner
1

Hi all,

I accidentally left the LP12 platter running for 36 hours. Will this have done any damage? Majik power supply.

2

Not any more than using the platter for 36 hours with numerous on/off cycles.

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3

I had a colleague in the past who owned an LP12 and he did not even switch off the turntable when he went on holiday. It was just always running.

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4

No problem,sounds even better :+1:

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Thanks all

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Reminds me of a humorous story. I used to frequent a dealer in Milton Keynes who had a Pink Triangle turntable on demonstration, sounded sumptuous but very temperamental so once they got it spinning they left it so!

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Might have steered clear of that ex demo​:wink:

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8

I dont know how many time I’ve done that after a to many beers….:partying_face:

One time a few years back the 1988 bearing was making a bit of a squeaky sound after 24 hrs of spinning! I just put a drop of sewing machine oil to the centre of the pulley and what do you know perfect! Love that old girl like i married here.

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I think people are overthinking this, and if they aren’t then the turntable they reference must be crap or in disrepair, if it can’t handle spinning for 36 hours. A turnable bearing running for 36 hrs should never need concern, paranoia, more lube or anything.

Otherwise, try digital instead. No oil required, and no bearings burning up out of control. :stuck_out_tongue:

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Or, for a more quantitative response to the OP, 36 hours is the equivalent of playing 50 LPs (both sides). I think that’s all he needs to know.

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I say, if you aren’t willing to play 50 LPs at a time, just give up and surrender to digital. :zany_face:

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12

I remember a dealer years ago keeping his demo lp12”s running constantly when the shop was open. He told me it improved the sound quality.!

I think he had 3 or 4 spinning all at the same time without anything on the platters.

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I have tried both. Honestly, a bit of warm up is fine, but after about 30 mins, I can’t tell the difference. To the OP; it really shouldn’t make much difference to longevity/health of the deck.

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Leaving the LP12 running should cause no problems whatsoever.
Indeed, I still keep a Cirkus bearing here which a certain Jon H (no longer posting here :frowning: ) had fitted to his Aro LP12 from 1993 until 2020 when the Karousel came out. This is because for most of those years, Jon used an Armageddon which sounded much better if left on and running the deck. Apart from occasional services or upgrades where I drained the oil so as to inspect the condition of the polished, hardened steel pad at the bottom of the bearing. That bearing was run 24/7 for near enough 27 years, less a small period of time for a house move! On inspecting the bearing when fitting a Karousel, I can confirm the wear on the contact surfaces was minimal! I still have the bearing at the shop as a keep sake if you like, and I can show clients how little wear there was over that time.
By contrast I have another bearing that was in an LP12 for about 6-7 years, used occasionally and stored periodically. However, the client used to remove the inner platter when transporting the deck, placing the inner platter in the lid packaging without protecting the spindle which would have been covered in oil and must have picked up some contamination from the lid packaging, sticking to the oil. Even with a bearing cap in place, not cleaning the spindle before re-insertion into the bearing transferred some dust/grit or whatever into the bearing, contaminating the oil!!! This contamination caused very accelerated wear to the bearing and this can be clearly seen when compared to it’s 27 year old sibling.
As I said earlier, I keep both bearing housings at Cymbiosis in order to show and illustrate to customers the importance of keeping the bearing free from contamination, as the difference to see is profound! The 27 year old with a small wear mark and the younger bearing with a crater in it’s polished pad and as such totally worn out and would have been very noisy in use, really degrading the sound! Bearing oil contamination is the thing to be avoided and not hours of use!
I hope this post helps you but highlights the dangers of removing the inner platter without proper bearing surface protection to avoid contamination.

Best regards,

Peter

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