Oil For Nottingham Spacedeck?

I should point something out here.

The main deal with the oil is to prevent the bearing from failing. I have heard rumours that some manufacturers use the oil to produce drag on their drive system so that their speed controls will work properly. I don't know if the Nottingham does that BTW, but such use of oil is a mistake. It should be obvious why- misapplication will cause the speed control to not function ideally, and there is no way to know once the unit ships from the factory that its working right!

So, from an engineering point of view, that idea is flawed and something that no-one should do on account of poor reliability and repeatability. Thus, a proper oil that protects the bearing is what is needed. The Dextron I mentioned does this beautifully- I have used it in professional tape deck bearings and all sorts of turntables over the last 35 years. I have yet to run into a situation where it did not work splendidly. You can pay $100/bottle if you want, but I would not be surprised to find that the oil thus obtained is very similar.

Thanks, folks. Atmasphere, where would you turn to get step-by-step instructions on how to properly set up a NA Spacearm and deck? See my other thread on this site where I asked the question but did not get much feedback. Thanks again.

Anovak

I have a PDF of the circa 2008 NA Dealer manual that covers all their turntables. Email me at rdoorack at yahoo dot com and I'll send it to you.

Thanks, Robdoorack. See your email as I've just sent mine. Do you have a Spacedeck?

OK, I have made the decision to go with the Dexron as I had some of that in my garage left over from the last time I serviced the autotranny on the car.

Lifted the platter off the table and discovered there was hardly any oil left in the well!!! What was there had a sludge look to it and this was definitely NOT what was recommended, so I felt fairly confidently that anything I did would likely represent an improvement.

First, took some Q-tips and a rolled paper towel and cleaned the well along with the shaft thoroughly until there was nothing left of the old stuff. Then, as the setup manual Rob Doorack very kindly provided suggests, filled the well a little less than half way with the Dexron and lowered the platter back down. Spinning while lowering it, I was surprised at how easily it spun and as the manual suggests, definitely helped with getting it seated once again. It spun for a very, very long time and that, I thought, was already a good sign.

Hooked everything back up and pulled out a record with which I am VERY familiar in terms of precisely what it should sound like so as to be more sensitive to new sounds, anticipating that there might be some as others have mentioned hearing the difference between the NA oil and other lubricants.

But, "The Nightfly" (Fagen, highly recommended) sounded just as it should. I can't claim it sounded any better, nor did I expect that, but the fact that I have fresh lubrication in the bearing well and removed the old sludge definitely makes me feel better about the prospects of a longer life for the bearing.

So far, so good, and thanks to Atmasphere for the "sound" suggestion and, again, special appreciation is expressed to Rob for the manual. I'm still studying it and hope to become as familiar with this table as I am with my other components. I will definitely keep you all posted should anything untowards develop as result of the Dexron, but based on Atmasphere's comments, I doubt that will be the case.