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Cleaning a Thorens

MX117.MC7150

MX117.MC7150

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Before I remove any paint/silk-screening from my TD-145 am wondering if it is safe to use something like a paper-towel moistened with 409 or similar cleaner followed by clear water to clean my TT? Am guessing the same answer would apply to all Thorens from the TD-125 thru the TD-165.
Thanks.
 
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Are you thinking of refurbishing the top plate? If yes, I don't think it's going to matter what you use beforehand, but rather what you will use before the finish. If you just want to clean, use a cloth and warm water.
 
I use a soft cloth, warm water with a drop or two of Dawn for wash. Do not need to get it too wet. Use another soft cloth and warm water for rinse. Use a third soft cloth to dry and shine it up.

Pieces of microfiber cloth and some elbow grease will do the job to make it shine.

No water or cleaner on motor. No water or cleaner inside bearing well.

Inside bearing well can be cleaned with isopropyl and QTips. I bought a polish from Joel for bearing well and spindle shaft. Then fresh lube. Keeping the spindle bearing well full of oil is a key element to a quiet table.

Remove pulley to clean, no cleaner near motor shaft. Oil the motor while your at it. Oil keeps it quiet.

Clean the inner platter ring with isopropyl. Dust off the belt with talc before re-installing.

After this, periodic wipe downs and a few drops of lube will keep it going.

Cheers, Bob
 
bobins08 said:
Keeping the spindle bearing well full of oil is a key element to a quiet table.
Click to expand...

How do you determine full? i have been putting a few drops in the bottom of the well, then applying oil to the spindle shaft. Also, how do you contact Joel for the polish kit? Thanks!:music:
 
MX117.MC7150 said:
Before I remove any paint/silk-screening from my TD-145 am wondering if it is safe to use something like a paper-towel moistened with 409 or similar cleaner followed by clear water to clean my TT? Am guessing the same answer would apply to all Thorens from the TD-125 thru the TD-165.
Thanks.
Click to expand...

I would not recommend 409 - it's too powerful and there's a good chance of marring/dissolving the clearcoat. I'd recommend wetting a paper towel with glass cleaner like Windex or something similar. Never spray directly onto the table - only use the wet towel on the plate, followed up with a dry towel should do the trick getting off the grime.

Follow up with a good car wax for maximum luster and extra protection.

**Also, Meguiars Fine Cut finishing polish will work wonders on the platter and tonearm. Great stuff!
 
try1256 said:
How do you determine full? i have been putting a few drops in the bottom of the well, then applying oil to the spindle shaft. Also, how do you contact Joel for the polish kit? Thanks!:music:
Click to expand...

This is the email I have for Joel:

j.boutreux@gmx.de

Ask for the polishing kit, he will likely include bearing oil and the motor oil.

His belt does not run to speed on my table. I source mine from QAudio. They are original Thorens, they cost more than aftermarket, and they work.

His instructions tell you how much oil to use and it comes in a syringe with markings, I just forget the perscribed amount.

A lot of people use 5W30 synthetic oil.

When I re-install the inner platter I cexpect to see some oil spill out --- Then I know I have it full :D

Really, about every 4 months I add a few drops. It makes a difference.
 
I wouldn't use paper towels on anything, only a cotton or microfiber cloth. Start with water then add a mild soap if needed. Diluted isopropyl for tough stuff but careful with the lettering. That's what I used on your LT-22 Glenn, and it came out very nice.
 
bobins08 said:
This is the email I have for Joel:

j.boutreux@gmx.de

Ask for the polishing kit, he will likely include bearing oil and the motor oil.

His belt does not run to speed on my table. I source mine from QAudio. They are original Thorens, they cost more than aftermarket, and they work.

His instructions tell you how much oil to use and it comes in a syringe with markings, I just forget the perscribed amount.

A lot of people use 5W30 synthetic oil.

When I re-install the inner platter I cexpect to see some oil spill out --- Then I know I have it full :D

Really, about every 4 months I add a few drops. It makes a difference.
Click to expand...

I have the Thorens belt from Q Audio as well. It is right on speed. I have been using sewing machine oil, same on all of my tables. When I first got the table, I put oil in the bearing and it overflowed so I must have done ok. I have had to ad more because of disassembly and set up done during restoration. The platter spindle doesn't have any marks on it and it will spin forever. Thanks!
 
At least a teaspoon full of oil. Sometimes it takes a half hour for the inner platter to fully sink into the oiled well
Over the Decades the "flavourof the year' oil for a Thorens shaft/bearing has ranged from Phils' Tenacious oil (bike shop) which is hypoid oil sans Sulpher to O weight synths.
ALL work "fine".. Pick one. Lack of oil is the issue, not brand/type
Polish the Shaft? What for.. to reduce it's diameter.. Really? If it has rust on it there are serious problems that making it shiny again..won't help.
Wipe the thing and Leave it Alone.
Belts Only need replacing when /if they are so stretched as to fall off in use.
Mine is still the oem with NO sign of needing replacement.. Yours should be same, unless some previous owner used it for a Slingshot at some point.
Need a belt Tie a length of unwaxed dental floss to length.
It's a proven better than oem upgrade IF you must.
 
Thanks to all for the responses. All I need now (other then the time to accomplish everything) is a couple of Thorens headshells.
 
Stick with the original belts, I've tried several aftermarket versions and the speed wasn't spot on with any of them. I can use them without issue in my Telefunken, it takes the same belt but has speed adjustment, so now I have many spare belts for that one :)

In my experience for bearing a light machine oil is best, but I haven't tried many different ones, just the universal machine oil I have (I think it's basically same stuff as 'sewing machine oil' or gun oil might be) - 10W30 was too thick at least and made the bearing a bit noisy. The tolerances are very tight so right kind of oil does make a difference, in the service manual for any given turntable they usually list the original oils used, sticking to those or similar you'll have no problems if the bearing is in good shape.
 
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