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Storing a spare stylus - how long and best conditions?

Garven

Garven

Active Member
I've picked up a couple of spare styli while they were still available (AT150MLX, AT440MLb) and I also have some others I have but don't use frequently (M97xVL, M97VL, M44GX-SAS). I'm wondering how long these can sit around in storage before they start suffering from the typical problems I read about folks who buy NOS styli.

Also, what would be the best conditions for storing them?
 
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Shure recommends storing in an airtight jar. A friend of mine stores his in a vacuum sealed bag (in the box). Ozone is a stylus assembly's biggest enemy. Ozone will harden the suspension block and will make it brittle. Storing it in an airtight environment away from light is the best. My friend tested a 40 year old stylus from his vacuum sealed bag and it passed all the bands from the Shure Obstacle Course. So after 40 years, the suspension remained in a like-new condition.
 
Factory packaging, somewhere you'll be able to find it years from now.

(second part's the hard part)
 
petemcfc said:
I've never had that problem with a bag of peas.


Just my take on things.
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Yes you have, try reheating them without water lol. They are either steamed, steamed in the bag, or boiled. Plus they're in an air tight bag designed for the freezer, a ziplock baggy, freezer bag or not is not the same. Take those same frozen peas out of the bag and leave them on the freezer shelf, they dry out real nice real fast lol.

Here you go, put a baggy of pot in the freezer and see how badly it dries out quite rapidly, don't ask how I know lol.
 
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I keep styli in my supply drawer, along with my other spare audio parts. After 10 years, I get rid of a stylus, regardless. Having watched ice cubes evaporate in a modern freezer, I would never store phono styli in a freezer.
 
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as noted, O2 is kind of an enemy, reacting with the chemicals making up the elastomer. vacuum will work. as would filling the container with N2. vacuum seems the much easier route.
 
I tried to start a thread about this a couple of months ago. It went to hell in a hurry. I was specifically suggesting to put them in a seal-a-meal bag and suck the air out. After that a nice cool dark drawer.
 
Or you can buy the “insert an audiophile company’s name here” badged seal-a-meal bag for $899. Guaranteed crisper highs smoother bass creamy mids!
 
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