I didn't mean the dust bunnies are actually the size of kangaroos. It was a joke. I find it very reasonable that some dust would end up in the bearings, especially in Australia.
I know. I've been in dozens of bearings, and I've never seen any dust or debris causing rolling resistance.
Stainless steel isn't rust proof. That's a misconception. Don't believe it for a minute. Given time and the elements it will oxidize and develop spots. It's not just not unlikely it's very likely.
I know that as well. As above, I've been in dozens of bearings, a lot I imported from Japan with the tell-tale spots all over the arm of extremely damp storage, and yet not a bit of rust or oxidation in the bearings. Further, rust being what it is, it's readily apparent if bearing performance is impact by rust vs. load resistance. The former exhibiting rough/sticky travel.
Technics may have not used lubricants (I don't know... Do you?) but previous owners might have.
I do know. They didn't. Previous owner is possible, of course, though the arm that showed the most resistance was NOS.
I wasn't quoting John word for word or I'd use a citation - I was just illustrating the case so I can point to the flaw. In essence - it was accurate.
You're comprehending what he wrote quite differently than I am. Quotes don't require cites.
I was positively impressed with your outcome b/c you had no outcome despite preparing a good experiment. You had the sense not to draw an impossible conclusion.
I assure you, had I dropped 10mg on one of my arms and gotten the results John did, assuming I felt no rough or uneven movement as signs of rust/debris/bad lube/etc., I would have drawn the EXACT conclusion he did. My next step would've been to disassemble and infect the bearings to determine the issue.
Whatever John did, whatever information he collected (no idea what that might be or how) he did not prove anything regarding the bearing clearance. He did not even have the means to measure and record any experimental behavior in a quantitative fashion. His experiment is of zero useful value and offers zero valuable data. Any reference to this as even a remote proof of factory bearings clearance inequality is misleading. I appreciate you are probably aware of it but it appears some of the other participants in this thread lack the ability to break this down to facts and I don't think John is doing anything other than adding to the confusion.
Have you been in to arm bearings? Repaired them? Adjusted them? As I person that has and does, there really isn't any need to measure Johns experiments, and the videos are more than adequate in showing the gross issue with his two arms. If you know what you're seeing and you know how the arm should behave, what he presents is absolutely valuable data.
Part of the issue here may be your belief that these arms are precision adjusted with instrumentation. I'd love for that to be the case, but I've never seen a single shred of evidence supporting that.
I'd like to note and make it clear: It's not inconceivable that factory bearings do differ in clearance. My point is - it hadn't been proved. Not by a long shot.
It's a practical impossibility that they don't differ. Clearance is set by the course-threaded pin, which shifts in a very meaningful way when the locking collar is tightened. Occam's razor applies that the bearing adjustment is the likely problem, and there's certainly no data that proves that isn't the case.
As for me, I have absolutely no interest in collecting further information on Technics bearings. This is not my argument to prove and it's not a subject I care for. You're not pinning this on me. My constructive contribution is in debunking ridiculous propositions and keeping this forum different and critical as opposed to it's many a teenager and DJ wannabe's counterpart forums.
Sadly that's not the message you're delivering. Constructive would be something along the lines of 'Hey John, can you determine that there isn't any rust, dust, or any other factor aside from bearing adjust impeding the movement of your arm?' The existence of a ridiculous proposition is your opinion; clearly one I, and others, do not share.
I fully understand adjusting tonearm bearings isn't for everyone. If you're not mechanically inclined, able to understand the finer details of how this stuff works, dexterous, able to formulate ways to determine proper adjustment and movement, etc., then this isn't for you. Similar to not approaching a dock faster than you're willing to hit it, to not take something apart unless you accept that it may not go back together, people need to make their own determination of their capabilities and what risks they accept.
@WaynerN, thanks for being thought-provoking, as always. I'm out.
