Which Silicone Fluid for Kenwood Cueing Mechanism
- Thread starter Max D.
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Hi Max. A little more information would help.....what is the symptom that your cueing mechanism is displaying? Is it dropping the arm too fast? That is what happens most of the time but I would just like to confirm.
I had this issue with my deck (Nottingham Analogue Studios, Spacedeck w/Spacearm) and found that I had to experiment with it to get it to work the way I wanted it to operate. I finally wound up using 500,000cst but then it dropped too slowly.....added a drop of 3,000cst to the cylinder, worked it in a bit, and so on until I got the right drop-rate. I don't think I added more than 2 or 3 drops to the 500,000cst before I had it dialed in. I tried 300,000cst, as montycat suggested to be fairly standard and I think he's right, at least for the lifts that were made by Rega, but it was still dropping a bit too quickly for my preferences. Weight of arm and cartridge will have some effect, one would think, on the rate as well so that is why the experimentation process seemed logical to me.
I had this issue with my deck (Nottingham Analogue Studios, Spacedeck w/Spacearm) and found that I had to experiment with it to get it to work the way I wanted it to operate. I finally wound up using 500,000cst but then it dropped too slowly.....added a drop of 3,000cst to the cylinder, worked it in a bit, and so on until I got the right drop-rate. I don't think I added more than 2 or 3 drops to the 500,000cst before I had it dialed in. I tried 300,000cst, as montycat suggested to be fairly standard and I think he's right, at least for the lifts that were made by Rega, but it was still dropping a bit too quickly for my preferences. Weight of arm and cartridge will have some effect, one would think, on the rate as well so that is why the experimentation process seemed logical to me.
Max D.
Active Member
Back when I purchased the TT, the cueing mechanism would just drop without delay (Still do). After disassembling it, I found out that the dampening fluid had turned into a dry sticky green goo and cleaned everything. Being new to turntables, I wasn't aware that this mechanism required a high-density silicone oil, and I re-lubed with Tri-Flow synthetic grease which provides zero dampening whatsoever.
Note: Picture of the cueing mechanism after I cleaned it.
Max, that's excellent and thank you for the picture. Yes, some of the silicone oil in the right viscosity will make things a whole lot nicer. As you likely know, a thorough cleaning will be required again before applying the silicone oil. You will just need to do some trials to learn what works best but I like Montycat's suggestion that 300,000cst would be a good place to start. Maybe, if you're lucky, that will be all that is necessary. Let us know how things work out for you.
Max D.
Active Member
I've just spotted a seller on eBay who has Kyosho 300 000cst at a reasonable price + shipping, I'll probably go with that. Concerning the application of the silicone oil, do I need to put oil all over the piston or just fill the 2 narrow grooves?
regards.
Not sure, but in my case there was only one groove in the piston which I filled and then applied a generous amount to the bottom of the piston. In this way, when you push the piston into the cylinder, it will completely coat the cylinder wall and the overage will push out of the top as you go down. That's how it worked with mine, so maybe a starting point for you?
Be careful with the r/c car silicone, it may not be the correct viscosity. I believe all brands rate it differently.
I used this, works perfectly:
http://turntablebasics.com/silicone.html
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Why would they rate it differently? I have only used hobby shop purchased silicone fluid and it works fine. The turntable basics people might get it from the same suppliers, possibly in bulk, and use their own labels. Nothing wrong with that, but I also get about 30 or 60 ml for less than $10 Canadian.
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Yes that's clearly what they do. My point was that they've already picked the right one plus it comes in an easy to apply syringe for only $10.
I should have been clearer. Some of the R/C silicones are in wt and the conversions to cst are not linear by brand. I don't know about Kyosho but at first I messed with a few tubes of a different r/c brand (can't remember name) and the arm still dropped like an anchor. A complete waste of time and money. I wish I would have known about and ordered the TT Basics packaged one from the get go.
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Max D.
Active Member
I ended up placing an order for a little jar of Kyosho 500 000 cSt as I didn’t want to be disappointed by an oil too thin. Worst-case scenario, it’s too thick and I’ll dilute it a wee bit, as suggested by @Fishead. Thank you for your advices, folks, I’ll report back as soon as the parcel arrives.
You're welcome Max, and I hope you get it sorted out. My guess, and it's just a guess, is that the 500,000cst will have you waiting, and waiting, and waiting.....still waiting.....for the dang needle to meet the vinyl so get ready to dilute. The only way I was able to dilute it was with a lighter-weight silicone oil that I just happened to have around. You might ask the question of what else you can use should you need to dilute, or do you already have some lighter silicone oil around? I'm certainly no chemist, but given the very delicate nature of what you are trying to accomplish, I would be hesitant to try to dilute that stuff with anything other than a lighter-weight silicone oil.
Max D.
Active Member
The parcel arrived about a week ago but, unfortunately, there was a mixup and I received a jar of 50 000 cSt. However, the seller ( power_hobby on eBay) was quick to dispatch a jar of 500 000 cSt which I should receive in a week or so. In the meantime, I drop my needle the old school way. *thumbs up.
Did you get to keep the 50,000? If you did you now have the option to thin the 500k if it turns out to leave you waiting, and waiting.....still waiting.....
Max D.
Active Member
Did you get to keep the 50,000? If you did you now have the option to thin the 500k if it turns out to leave you waiting, and waiting.....still waiting.....
At first, the seller wanted to send me a prepaid label to return the 50 000 but then he realized I was in Canada and said I could keep it. Now that you mention it, I hadn't realized that I could use this 50 000 to thin the 500 000 if needed.
Did you get to keep the 50,000? If you did you now have the option to thin the 500k if it turns out to leave you waiting, and waiting.....still waiting.....
That is good advice.....exactly what I have done to thin the 500,000 so that my arm drops at the precise rate I want it to. It may take a few tries, thin....then thicken a bit again, but in the end you get what you want and the stylus just settles so very nicely in the lead-in groove.
Yes you can and will very likely need to do as the 500,000 is going to result in far too slow drop rate, at least in my case. It's easy to do though and I had fun playing with the various thicknesses to dial it in. Good luck with it and let us know how it goes.
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Max D.
Active Member
It's been a while but I've finally managed to get hold of silicone fluid! Yeah, half a year later... Long story short, the replacement mentioned in post #16 was never dispatched and I eventually got a refund. Then, I tried to find another jar but the stuff was out of stock everywhere I looked. I ended up dropping the tonearm the good 'ol fashion way for months until I found reasonably priced 500 000 cst from a British seller. Fast forward, I received the parcel this morning and made a 300 000 mix with the 50 000 jar that I already had. After fine-tuning the cueing mechanism, the tip of the needle hits the record in 5 seconds flat 
Note:
Fastrax 500 000 CsT
Kyosho 50 000 Cst
Note:
Fastrax 500 000 CsT
Kyosho 50 000 Cst
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