[Letitroll98]

Hey vinyl gurus, I'm rehabbing a Pioneer PL 550 turntable for my son.  The tonearm has a silicone damping well, I believe, what weight of silicone fluid would you recommend.  Med mass, 221mm effective length S shaped, with a lateral weight.  Thanks for any help.

[JohnR]

This may help?

http://turntablebasics.com/silicone.html

I used 300,000 for damping a Rega arm but that seems to be a different thing.

[timind]

I bought the product JohnR linked above, and have used it on three different turntables; it worked perfectly. Be judicious with it for best results.

[Letitroll98]

Awesome John!  I had found a source for the fluid, but the viscosities ranged from 6,000 cst to 1,000,000 cst, and it came in wide mouth bottles.  This site gives the correct viscosity ranges and a siringe that can be used for application.  The price here for 10cc is about the same as 2.5 oz of the other product, but the convenience is worth it.  Thanks!

[sunnydaze]

300,000 for tonearm dampening?!   

I dunno, that's very stiff.  Typically used for cueing fluid.

My guess is somewhere in the 10,000 to 100,000 range, depending on the amount of dampening you desire.

[Elizabeth]

My Kuzma Stogi S arm has a damping well with silicone fluid.
And I am CERTAIN the wrong level of fluid was the 100% cause of the table being sold used by the previous owner! Lucky me!!!!
I bought if off the goN' and it was local. So the owner dropped it off. fully assembled and ready to add a cart and play.
Well the sound was dull. I mean DULL. It comes with the bottle of silicone fluid.. and the unipivot easy to open. The well of fluid was pretty full. So I took half of it out, so only a mm or so of paddle on fluid. The sound came ALIVE.
The moral of this story is the fluid AND the fluid level matter a great deal for the sound.
SO instead of searching for the 'right fluid recommended by random stranger,' I suggest the right fluid by listening. Buy a few and listen to how they sound TO YOU.
My two cents.

[sunnydaze]

I agree 100% with Elizabeth.

And I wouldn't pay exorbitant prices for the "audio-fool" approved stuff.     

No reason to unless you enjoy being ripped off.  Goto an online hobby shop and search on "silicone fluids".  Pennies on the dollar compared to the audiophile stuff, and it's the same thing.  So cheap you can try several viscosities and let your ear decide.

For example:

https://www.hobbytown.com/search?s=silicone+fluid

I purchased mine from an online store called "amainhobbies".  I use it for my Townshend Rock's dampening trough.  I've also used it in other arms I've owned that had dampening at the pivot,  including:  Kuzma Stogi "s", Jelco 750, SME V

[mkane]

 At the moment I'm using 10,000 and I'm going thinner.

[Ericus Rex]

My Audiocraft uni-pivot uses 200,000