Motor thrust bearing suitable for Rega P1, P2, Planar 2, Planar 3, RP1

Thrust bearing assembly-ball bearing height adjustable 

(Model TB1 - USD12.95)

What is a thrust bearing? And how to check if your turntable motor has a thrust bearing?

The pictures below will show you the difference :

A motor without thrust bearing / A motor with thrust bearing

Many of the older turntables (e.g. Planar 2, Planar 3 TT) or even some new models of the Rega(e.g. Rp1, P1, P2 TT's), Pro-ject and Linn TT's do not come equipped with motor thrust bearings.

Planar motor without thrust bearing

P1 motor without thrust bearing

RP1 motor without thrust bearing

But in some other higher Rega models (e.g P3-24, P5 TT's), we find that the motors have thrust bearings built-in.

P3-24 motor with thrust bearing

P5 motor with thrust bearing

RP6 motor with thrust bearing

Should we overlook the importance of this small motor thrust bearing?

We might not know that without this thrust bearing the motor spindle(and pulley) tends to oscillate up and down as there is a vertical free play of 1 mm-1.5 mm. And this has hence resulted in speed "inconsistency'' when the pulley rotates.

By adding to the motor this thrust bearing consisting of a high quality lubricated ball bearing resting on a suitable spring in a plastic housing, the motor spindle(& pulley) runs steadier, smoother and quieter as there is much less or negligible vertical movement. The spring also absorbs some of the resonant energy of the motor spindle. The end result is a noticeable sonic improvement.

Planar 3 motor fitted with TB1

thrust bearing

Installation of the thrust bearing is simple; it's press-fitted onto the bottom part of the motor after adding one or two drops of light lubricating oil to the ball bearing.

This thrust bearing upgrade is also suitable for those models of TT's (e.g Pro-ject and Linn) which are using similar motors ( e.g. Philips, Premotec and Airpax etc ).