Silikongummidämpare som ersätter oljan i den oljedämpade fjädringen i skivspelare från Braun. Beklagar den engelska texten, men de här delarna har en begränsad svensk publik.

Renovation kit for the hydraulic (oil) dampers in Braun PS-500 turntables. (Ersatz Öldämpfer, Ölhydraulische Dämpfung)

A kit of three silicone rubber dampers, to be inserted inside the original oil dampers. No other hardware included or needed.

The classic Braun PS-500 turntables have often badly aged plastic and rubber parts, which have been unobtainable for decades. They have three typical problems:

1: The plastic cam wheel under the platter, controlling the tonearm mechanism and power switches, is made in a subpar quality of plastic. I can´t offer any replacements for those, but fortunately the plastic in them can often be repaired and armored applying super glue and epoxy in the right places. This is the only upside of Braun not making that part in nylon as one would have expected. To spare this part in the future, I would recommend to always turn the auto-stop switch on the tonearm off. A malfunctioning auto-stop mechanism is a main reason for the broken cam wheels.

2: The rubber mounts on the top and bottom sides of the motor are often hardened or disintegrated, increasing the rumble. I do sell new copies, cast in silicone in another auction here at Tradera. As far as I know similar ones can´t be found anywhere else.

3: The main problem on these machines is broken oil dampers under the springs in the suspended chassis. They break down in two ways: Dried out rubber in the topmost caps, and cracked plastic in the bottom cups. Both lead to the damping oil leaking out, ruining both the suspension of the machine, and the piece of furniture it is placed on. None of these parts can be easily replaced or repaired, apart by finding not-yet-broken ones from other machines.

The parts I offer are not intended to repair the original dampers, but to replace the damping oil within them with a soft silicone rubber plug. This way one doesn´t need to modify or replace any leaky original parts, should they be fixable later - all you need is to empty and clean up the oil cups, remove a stopper cup from within the damper, put in the silicone plug and readjust the action of the suspension. (OK, that´s actually quite a lot, but still an easier job than replacing the oil, and can be done keeping the broken cups).

These parts should not be seen as an upgrade or equivalent replacement of the original construction. Replacing a viscous damping oil with a soft rubber is bound to modify the properties of the damper. Íf only possible, you should instead restore the dampers with ca 3500 cst silicone oil, about 27 g per cup, removing any captured air within them.

But if your dampers are leaking, using silicone rubber is much better than scrapping the entire turntable. Mechanically the modification is in fact not as dramatic as it would seem. The original damper is a two-stage mechanical vibration filter: the stiff upper spring is mainly for damping higher frequencies. It is combined with a flexible rubber container with a thick oil, targeting more of the lower frequencies. Replacing the oil with rubber will change the amount of damping, and the frequency curve of the lower part of the filter. This still leaves most of the lower filter, and all of the higher one intact.

These reservations do not mean that a rubber damper must be audibly inferior to the original design, only that it will be different. One way to describe the difference is that you may lose a bit of the damping from motor and floor vibrations, but instead may gain a bit of speed stability, since the stiffened damper will reduce vibrations in the belt from a moving inner chassis. Whether these differences are in fact audible depends on your setup.

As far as I know, these parts are an original idea of my own, not available from anywhere else. Feel free to contact me with any questions.

I do ship worldwide. Please contact me for shipment costs if your country isn't listed by Tradera.

Please note that the shipping fee for trackable shipping outside Sweden automatically offered by Tradera often can be much higher than necessary. This is due to them somehow charging for a much heavier parcel than what I have selected.

If you think this applies to what you see here, please contact me. If I can find a cheaper postage directly from Postnord, it can be arranged by a payment through Paypal instead of Tradera.