Melted mat - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

stevekendal · 22nd Jan 2021, 9:08 pm

So the deck in this Marconiphone is a Garrard RC210 and the turntable mat has somehow melted into a solid mass, as hard as bitumen. Any suggestions for removing it please?

G6Tanuki · 22nd Jan 2021, 9:18 pm

Warm it with a hot-air-gun?

Old rubber degrades in all sorts of odd ways. If heat doesn't soften it to the point where you can lift it off with a palette-knife or similar blunt-scraper, you may need to go chemical and deploy paint-stripper.

astro63 · 22nd Jan 2021, 10:34 pm

theres a product called Rubber Renue its well stinky so advice doing it in open, you can brush it on let it dry off, but a turntable mat is large area so may be to costly to use it.
I bought a bottle of it on ebay cost about £10
i tried it on idler wheels etc and seems to work, i bought it to use on a old cartridge i was rebuilding as the rubber was solid and got so much stylus noise and skipping so thought id give it ago.

Firstly i soaked the rubber bit over night ooops big mistake it was so soft and that was the end of that So i dipped it in some for 30 mins and it softend it up and worked great. I tried some other things which went wrong and stuck them in vasaline over night they soon hardened again, so even a disaster of to soft can be sorted.

If turntable mat has gone light thru age bit of isopropal alcohol on cotton wool and gently rub around soon brings the orig colour back, i had a burgundy slip mat that i had washed it tried up like a old hot water bottle, i looked online and someone suggested the alcohol and it worked, its got a lovely colour back again

Edward Huggins · 23rd Jan 2021, 11:11 am

Put the whole turntable platter (remove the underside thrust washer if it's there) in hot, soapy water and after 5 mins ease it off with a paint scraper. Carefully dry the metal platter and grease the spline. You can make a temporary mat from a 10" polystyrene Pizza base and paint with emulsion to match if you wish.

Bruce · 24th Jan 2021, 1:48 pm

Low-grade junked/broken plastic Japanese turntables from the 90s often have quite reasonable platter mats that seem to be discarded along with the turntable.

I only realized this by accident when wandering past a few "kerbside clean-ups" about ten years back and at the time I happened to be in need of a new platter mat.....since then I've kept a watchful eye out for plastic turntables by the kerb/skipped/charity shops etc.....

Bruce

22nd Jan 2021, 9:08 pm	#1
stevekendal Heptode Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Kendal, Cumbria, UK. Posts: 625	Melted mat So the deck in this Marconiphone is a Garrard RC210 and the turntable mat has somehow melted into a solid mass, as hard as bitumen. Any suggestions for removing it please? __________________ Knobs and tubes rule ok

22nd Jan 2021, 9:18 pm	#2
G6Tanuki Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Wiltshire, UK. Posts: 13,998	Re: Melted mat Warm it with a hot-air-gun? Old rubber degrades in all sorts of odd ways. If heat doesn't soften it to the point where you can lift it off with a palette-knife or similar blunt-scraper, you may need to go chemical and deploy paint-stripper.

22nd Jan 2021, 10:34 pm	#3
astro63 Pentode Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Norfolk, UK. Posts: 248	Re: Melted mat theres a product called Rubber Renue its well stinky so advice doing it in open, you can brush it on let it dry off, but a turntable mat is large area so may be to costly to use it. I bought a bottle of it on ebay cost about £10 i tried it on idler wheels etc and seems to work, i bought it to use on a old cartridge i was rebuilding as the rubber was solid and got so much stylus noise and skipping so thought id give it ago. Firstly i soaked the rubber bit over night ooops big mistake it was so soft and that was the end of that So i dipped it in some for 30 mins and it softend it up and worked great. I tried some other things which went wrong and stuck them in vasaline over night they soon hardened again, so even a disaster of to soft can be sorted. If turntable mat has gone light thru age bit of isopropal alcohol on cotton wool and gently rub around soon brings the orig colour back, i had a burgundy slip mat that i had washed it tried up like a old hot water bottle, i looked online and someone suggested the alcohol and it worked, its got a lovely colour back again

23rd Jan 2021, 11:11 am	#4
Edward Huggins Dekatron Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Southwold, Suffolk, UK. Posts: 8,327	Re: Melted mat Put the whole turntable platter (remove the underside thrust washer if it's there) in hot, soapy water and after 5 mins ease it off with a paint scraper. Carefully dry the metal platter and grease the spline. You can make a temporary mat from a 10" polystyrene Pizza base and paint with emulsion to match if you wish. __________________ Edward.

24th Jan 2021, 1:48 pm	#5
Bruce Tetrode Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Bangkok, Thailand. Posts: 85	Re: Melted mat Low-grade junked/broken plastic Japanese turntables from the 90s often have quite reasonable platter mats that seem to be discarded along with the turntable. I only realized this by accident when wandering past a few "kerbside clean-ups" about ten years back and at the time I happened to be in need of a new platter mat.....since then I've kept a watchful eye out for plastic turntables by the kerb/skipped/charity shops etc..... Bruce