My original lencomotion test bearing now has over 100 hours on it, so I thought it was time to pull it apart and see how it looked. I was primarily interested in the bearing oil. I wanted to see if there was any discoloration, or particulates in the oil.

Once dismantled, I checked the spindle, ball bearing and thrust plate for obvious signs of wear and, as expected, found none. The old oil was decanted from the bearing into a white porcelain dish, and then compared to a similar amount of oil in another dish. The results can be seen in this photo.

The oils in the two dishes look identical, and there is no particulate matter in the old bearing oil.

As expected with this bearing design there is no run-in time needed. The oil should not become discoloured as a result of wear, and should not contain any particulates form the bearing spindle, body or ball bearing.

The bearing is now back in the turntable where it will be left for another 100+ hours before it is pulled for another checkup.