Schopper TD-124 Idler Wheel

[Shuggie]

Continuing my quest for a truly quiet idler wheel, I finally bought one of Schopper's new ones (details at http://www.schopper.ch/index.php?page=idler-wheel-new ).

As you might expect for the price, it's beautifully made and comes with a new idler noise reduction kit that consists of a thin, floppy rubber washer that goes over the idler shaft, followed by a small polythene cup (with a hole at the base for the idler shaft) that you have to partly fill with some supplied oil. So, the idler wheel's boss actually sits in the polythene cup, rather than on the washer. Seems a sensible design tweak to me.

In use, it's at least as quiet as any other TD-124 idler wheel that I've found, but certainly not anywhere near silent. I still have a set of new bearings for the stepped pulley and must get around to fitting those, since IIRC Tony found that much of the noise came from these bearings.

Anyway, the Schopper idler wheel is expensive, but it's properly machined to be truly concentric, does not have any bearing play, and is as quiet as anyone's going to achieve. Buying NOS wheels to find a quiet one might just cost more than this.

So, I'd recommend it to any TD-124 owner with CHF 250 to spare.

 

[awl]

It looks very nice. I'd be interested to see a photo of the rubber washer and polythene cup in situ, to understand how it works.

 

[moonshiner99]

Here's how it works

 

[Shuggie]

A little update. The small plastic cup pictured above is slightly too tall, so the bottom of the idler wheel boss rubs on it: not a great problem to resolve, but slightly disappointing that Schopper have not dealt with this themselves (if only with a sharp knife).

The rubber compound that Schopper have chosen for the new wheel is roughly 50% harder (on the Shore Hardness Scale) than the stuff that Thorens used originally. That is probably deliberate, but may explain why the new idler is no quieter than my best old stock wheel. That said, Schopper's new idler wheel is beautifully made and is quieter than most of the old ones that I've bought over the years, but anyone expecting silence may be disappointed.

 

[awl]

That all makes sense now – thanks for sharing the pictures. If the plastic cup really is 'self sealing' then it seems a good idea.

 

[fay spook]

As you might expect for the price, it's beautifully made.

but slightly disappointing that Schopper have not dealt with this themselves

Ow, spoke too soon!!