09-08-2013, 08:30 PM
I am not sure if the original material for the dampers was rubber or some other substance. The Philco patent for the clarifiers specifies "viscoloid" as the damping material, but I have not been able to find out if viscoloid was an early plastic or some rubber compound.
In any case, a replacement material has to be a lossy substance in that it should convert motion into heat. If it just stretches and rebounds as usual rubber does, then there will be no damping effect and it might as well not be there at all. If you are lucky enough to have clarifiers with intact damping material which has not disintegrated, it might be well to leave them as a sample of the characteristics of the damping as originally designed
Here is a link to the patent which goes into a lot of detail regarding the design of the clarifiers and how they work. Perhaps it will be of some help in choosing an effective modern replacement damping material.
http://www.google.com/patents?id=4KdBAAA...dq=2059929
In any case, a replacement material has to be a lossy substance in that it should convert motion into heat. If it just stretches and rebounds as usual rubber does, then there will be no damping effect and it might as well not be there at all. If you are lucky enough to have clarifiers with intact damping material which has not disintegrated, it might be well to leave them as a sample of the characteristics of the damping as originally designed
Here is a link to the patent which goes into a lot of detail regarding the design of the clarifiers and how they work. Perhaps it will be of some help in choosing an effective modern replacement damping material.
http://www.google.com/patents?id=4KdBAAA...dq=2059929