Stylus ran on outer edge of record for 10 mins. Chances of damage?

Was the arm lift stopping it falling further as in the picture? If it was stuck in that position or pushed out the stylus won't have hit anything. It does look like your arm lift is set a bit high if that is the case. Also the cartridge appears to ride low judging from the stylus position (not sure if that is typical of the Rega) and if so the cantilever suspension might be weakened.

 

Looks ok.

 

Yes, this was with the cue lever down but with the stylus hitting the record. I can't be 100% sure how close it came to the record, but it was making a sound when I switched the audio source back to the turntable. As I noticed what was going on, I immediately lifted up the cue lever and moved the tonearm back to its resting position.

Looks like the Rega Exact is more of a low-riding cartridge. With the cue lever down, the distance between the stylus and record surface is approx. 1.1mm. What would you recommend the optimum distance to be?

 

It looks fine to me. You can clean the stylus with Magic Eraser, Zerodust or a regular stylus brush and you are ready to go back to playing records.

How to clean your turntable's stylus

 

Depends on the cartridge. You only need worry if it is riding lower than before the incident. I would guess the stylus will be OK as it was not hitting the edge of the record.

 

No damage as far I can see on this photo.

 

You are fine, same happens to me from time to time, nothing to worry about.

 

All night? Now how does that happen?

 

Got a late phone call then went to bed forgetting about the record that was playing in the other room.

 

OK, I think you’re talking about the dead wax, which I can comprehend a lot more than the outer edge...

 

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate how you took the time to help me out. Lesson learnt - never be distracted from the cueing stage.

 

Play the damn thing. If you don’t hear distortion, forget about it.

 

I understand how nerve racking this can be. A week ago I bumped the cueing lever at the end of a side and the tonearm bounced up on to the paper label a few times with that horrible sound of stylus on paper. Was really concerned I damaged the stylus and thought I detected some mild distortion on some records later. I think I’m probably just being paranoid though.