Almost all appliances and machinery have some sort of bearing embedded inside them. Bearings are responsible in holding down friction from a machine. They are as important as any other part of the appliance or machines. There’s a lot of bearings out in the market and as someone who doesn’t have a clue on what type of bearing needed, it can be a daunting task. To know how to choose the right kind of bearing for your appliance or machine, here are some tips:
Factors to Consider
There’s a lot of factors to consider when choosing the kind of bearing fit for your needs. Some of these factors include:
- Dimension size
- Material Type
- Packaging
- Quality
It is also important to keep in mind the expected life of the bearing and the type of environment you’ll be using it. Knowing this thing may help you narrow down your search for the right bearing you’ll need. It will also help you save money since you won’t have to spend a ridiculous amount of money over a defect kind of bearing.
Bearing Envelope
A bearing envelope is responsible for the rolling element of the bearing. It is important to keep in mind the bearing envelope in order to reduce the cost of bearings needed. It efficient to have the housing and shaft of the bearing to work around the bearing size rather than the bearing adjusting to the housing and shaft. An envelope analysis is commonly used to detect bearing failures in a machine.
Degree of Precision
It is important to determine the precision needed in order the for the machine to perform well. Extended speed capability, a high degree of running accuracy, low heat, and low noise are some of the precision performance of machines that you need to check. To acquire bearings at an affordable price, it is important to only buy what is needed. There is no need to overestimate than what is necessarily needed.
Lubrication Requirements
When buying bearings, it is important to also take care of them. And in order to take care of the bearings, lubrication is needed. Make sure to include in your list the lubrication requirements of the bearings. What lubricant would it need? How often does it need to be lubricated? How much lubricant is needed? These questions are crucial when dealing with bearings so as to avoid unnecessary spendings. You wouldn’t want to spend lots of money just because you used the wrong lubricant on your bearings, right?
Specify Enclosures
In buying new bearings, it’s also important to take note of the enclosures needed. Bearing enclosures is what keep the bearings protected from contamination and lubrication migration. These enclosures are dependent on what kind of environment the bearing will be used. So it’s best to keep the bearing environment in mind too.
To know more about what kind of bearing you need for your machine or appliance, you can visit Bearings Direct for more details!
Source:
- http://www.bkvibro.com/en/monitoring-techniques/envelope-analysis.html
- http://www.skf.com/ph/products/bearings-units-housings/super-precision-bearings/index.html
- http://www.astbearings.com/bearing-selector-guide.html
Barbara Ratliff 
Andrew Williams