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Demystifying Bearing Fit Practices

If you enjoy ambiguity and uncertainty, there are few better places to start than fitting a small ball bearing with tight clearance. Just to keep things simple, I’ll use Koyo’s (JTEKT) main Ball & Roller Bearings catalog for the technical information. All full-size bearing catalogs will have the same information.

The place to start when determining fit is with clearance. When dealing with ball bearings, the term “clearance” always means radial internal clearance, whereas when we preload tapered bearings, we are usually talking about axialpreload/endplay (Fig. 1). For your reference, axial clearance is around 10x the distance of radial clearance.

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Bearing Maintenance From Start to Finish (Part 3)

In service, sufficient lubrication is essential. Maintenance goals: Deliver the right lubricant in the right amount at the right time.

Among lubricant delivery methods, manual lubrication (with grease gun) typically can present major challenges for maintenance technicians if the appropriate tools, practices, and knowledge are absent – and reliability can further be affected by under- or over-greasing. As a practical alternative, automatic lubrication can be employed to provide quantities of clean lubricant on a regular basis, while increasing safety and saving time for staff. Ready-to-use or tailored systems can be engaged, depending on application, lubricating points, and similar considerations.

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