BEARING REPAIR: THE BASICS
Posted on Friday Mar 01, 2019 at 06:01AM in General
Bearing repair is a way for our customers to gain more service life out of their bearing. Once a bearing is damaged in service, your entire operation could be compromised. The damage can lead to additional costs, such as longer maintenance schedules, unscheduled downtime and possibly missing on-time delivery dates to your clients. Our experts will review the total cost to own and operate the bearing in the operation. Bearing repair can be effective approach to extended life and can help save our customers money by not having to purchasing a new replacement bearing. Bearings that are candidates for repair should be removed before they are able to reach their full usefulness.
A repair facility is able to frequently return a used bearing back to like-new specifications in about one-third of the time it would take to source a new bearing. Repairs can even be completed in as little to two to four weeks depending on the type of repair that is required. You may find that bearing repair facilities may be able to provide a warranty on the services that they perform.
Bearing repair when compared to the manufacturing of a new bearing is also a much more environmentally friendly procedure. Our repair team is able to return the bearing to like-new specifications with less energy input, while
simultaneously reducing the raw materials and waste production.
Bearing repair facilities offer various categories or types of “repair”. Normally, repairs will falls into one of three categories.
Level 1: Generally involves the recertification of the bearing (i.e. the cleaning and full inspection of each of the bearing’s components.)
Level 2: Consists of reconditioning a bearing where it is cleaned, inspected and then polished to remove minor imperfections.
Level 3: The most extensive and can be referred to as remanufacturing. Raceways could be reground, rollers and cages replaced with a new set and even a full replacement of a bearing raceway. The remanufacturing process we can also modify a bearing like changing the clearance on a spherical roller bearing.
These three levels of service are best suited for bearings with a 12” inner diameter or larger. For bearings smaller than 12" inner diameter or larger than a 3" inner diameter, are able to be reclaimed. The smaller bearings are usually thrown away, but they can be reclaimed if an economical lot size can be gained. In the reclaiming process, the bearings are cleaned, inspected and polished.
FAQS
Q:What types of bearings can be repaired and what is the max size?
A: Options: Ball, Cylindrical, Spherical, Taper and Slewing Rings can be repaired. The max size is usually around 240” on the outer diameter.
Can a bearing be repaired more than once? Bearings can be repaired more than once. Depending on repair facility most use a rule of thumb of no more than three level three repairs on one bearing.
Q:Will the repair shops repair bearings that they didn’t manufacture?
Most s,facilities will repair bearings and they don’t manufacture.