To achieve any mechanical component’s full-service life, installing a radial ball bearing in a proper way is very critical. Improper mounting methods by taking certain shortcuts like using a hammer may result in early failure or create a potential safety hazard.
In this article, we will briefly touch upon how bearing should be mounted and dismounted specifically while installing any non-housed bearings, rather than housed bearing units like pillow blocks.
It is essential that you must address all safety issues. You must take enough time to do your job rather than hurrying it up. The person who is going to mount the bearing must thoroughly understand the complete mounting procedure of the bearing.
You must also invest in proper tools, offer procedural training to the technician, and give him enough time. This will result in not only your cost savings, but also prolong the bearing’s life and the machine where it is mounted.
What price of your bearing and also the man-hours needed to do it right job are nothing as compared to the cost of downtime, the machine cost, potential ancillary damage, and finally the harm that can occur to the technician or machine operator.
It is mandatory to develop a culture of always do it right while doing it the first time. All the required personal protective equipment must be worn while working.
Teo Nooseng Co., Ltd. is an authorized SKF distributor (ตัวแทน จำหน่าย skf, term in Thai) in Thailand, and make sure that you use bearing obtained only from the right source to get the right quality of bearing.
While designing your equipment, also consider how maintenance people will mount and dismount whenever needed. Often you have to disassemble the equipment while swapping out any components during the life cycle of the equipment.
The following information will help you to determine factors that you must consider:
- Step-by-step instructions for mounting and dismounting must be available by using the necessary tool needed for mounting and dismounting SKF rolling bearings. The tool must also cover many types of ball/roller bearing units and their housings.
- The handbook for SKF bearing maintenance will provide comprehensive information about alignment, mounting, dismounting, and lubrication.
Mounting
Mounting will set boundary conditions like mounting space, sequence, or any need for lifting devices. You must check all these boundary conditions. The main topics that you must consider are:
- What types of tools are needed? Are you comfortable accessing the places where you must use them?
- Whether you need to attach any lifting device?
- Whether you need to lubricate?
- How and when to lubricate?
- What protection is needed to avoid any contamination during mounting?
Maintenance
Few common topics for maintenance include:
- Relubrication
- Ensure that your product has got a grease fitting.
- Condition monitoring – Often it is advantageous to monitor your machine’s condition during its operation. Mounted bearings and housings for this purpose can also be equipped with sensors.
Dismounting and disposal
Similar considerations also apply for dismounting as used for mounting. The disposal is the same for all types of mounted bearing products. All your metal and rubber parts and lubricants need proper disposal by following the entire environmental requirement.
