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Bearing packing
Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2001 10:16 pm
by Brian Weber
I've always packed bearings by the old "palm" method, messy, but it's always
seemed effective. A plant engineering friend of mine recently suggested a
method he's used for years. I'm a bit sceptical, so I'll lay it on you guys
for comments.
He heats the bearing grease to the point of it liquefying, then soaks the
bearing in the liquid for about 15 minutes. After removal and cooling, he
claims the grease returns to it's normal viscosity, and the lubrication is
more complete than that achieved with hand packing. Supposedly as long as
the grease doesn't boil it's chemistry is unaffected.
Does anybody buy into this? I'm not a chemist, but it seems to me that if
the grease is heated to the point of liquid, the chemistry has to be
adversely affected.
Brian Weber
TC 10080
Re: Bearing packing
Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2001 11:18 pm
by Stan Kurzet
It is assumed that the packing is preceded by a thorough cleaning, either in
an ultrasound degreasing tank or some suitable other method that guarantees
removal of all old grease and the minute metal particles in it. Any
degreasing solvent that leaves no residue is OK so long as it is thoroughly
dried out before packing. While the bearing is bone dry, it is important to
check it for smoothness and excessive wear. Hand packing done with care
will put in as much grease as a packing cup. Use of the appropriate type of
grease is also important.
As for the matter of soaking in melted grease, the benefits are primarily
psychological. If it makes you feel good, do it. From a metallurgical and
lubricity point of view, in my opinion, so long as you rotate a race a few
turns while packing, you gain nothing vis a vis a well packed bearing which
escaped such anointment.
Stan
TC 7382 & 2569
==================================================================
>
> I've always packed bearings by the old "palm" method, messy, but it's
always
> seemed effective. A plant engineering friend of mine recently suggested a
> method he's used for years. I'm a bit sceptical, so I'll lay it on you
guys
> for comments.
>
> He heats the bearing grease to the point of it liquefying, then soaks the
> bearing in the liquid for about 15 minutes. After removal and cooling, he
> claims the grease returns to it's normal viscosity, and the lubrication is
> more complete than that achieved with hand packing. Supposedly as long as
> the grease doesn't boil it's chemistry is unaffected.
>
> Does anybody buy into this? I'm not a chemist, but it seems to me that if
> the grease is heated to the point of liquid, the chemistry has to be
> adversely affected.
>
> Brian Weber
> TC 10080
>
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
Re: Bearing packing
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2001 2:58 pm
by Ed & Kris Curtis
The March, 2001 issue of Plant Engineering just happened to have following
in its "Simple Solutions" column:
Problem: Hand packing ball or roller bearings is a messy job. And what
happens if you don't have an expensive bearing packer? Is there a cheap,
easy way to do the job?
Solution: Take a Zip-Loc clear plastic bag of sufficient size to hold the
bearing. Add grease in one corner and lower the bearing into it. Add
grease around and into the bearing (add more grease if necessary). Remove
as much air out of the bag as possible.
Give the corner of the bag a couple of twists to form a pouch so that the
bearing is completely sealed and enclosed by the grease. Massage the pouch
15 - 30 seconds to work the grease into the bearing. Remove the bearing
from the pouch, wipe the excess grease off, return the lubricant to the
pouch, and seal the bag for the next packing job. Use a marker to write the
grease name on the bag.
Ed Curtis
curtis@novagate.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stan Kurzet" skurzet@msn.com>
To: "Brian Weber" candomo@netcom.ca>
Cc: "MG TABC List" mg-tabc@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2001 2:19 AM
Subject: Re: [mg-tabc] Bearing packing
> It is assumed that the packing is preceded by a thorough cleaning, either
in
> an ultrasound degreasing tank or some suitable other method that
guarantees
> removal of all old grease and the minute metal particles in it. Any
> degreasing solvent that leaves no residue is OK so long as it is
thoroughly
> dried out before packing. While the bearing is bone dry, it is important
to
> check it for smoothness and excessive wear. Hand packing done with care
> will put in as much grease as a packing cup. Use of the appropriate type
of
> grease is also important.
>
> As for the matter of soaking in melted grease, the benefits are primarily
> psychological. If it makes you feel good, do it. From a metallurgical
and
> lubricity point of view, in my opinion, so long as you rotate a race a few
> turns while packing, you gain nothing vis a vis a well packed bearing
which
> escaped such anointment.
>
> Stan
> TC 7382 & 2569
>
> ==================================================================
> >
> > I've always packed bearings by the old "palm" method, messy, but it's
> always
> > seemed effective. A plant engineering friend of mine recently suggested
a
> > method he's used for years. I'm a bit sceptical, so I'll lay it on you
> guys
> > for comments.
> >
> > He heats the bearing grease to the point of it liquefying, then soaks
the
> > bearing in the liquid for about 15 minutes. After removal and cooling,
he
> > claims the grease returns to it's normal viscosity, and the lubrication
is
> > more complete than that achieved with hand packing. Supposedly as long
as
> > the grease doesn't boil it's chemistry is unaffected.
> >
> > Does anybody buy into this? I'm not a chemist, but it seems to me that
if
> > the grease is heated to the point of liquid, the chemistry has to be
> > adversely affected.
> >
> > Brian Weber
> > TC 10080
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
Re: Bearing packing
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2001 11:07 pm
by C Sherriff
Message text written by "Ed & Kris Curtis"
>The March, 2001 issue of Plant Engineering just happened to have following
........................
wipe the excess grease off, return the lubricant to the
pouch, and seal the bag for the next packing job. Use a marker to write
the
grease name on the bag. Being the March issue this was clearly a lead into
an April 1st joke
Clive
Re: Bearing packing
Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2001 7:09 am
by joecurto@aol.com
Hey Guys Here in my shop we pack bearings like a man (grunt-grunt), except we
use rubber gloves(wimper-wimper), no need to make a federal project out of a
once every ten year job.
Curto