Installing Radial "Deep Groove" Bearings

To obtain the best possible performance of radial ball bearings, installation must be performed very carefully in ultra-clean conditions.

Mounting Radial Ball Bearings During Installation

Errors during fitting of ball bearings can jeopardize the best design and create high repair and maintenance costs.

We would like to give some advice for proper mounting of radial ball bearings:

• To help prevent contamination, the work area should be dust free with low humidity. No compressed air or machining is allowed.
• Only unpack the radial bearings immediately before installation. If grease is required it should be applied at this time, with a syringe. Don’t use fingers or a spatula. It is strongly suggested the GMN pre-grease your bearings. 
• The use of a syringe is recommended to inject the grease right between the balls into the ball/raceway area. Nearly all standard greases are compatible with our rust preventive, so in most cases it is not necessary to wash the bearings prior to greasing.The exceptions are special greases, based on silicone or fluorocarbon oils or PTFE-thickeners. They require a clean oil free surface to obtain good adhesion of the grease.
• Never clean the bearings in ultra sonic devices. Allow the rust preventive to dissolve in a solvent bath by slowly moving the bearings.
• It is recommended to use filtered cleaning solvents (max. filter 0.45 microns). Drying of the bearings should take place under a dust cover. Bearings should never be dried by blowing with compressed air because of environmental dust and moisture!

Finally, the bearings, ready for installation, can be mounted by adequate means. It is of utmost importance to avoid misalignment of the bearings on the corresponding journals and that mounting loads never be applied through the balls.

How to Install Radial Ball Bearings

There are many opportunities where radial ball bearings can be damaged prior to and during installation, such as contamination, dropping, improper installation, etc.

If installation is done incorrectly by passing the install forces through the balls and the race ways, there is a high likelihood of dimpling the races from installation forces. This dimpling will create noisy running conditions and decrease overall bearing life.

The following pictures illustrate proper installation where there are no forces passing through the balls into the race ways, protecting the running accuracy of the bearings. The red lines show the line of force while pressing the bearings onto their journals:

The sketch below shows the mounting forces passing through the balls. This leads to indentations in the raceways hence the bearings run noisy and the service life will be reduced.

The sketch below shows the correct mounting of a radial ball bearing with a tight bore fit onto the shaft. Mounting forces are conveyed through the inner ring only, balls and races remain free and undamaged.

Very few applications call for press fits on both the ID and OD of a radial ball bearing. For the applications that do, a tool can be used that presses both the inner race and outer race of the bearing simultaneously to prevent bearing damage.

Another double check should also occur in this double press scenario, checking the internal clearance of the bearing. The tool being used for pressing the bearings may need to be adapted to the specific bearing internal clearance or other customizations.

GMN engineers are always on standby to support and advise on a proper radial ball bearing installation strategy.

Tips for Radial Bearing Installation

When it comes to installing radial bearings, a little extra care goes a long way. Always keep your workspace clean, use the right tools, and apply even pressure to help your bearings perform their best. 

To learn more about installing radial ball bearings, contact our onsite engineers. We are here to assist with proper installation of your ball bearings to ensure optimal performance of your applications.