BALL BEARING MANUFACTURER
In this blog post, you will learn about two quality features that make your ball bearing run smoothly and that we pay attention to when buying ball bearings from different ball bearing manufacturers.
When comparing rolling bearings or ball bearings from different manufacturers, there are considerable differences in quality. Rolling bearings are functionally critical machine elements.
We therefore always select products from different ball bearing manufacturers with care.
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT BALL BEARINGS
What is a ball bearing?
A bearing enables rotation between two machine elements. The ball bearing is a sub-form of the roller bearing. As a typical rolling element, it uses balls, which enable the gentle connection of a rotating element (shaft, axle) and a fixed element (housing, frame). The rolling element thus determines the name of the bearing.
You come across ball bearings all the time in your everyday life. You will find ball bearings in sports equipment such as inline skates as well as in engines, turbines and medical devices. Ball bearings are also widely used in the applications we focus on in the industrial, agricultural, marine and energy sectors. Countless applications therefore benefit from the idea of ball bearings. However, as they are predominantly invisible, they (unjustifiably) receive little attention in everyday life.The ball bearing usually consists of an outer ring, the typical rolling elements (balls in this case), a guide in which the balls run, a cage (which keeps the balls at a distance so that they cannot rub against each other) and an inner ring.Ball bearings absorb loads and transport them further. Ideally, the friction always remains at a low level, so that there is also a high energy-saving potential.
What different types of ball bearings are there?
Ball bearings differ in particular in the way they support loads. Combined loads – i.e. both axial and radial – are supported by angular contact ball bearings, spherical roller bearings, deep groove ball bearings, tapered roller bearings and cylindrical roller bearings, for example.
Which ball bearing is the right one for your application is therefore determined by the future load.
BALL BEARINGS IN DETAIL - OUR QUALITY CHECK
Nowadays, the quality of ball bearings increasingly leaves a lot to be desired. Ball bearings are sold at ridiculously low prices – but the rude awakening comes sooner than you would like.
The low price is often offset by disadvantages such as significantly higher wear, complicated maintenance and care and prompt replacement of the ball bearing.
Here we present two of the most important quality features of ball bearings.
First quality feature: material and workmanship
The material and processing quality is based on factors such as bearing tolerances and material purity.ball bearings must have the lowest possible bearing tolerances to ensure smooth operation. To achieve this, the bearing must be subjected to constant quality control during production. Only by consistently sorting out obvious defects – which have not been precisely machined – can the highest quality be guaranteed.
In order to guarantee load capacity and low wear, the material must have a high degree of purity. Inexpensive ball bearings are often made of carbon steel (also known as carbon steel). In addition to iron, this mainly contains carbon. This steel is often used for knives due to its good grinding properties. However, as carbon steel can also rust quickly, it is hardly suitable for a ball bearing. If you want your ball bearing to be as durable and resilient as possible, rolling bearing steel, chrome-alloyed stainless steel or ceramic material is used.
Second quality feature: Lubrication
Cheap bearings are often treated with poor quality greases for cost reasons. However, cheap greases tend to undergo polymerization chain reactions more quickly, which causes them to resinify more quickly and thus show unfavourable changes in the grease properties. Possible consequences are rapid wear or even total failure of the bearing. Optimum lubrication is therefore essential for the long-term and trouble-free use of your application.
WELL-KNOWN BALL BEARING MANUFACTURERS
At PMP, we only sell new, high-quality industrial ball bearings. We make sure that we use bearings from reputable ball bearing manufacturers. These have a longer service life and therefore ensure greater system safety, among other things.
Let us advise you so that you can find the best rolling bearing for your application.
