Common Causes for Industrial Bearing Failure: Identifying Issues and Preventing Premature Wear

Proper bearing maintenance is critical to ensure your bearings perform as expected and meet the designated service life. Troubleshooting issues early is also crucial to avoid bearing failures which lead to costly equipment downtime.

There are several ways to easily check the basic condition of your bearings, discussed below. Regularly scheduled cleaning and re-lubing jobs are the perfect opportunity to check for potential issues. You can identify problems early and preemptively replace worn components, potentially extending the service life while maintaining performance.

Quick Ways to Check for Bearing Maintenance Issues

The best way to avoid serious maintenance issues is to get ahead of them with regular quality checks. What exactly should you look for during inspection? As a nonexhaustive list, some of the crucial things you can quickly check include:

• Do the bearings spin smoothly? Can you feel any roughness or play as you rotate the inner ring?
• Are the seals in good condition, free of damage or distortion that could cause binding or allow for contamination?
• Can you see any signs of cracking, scoring, pitting, or other stress damage? Even the most minor damage will only tend to get worse if left unchecked.
• Likewise, are there any signs of rust or corrosion on the rings, raceways, or bearing components?

Regular Maintenance to Prevent Bearing Contamination and Failure:

Proper Installation – Loose fitment typically causes excessive vibration, while overly tight bearings tend to bind. Maximizing bearing life and minimizing maintenance requirements means, first and foremost, a correct installation procedure.

Proper Lubrication – Always use the suggested lubricant type in the precise amount recommended by the manufacturer. Both inadequate and excessive amounts of lubricant can cause issues: too little increases friction and wear, while too much can lead to churning and overheating issues. 

Regular Inspection – As mentioned above, regularly inspecting your bearings is the best way to identify potential issues early. Increasingly, operations employ advanced bearing condition monitoring equipment and smart systems to keep on top of any troubleshooting or performance issues.

A Basic Troubleshooting Guide to Bearing Failure Analysis:

In our previous blog, we provided tips for avoiding bearing contamination, many of which apply to the general maintenance process. Similarly, below we lay out the basics of troubleshooting issues and applying bearing failure analysis:

Visual Inspection – While the bearings are disassembled, check for discoloration, scoring, pitting, or fractures within raceways and all internal bearing components.

Lubricant Analysis – Examine the condition of bearing grease/oil, checking for contamination or degradation. Careful visual inspection will show you large particle contamination and discoloration of the lubricant, while more advanced chemical analysis techniques will reveal the precise level of contamination and the presence of wear particles.

Dimensional Measurements – Precisely measure internal bearing components and raceways to verify that wear has not altered any critical dimensions. If components are becoming worn, you can often avoid total bearing failure/replacement in the future through remanufacturing, repair, and replacement of individual components.

Vibration and Noise Analysis – Excessive vibration and noise output are a telltale sign of bearing wear. While these effects will often be obvious in extreme cases, more careful vibration analysis using sensors and accelerometers can be performed to check the condition of sensitive bearing applications.

Committed to Quality Industrial Bearings Since 1933

BSC is one of America’s leading independent manufacturers and repair sources for industrial bearing projects. Founded in 1933, we provide industry-leading experience in virtually all bearing types – ball, cylindrical, thrust, and standard interchange bearings.

Through our full-service repair, refurbishment, and reconditioning options, we aim to provide customers with the most sustainable, cost-effective solution to their unique industrial bearing needs.