Bearing Failure Information
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Bearing Failure
Before You Blame the Bearing
A miniature ball bearing is a precisely machined piece of mechanical equipment. Bearings are not expected to last forever. They will fail at some point.
Bearings may fail due to normal wear and tear, or they may fail due to any number of adverse conditions or mistreatment. These days, bearing manufacturing technology and quality control is so good that bearing failure is almost never due to poor manufacturing of the bearing itself.
Before you blame the bearing for premature failure, it is worthwhile considering the
seven most common reasons miniature bearings fail early. Take a look at the
conditions your bearing has been subjected to and try to determine if one of these
is the real reason for the failure.
The Seven Most Common Problems
Contamination
Miniature bearings are precision parts with raceways ground and hardened to exacting tolerances. The smallest speck of dust can be enough to cause a bearing to fail. If you remove the shields or seals to “inspect” the bearing, you will most likely contaminate the bearing unless you are in clean-room conditions.
This is an excerpt from the full information sheet.