OT Bearings (sleeve / ball) made of plastic

We have many ball bearings made of steel that rust out due to over use of hoses for washdown in food facility.

I am not going to be able to get them to stop drowning equipment.

ALTERNATIVE make the equipment more compatible with water.

Sailboats pulleys single or multiple sheave are commonly made of plastic and use plastic ball bearings. They can take pretty heavy loads and are long lasting.
Have seen plastic bushings on infrequently used rollers in extrustion plant with surprisingly good results considering the very heavy load (sevaral ton).

Would probably use these on conveyers where RPM is 50 to 150 and other "slow rolling" equipment.

QUESTIONS
1. Why not build bearings out of plastic?
2. Anybody able to recommend good manufacturers?

Thanks for help
Dan Bentler

leitmotif,

Like these?




Warning: The load rating is nowhere near a steel unit.

Are they bearings or just sleaves ?

NTN maybe or...

NTN has a line of plastic bearings I was looking at about two years ago. I believe they were up to food service specs. For low speed, low impact you might try oillite bronze or rulon bushings in place of bearings. I've had good results.

Plastic or 316 Stainless http://www.kmsbearings.com/

http://www.bostgear.com/products/bearings/molded.html

http://www.slideways.com/plastic_bearings_d.html

There are more.

In a daily washdown environment the bearings should be sealed and/or an aggressive lubrication program applied.

It's not uncommon for UHMW to be used for wheels/bushings for things in the dairy industry, where it's also subject to washing and the corrosion that follows. Any (good) machine shop should be able to turn whatever you need to spec. I get lots of custom stuff like this made locally.

We are currently trying moulded oil bearings for this type of application and initial results are good. They might be worth a look.
Andybr

IGUS has a good line of bearings and bushings "Iglide". They work quite well if your loads are not too high.

http://www.igus.com/iglide.asp

Check with your local bearing supply. If you can find one with an old rep he will be a wealth of onformation, the young guys don't have a clue.

There are many solutions for washdown applications. Some have been around for 20-30 years and are standard for food plants but you must have a knowledgeable rep.
Sometimes paying more from a local bearing house is cheaper that McMaster or similar.
Good luck

Thank You

gas said:

Check with your local bearing supply. If you can find one with an old rep he will be a wealth of onformation, the young guys don't have a clue.

There are many solutions for washdown applications. Some have been around for 20-30 years and are standard for food plants but you must have a knowledgeable rep.
Sometimes paying more from a local bearing house is cheaper that McMaster or similar. Good luck

Click to expand...

I did that the other day. Opening an account with them.
Thanks
Dan

Thank You All

I want to thank all for responding.
Looked at web pages you provided and that was helpful info.
Now that I have some facts maybe I can convince boss to try it out.

Dan Bentler

Dan
A lot of my work is in a dairy plant...On the floor EVERYTHING is stainless..air cylinders, bearings, pillow blocks, conveyor chains..

With the chemicals they use for sanitation anything else just dosnt work..Plastic is ok for the light weight stuff but the stainless takes the biggest loads..

as was said our local machine shop can make most things..most others can be purchased "off the shelf"