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fadal spindle motor bearing replacement

pauljanowski

Plastic
Joined
Jul 20, 2015
Have a fadal 4020 reman 2004, the spindle motor started making noise at the upper end recently. Took off the covers, listened at the belt area, definitely noise coming from the upper end of the motor.

Took off the motor end cover, the upper bearing pretty much fell apart. Think I got all the balls, have figured out it is the 6206 bearing, which I can order.

My question: can I replace this bearing without taking the motor apart (in otherwords, on the machine with just the top motor cover off) ? if so, what tools will I need? I'm having a hard time loosening the allen screw that holds the encoder shaft extension on, keep twisting allen wrenches...

Thanks!
Paul
 
Probably the biggest hurdle is pulling off the old inner bearing race from the shaft. If you can rig up a pulling coller to do that, then installing the new bearing is simple enough: at the rewind shop, they heat the bearings up about 200 °F and drop them on. Allow to cool before trying to put the endbell back on. Wouldn't hurt to measure the endbell for a worn condition as well: maybe .0005 to .001" clearance would be ideal.

That allen screw may have loctite on the threads, so heat the shaft up a bit with a torch right over that area. Takes maybe 300 degrees to melt loctite, and you have to remove it while it is hot, or it will resolidify into a gravelly sort of crap. Good time to use an impact wrench to get it out fast.
 
Probably the biggest hurdle is pulling off the old inner bearing race from the shaft. If you can rig up a pulling coller to do that, then installing the new bearing is simple enough: at the rewind shop, they heat the bearings up about 200 °F and drop them on. Allow to cool before trying to put the endbell back on. Wouldn't hurt to measure the endbell for a worn condition as well: maybe .0005 to .001" clearance would be ideal.

That allen screw may have loctite on the threads, so heat the shaft up a bit with a torch right over that area. Takes maybe 300 degrees to melt loctite, and you have to remove it while it is hot, or it will resolidify into a gravelly sort of crap. Good time to use an impact wrench to get it out fast.

Thanks so much, Hu! will try the heated allen screw removal trick this afternoon. With that part off I can see what I can do about removing the inner race...
 
You can always cut the race most of the way with a cut off wheel and crack it with a punch. Just protect the windings.
 
Got the setscrew out with heat & a drill mounted allen shaft, then loosened the inner race by cutting off a section as ewlsey suggested, all ready for arrival of the new bearing tomorrow. Thanks for the help, people!
 
Got the setscrew out with heat & a drill mounted allen shaft, then loosened the inner race by cutting off a section as ewlsey suggested, all ready for arrival of the new bearing tomorrow. Thanks for the help, people!

got the bearing in this afternoon, heated it up to 210 deg or so, prepped the motor shaft & top housings, and it all went back together as advertised. yee ha, a quiet running machine again...
 
hello! Have fadal 4525 and i noticed my spindle motor is a bit hot. Ofcourse it's running some 3d stuff at 8-9000rpm all day, but i dont think it should be this hot. I guess it's around 70degress for sure. Tech guys are saying it might be motor bearings. Maybe you remember what dimensions and types were these bearings ? I think i could give a try and change them. Motor has very little vibration so i guess it might be bearings coming to an end.
 
hello! Have fadal 4525 and i noticed my spindle motor is a bit hot. Ofcourse it's running some 3d stuff at 8-9000rpm all day, but i dont think it should be this hot. I guess it's around 70degress for sure. Tech guys are saying it might be motor bearings. Maybe you remember what dimensions and types were these bearings ? I think i could give a try and change them. Motor has very little vibration so i guess it might be bearings coming to an end.

They do run hot, I dont think i would worry too much about 70 degrees. Is the fan running?
 








 
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