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Ball Bearing Comparison

rhpope

Aluminum
Joined
Dec 21, 2005
Location
Durham, NC
How would you compare the quality/durability of name brand metric ball bearings such as SKF, Fafnir, NTN, etc. with the same equivalent sizes/part numbers in Chinese made metric ball bearings.

Just because it is made in China doesn't always mean that it is crap. Take things such as SCAT cranshafts and rods. The raw forgings come out of china and then are finish machined here in the US and they are considered top quality engine components for racing.

So how do the chinese ball bearings compare?

Roger
 
I think if it has a recognizeable name brand its probably OK, those people have the resources and incentive to validate the claimed B10 life on their bearings and surely benchmark themselves against their competitors.

MRC would be a little suspect in my book, I've seen their bearings die quite a bit sooner than I would have expected.
 
We have cold formers making millions of parts per year and as a test we put several different manufacturers ball bearings in transfer housings on 4 machines. SKF was best, Fafnir the worst. Ended up redesigning the gears to use Timken tapered roller bearings instead and have yet to have a failure.
 
Not all bearing work in ideal conditions and irrespective of maker if bearings work in damp conditions on things like mowers in sports fields, golf courses on low speed application they are fine.I have broken these open and compared size for size with skf, ********* etc. and found they measure up exactly. The problem I have seen with them is that they dont carry a brand name on most of them and if you get good results with them, another consignment can be hit or miss as the traceability is ? At a small fraction of the cost of the top quality product they certainly are value for money where the application will suit. I would be slow to use them in the middle of an expensive machine.In todays world of global manufacturing plants you are never sure where any bearing is made and a lot of badge engineering goes on. Cast your mind back 30-40 years - who wanted toyota, mitutoyo, etc.[CHEAP IMPORTS FROM JAPAN- TODAY MARKET LEADERS]
Richie
 
Well You may not think they have crap bearings, but my buddy asked me to help him repack the bearings on his boat trailer since it goes in water and was squeeking.
He bought new bearings (from china) and came over. They did not fit..why you ask ?
The corners were never ground and had square edges on the bore and OD.. talk about worse than crap.. they were.
Rich
 
Just because it is made in China doesn't always mean that it is crap.
If the only marking on the bearing shell is CHINA, no numbers or letters, it is always crap.

*********-KBC are decent bearings that are often the 'house brand'. KBC is the former Korea Bearing Company, now produced by ********* Hanwha Bearings Corp.

---------------
Barry Milton
 
I thought this topic was going to be about ABEC ratings. Have you seen the spindle quality bearings on roller blades? I wonder how trustworthy the ratings are for import bearings-

I had some motor bearings replaced by a shop once- they lasted about a week before they were as bad as the originals, which lasted several years.

Re Barrys comments- I'm going to be looking for all the proper numbers on the bearings before I buy. If nothing else I'll have the comfort of knowing I bought poop instead of crap. (poop is one step up from crap
)
 
You have to distinquish between Chinese brands and Chinese made name brand bearings. The major players, INA/*********, SKF and Timken all manufacture in China and have top notch quality control, so those bearings should be the same quality as those made here and in Europe. Timken is the only major I know of that imports Chinese bearings, so if you see an SKF or ********* with Chinese markings on it, be suspect. It would also be a good idea to buy from a reputable supplier since there are alot of counterfeit bearings coming out of Asia. ********* and SKF just confiscated 40 tons of bearings from a German distributor.

counterfeit bearings

The problem with Chinese bearings are the quality of the steel, tolerances and just plain poor workmanship. A high purity steel is vital for long life in a bearing and the Chinese steel mills cannot supply enough to the major players, so it is unlikely the Chinese brands are using anything of much quality. The surface finish also has a very large impact and they fall short there too. You can expect a life of less then 10% of the quality brands.

If these are being used in something that will see little use, then you might be OK with the Chinese bearings, but if your companies reputation is on the line, or the failure would cause expensive repairs, then I don't think it would be worth taking the chance.
 
Chinese?

I bought some bearings a while back and they were from Turkey...... Name brand, too, I forget who.
 
All Chinese bearings are not crap

I believe what happened to your buddy was really not good, But all suppliers does not supply this kind of crap and if something happened like that they would have insured it that is something goes wrong you can claim and you can have the same shipment back or your money . . .
I can suggest you may visit this website regarding the bearings
http://www.wuxilotton.com/
:)
 
How would you compare the quality/durability of name brand metric ball bearings such as SKF, Fafnir, NTN, etc. with the same equivalent sizes/part numbers in Chinese made metric ball bearings.

Just because it is made in China doesn't always mean that it is crap. Take things such as SCAT cranshafts and rods. The raw forgings come out of china and then are finish machined here in the US and they are considered top quality engine components for racing.

So how do the chinese ball bearings compare?

Roger

I use/replace a fair amount of bearings - maybe 40-60/months. I usually buy KML brand - Chinese. 1/4 to 1/2 price SKF/*********. They are perfectly fine. I find them very consistent, seals are good and I could not tell the difference between those and SKF. I find ********* a bit of a disappointment - a bit more inconsistency than I would wish for particularly in C2. But you won't see that in an electric motor. I had very bad experience with NTN and I avoid those. For applications where the bearings are really stressed I use only NACHI with RS1 seals.
 
The problem with Chinese bearings are the quality of the steel, tolerances and just plain poor workmanship.
Heat treat also. Have a friend who imports cheap junk bearings for a cheap junk job, but out of every batch he'll take a few and hit them with a hammer. If they shatter he sends that batch back.
 
Steel quality (inclusions) is probably the biggest difference and thus lifetime.
Even brand name manufacturers have improved the steel quality by heaps in the last 30 years or so.
 
Heat treat also. Have a friend who imports cheap junk bearings for a cheap junk job, but out of every batch he'll take a few and hit them with a hammer. If they shatter he sends that batch back.

WHY ??? Are they not supposed to shatter ????
 
Steel quality (inclusions) is probably the biggest difference and thus lifetime.
Even brand name manufacturers have improved the steel quality by heaps in the last 30 years or so.

Some would agree, some would disagree. Some would say steels are cleaners, some would say the "chemistry" has changed and they don't take punishment as well. :).
 








 
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