H P In Reliability

Heinz P. Bloch, Contributing Editor

Identifying electric motor bearings

Manufacturers of standard NEMA frame elec- and lots of money.
tric motors usually identify the bearings on the
motor nameplate. The method used is taken from Note: Our August “HP In Reliability” could be
ABMA standard 20. This standard misunderstood unless the reader consults NEMA
describes a method of identifying SM-23 and API 610 for more detailed explana-
the basic bearing size together tions on actual allowable nozzle loads. In general,
with other features such as seals, the allowable API load exceeds that of NEMA.
shields, radial clearance and cage
type, for radial bearings of ball, cylin- Example identification code and explanations
drical roller and spherical types.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Each bearing manufacturer has a specific iden-
6210- 2Z C3 HT51
tification code. The code used by SKLF reflects
1
the basic bearing boundary dimensions identified Basic bearing size
in ABMA standard 20, however, the nomencla- example: 6210
ture used by SKF and other bearing manufactur- Code and description
ers to describe bearing features such as seals and 6 = Deep groove ball bearing
02 = Dimension series ABMA
shields differs from that of ABMA standard 20. 10 = 50 mm bore size (10 x 5)

Example nomenclature. As an example, a typi- 2

Enclosures
cal SKF electric motor ball bearing nomenclature Code and description
consists of the following: RS1 = Single contact rubber seal
1. Basic size (conforming to ABMA standards) Z = Single metal shield
2. Seal or shield identification RZ = Single rubber noncontact seal
No code = Open bearing
3. Radial clearance value (generally C3 for elec-
tric motors) 3
4. Noise requirements (not shown unless spe- Radial clearance
Code and description
cial low noise levels are required C2 = Less than normal
5. Grease/preservative code CN = Normal clearance (not marked)
Other bearing manufacturers often use their C3 = Greater than normal
own nomenclature and identification system. It C4 = Greater than C3
is, therefore, appropriate for your purchase spec- 4
ification to contain a clause requiring the elec- Noise requirements
tric motor supplier to furnish data allowing your Code and description
QE6 = Standard quality (not marked)
reliability engineering group to understand what QE5 = Low noise quality
bearing types and features have been incorpo- EM = Electric motor quality
rated in a given motor. 5
Lubrication/preservation
Check bearings. Not long ago, a major motor Code and description
manufacturer supplied motors with sealed, non- HT51 = Chevron SR#2 (SKF standard grease)
BF = Bearing preserved (open bearings)
regreasable bearings. Unfortunately, he also fur-
nished the bearing housings with grease fittings,
Heinz P. Bloch is a consulting engineer in Montgomery,
leading the user’s maintenance staff to assume
Texas. He advises process plants worldwide on reliability
that greasing was appropriate every few months. improvement and maintenance cost reduction opportuni-
Needless to say, bearing life proved very unsat- ties. His six books on machinery reliability improvement
isfactory with high-pressure grease forcing one are available from Gulf Publishing Company.
of the seals into rubbing contact with the rolling
elements. A good specification and a little train-
ing would have saved the user grief, embarrass-
identifyelectrichpbloch.pdf August '02 Rev. 0 HYDROCARBON PROCESSING / NOVEMBER 1995 19