My ball bearing doesn't stay fixed at 90 degrees! Help

[sbarber122]

I purchased this bearing a while ago, but when I installed it upright and installed a shaft inside it, the horizontal load was too heavy and the bearing is now drooping sideways. It appears as if this bearing has a ball joint inside the housing so it can rotate around freely, but I'm looking for a similar bearing that will stay fixed at 90 degrees. Any help and a direct link to sourcing would be great. I am a newbie engineer so any help would be great.

thanks!

 

[Tmoose]

Please post pictures of your arrangement, and description including rpm and indicating all applied loads.

The tilting self-aligning bearing may be telling you something.

Even if the bearing housing and bearing OD were cylindrical A single ball bearing has quite limited moment capacity.
Usually two are required to turn the loading into radial/axial components for each bearing.

 

[sbarber122]

I don't have any other information, sorry! So you think two bearing will work best @tmoose.

 

[MikeHalloran]

You need to get the thick bearing catalog and read it from cover to cover.

There are single row bearings that can carry a moment load, but they're not common or cheap.

In your case, yes, you need two bearings to carry the load.
Not three, just two.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[Tmoose]

"So you think two bearing will work best ".

Without more info I don't dare think anything.
The picture you posted and then deleted wasn't nearly enough information.
My vague impression was it is part of an idler, and maybe had a locking pawl or maybe a brake.

You will need to provide the bearing manufacturer with pictures and dimensioned drawings of your arrangement, and description including rpm and indicating all applied loads.

As a side note, bearings that grip the shaft with set screws or locking collars have limited side load capabilities. For most types The running concentricity of the shaft is dependent on the shaft diameter tolerance, and several thousandths eccentricity of the rotating components is frequently the result. The resulting imbalance and variations in belt tension etc are sometimes a real big deal (problem).