Articles posted by Pacamor Kubar Bearings

PKB’s Clean-Room Bearing Maintenance and Re-lubrication Center meets Class-6, with Class-5 Clean Benches, per ISO 14644-1. 

PKB manufactures bearings up to 1.125″ O.D.

Pacamor Kubar Bearings is pleased to offer clean-room services.

Have your ball bearings been in a stock room for 3 years or longer?  

Is the lube discolored or the packaging damaged?

Did your stockroom temperature and humidity ever fluctuate?  

PKB’s quality certified factory and clean-room are the right place to refurbish your ball bearing inventory.

Who better, than the ball bearing manufacturer, to re-lubricate your aging bearing inventory?   

Clean-Room Services:

• Wash & re-lube with the same lubricant
• Wash & change the lubricant to a different lubricant and/or lubrication process 
• Options include, but not limited to:

Lube Weight Documentation

• • Grease 
  • Oil
  • Grease Plate
  • Oil Film
  • Oil Plate
  • Serialization
  • Dip & Drain
  • Dry-Film Lubricants (Dicronite, etc.)
  • Lube Dry (wash only)
  • Vacuum Impregnation
  • Lubricant & Solvent Mixtures
  • Lube Weight Documentation
  • PKB Stock Lubricants
  • PKB Specialty Lubricants
  • Customer-Supplied Specialty Lubricants

• Bearings repackaged in PKB Standard Clean Bags
• Bearings repackaged in specialty bags, to your specification
  • Intimate bearing packaging in Class 6 Clean Room, with Class 5 Clean Benches, meeting ISO 14644-1.
• Packaging options include, but not limited to:
  • Nitrogen purge
  • 1A8 bags
  • Vial pack
  • Pill pack 
  • MIL-197
  • Kitting
  • Other specialty packaging materials & processes

 Why Maintain Proper Bearing Lubrication?

Class 6 Clean Room with Class 5 Clean Benches, meeting ISO 14644-1

Proper lubricant can reduce friction, prevent bearing wear, protect bearing surfaces from corrosion, and carry away excess heat during bearing operation.  

Bearings operate on a very thin film of lubricant which must be maintained, or replaced, to ensure that maximum bearing life is achieved.  

Proper selection, application, and maintenance are vital in maximizing bearing life.  

Maintaining your bearings with proper lubrication will reduce friction and wear.   

Can PKB Re-lube Bearings That Were Manufactured By Other Companies?

Yes. PKB regularly performs re-lubrication services on bearings that were originally manufactured by other bearing companies.    

When Should Bearings be Re-lubed?

PKB recommends that bearings should be re-lubed within three (3) years of the original manufacturer’s lube date, or if any of the following conditions occur:

• Bearings have been subjected to temperature or humidity conditions outside of the recommended temperature range
• Bearings have become contaminated 
• The original packaging has become damaged
• If you’re unsure of the lubricant’s expiration date
• There is any question about the quality, condition, or type of lubricant in the bearings
• The bearing lubrication appears to have separated, discolored, or otherwise changed appearance 

Can’t I Just Wash Out the Lubrication and Install New Lube?

Many 440C Stainless Steel Bearings that are used in Aerospace, Medical, and other applications, can be cleaned and re-lubricated, in proper clean-room conditions, and by trained personnel. Improper handling can result in cross contamination, problems with wettability on balls & bearing races, or ball & raceway damage. Other components affected or broken, are the retainers, seals, shields, balls, or wires.  PKB provides bearing wash and re-lubrication services, for many Aerospace OEM’s and authorized re-sellers, in our factory clean-room.

 Please Contact PKB for a quote to rework your in-house bearings, with new lubricant, or to make a lubricant change. 

sales@pacamor.com

More about Bearing Lubrication from PKB:

The most popular bearing lubricants are listed on our Lubrication Page. Many more oil, grease and dry-film lubricant options are available, upon request. 

More How-To Guides:

• Read our How-to Guide: Proper Lubrication of Miniature & Instrument Ball Bearings
• See our Shaft and Housing Fits page for a detailed chart and more information line to line, interference & loose fits onto a bearing shaft or into a housing.

We are excited to discuss with you our miniature and instrument bearing capabilities. 

PKB manufactures ball bearings for some of the world’s most respected small motor brands. 

We also offer:

 – SHORT LEAD-TIMES 

Shorten your ball bearing lead times with our domestically produced bearings, manufactured and assembled in Troy, NY. 

– COMPETITIVE PRICES 

Best prices in the domestic bearing industry!

Reduce your domestic ball bearings costs with our Veteran-American Owned & Operated Small Business. 

– RELIABLE QUALITY 

Expedite time to market for your new and updated products. 

– PROTOTYPE SPECIALISTS 

Your engineers will love our speedy delivery of engineering prototypes and evaluation samples.

Here is a testimony, about PKB bearings, for small motor applications, from Kearfott Guidance & Navigation

Here is a testimony from another happy customer. This one is for PKB cryogenic bearings for Flowmeter applications, from the President of Hoffer Flow Controls

Our wide range of miniature and instrument bearings are used in an array of small motors, actuators, encoders, often found in aerospace, space, military, medical and surgical applications. 

We have proudly supplied products for the NASA Docking Station, NASA James Webb Space Telescope, MARS 2020 Rover, Sikorsky Helicopters, Cryogenic Flowmeter Applications, FAA TSO-C149 Aircraft Bearing applications, many military and Department of Defense (DoD) applications, as well as other space, aerospace, medical, and customized applications.  

Pacamor Kubar Bearings – sales@pacamor.com

The bearing industry was once again rocked by news of widespread counterfeiting. Bearing manufacturer SKF reported the identification and destruction of 15 tons of counterfeit bearings, totaling approximately 17,000 bearings. 

As quoted in the Automotive World article: End customers that install counterfeit components will suffer the most. A recent case proved once again that significant damage can be caused by the failure of a rolling bearing. An anonymous customer says: “We spent EUR 100,000 on large size bearings, purchased from an un-authorized supplier. We needed the bearings urgently and the supplier matched our required lead time. Their failure was a fact after only a few months, while the expected service life was several years. We faced costly downtime and broken promises to our customers. All this could have been avoided, by more awareness and caution in our sourcing. We will not allow this to happen again.”

Ed Osta, President of Pacamor Kubar Bearings (PKB), warns against the ease of getting duped by counterfeit bearings. “Tight profit margins combined with the influx of cheap import products make bearings an extremely competitive business”, says Osta. “Counterfeit bearings may resemble the branded product, at first glance. However, they may have been manufactured using substandard materials, not to standard ABEC tolerances and assembled in less than optimal conditions. These discrepant bearings can often fail, sometimes destroying an entire system along with the reputation of the system’s manufacturer. When parts are destined for critical applications, even the smallest nonconformity can cause catastrophic failures.”

Pacamor Kubar Bearings (PKB) is deeply concerned by these risks to parties who put their trust in counterfeit and unapproved parts. PKB takes pride in product quality, workmanship, knowledge and skill as experts in the production of high quality aerospace bearings. The entire PKB factory is AS9100 Rev D & ISO 9001:2015 certified and all of the DFARS approved products are FAA TSO-C149 Aircraft Bearings certified. If the package isn’t shipped directly from PKB, or from one of a very few PKB approved re-sellers, be sure that the product you are buying is original PKB manufactured product.

Contact PKB directly or through a very short list of approved distributors.  sales@pacamor.com

Authentic PKB Aerospace Bearing at the Pacamor Kubar Bearings factory, in Troy, NY.

Why work with us? 

– SHORT LEAD TIMES 

Shorten your ball bearing lead times with our domestically produced bearings, manufactured and assembled in Troy, NY. 

– COMPETITIVE PRICES 

Best prices in the domestic bearing industry!

Reduce your domestic ball bearings costs with our Veteran-American Owned & Operated Small Business. 

– RELIABLE QUALITY 

Expedite time-to-market for your new and updated products. 

– PROTOTYPE SPECIALISTS 

Your engineers will love our swift delivery of bearing prototypes and evaluation samples. 

S/N Precision Enterprises Inc., dba Pacamor Kubar Bearings – Cage Code 14927

Pacamor Kubar Bearings (PKB), a Troy, NY manufacturer of ball bearings for aerospace and defense systems, was recently awarded a contract by Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) to supply critical hardware for the Mars 2020 mission. Scheduled to launch in 2020, the robotic science rover will investigate key questions about the habitability of Mars and assess natural resources and hazards in preparation for future human expeditions to the red planet. Under the new contract, PKB will manufacture ball bearings for several motors in the robotic arm actuator and sample caching system. The instruments will enable scientists to identify and select a collection of rock and soil samples that will be analyzed and stored for potential return to Earth.

“PKB has been supporting NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) programs and missions for over 10 years,” said Ed Osta, president of Pacamor Kubar Bearings. “We are grateful for NASA and SNC’s continued confidence in our ability to produce reliable aerospace bearings for these vital missions. PKB is committed to the success of this mission and proud to partake in this project. We look forward to continuing our longstanding relationships with JPL and SNC.”

PKB understands the unique challenges presented by aerospace and guidance applications. Temperature extremes and the vacuum of space create demanding requirements for the lubricant type and its ability to withstand the environment. To meet this demand, PKB is providing precise and reliable products in support of successful missions.

“SNC appreciates the PKB’s commitment to deliver the promised product within the assured timeline,” said Jason Priebe, vice president of productions/operations for SNC’s Space Systems business area. “Reliable suppliers are crucial to developing a final product that you’re proud to stand behind.”

ABOUT PACAMOR KUBAR BEARINGS

PKB is ISO9001:2015 and AS9100D certified, which includes the additional QS requirements specific to the aerospace industry. The company attained certification from the FAA to manufacture bearings per the requirements of TSO-C149, thereby enabling it to provide bearings as replacement parts to FAA certified repair stations. PKB is JCP-Certified, which is a joint certification program with United States and Canada. 

Pacamor Kubar Bearings manufactures high performance DFARS-compliant miniature and instrument ball bearings for the aerospace, defense, medical, industrial and commercial industries. Customers include major aerospace manufacturers and key re-sellers as well as various national laboratories and prestigious government organizations such as NASA. PKB provides these industries with precision ball bearings, including those with unique designs and materials used at sub-cryogenic temperatures.

For more information on PKB, please follow us on our facebook page, and on our instagram feed.

Pacamor Kubar Bearings offers the right bearing at the right price, for all your miniature, precision, and instrument applications.

sales@pacamor.com

Angular Contact bearings are available with relieved inner or relieved outer ring configurations and are built as either separable or non-separable assemblies. Many retainer material options are readily available for all designs. Contact us to discuss our wide range of popular and hard-to-find materials.   All bearing sizes are FAA TSO-C149 Aircraft Bearings and any of them can be heat treat stabilized for Cryogenic Applications

Cryogenic Stabilization

We’re pleased and honored to share a very nice testimonial, from the CEO of Hoffer Flow Controls, about the superior performance of PKB Cryogenic Bearings in their Flow Control Units.

Speaking of cold.  There are no snow days for us.  We’re here for you, even in extreme weather conditions.

Quality Certified Domestically Produced

The entire Pacamor Kubar Bearings(PKB) Domestically Manufactured Ball Bearings Catalog is FAA certified for use as FAA TSO-C149 Aircraft Bearings, and are appropriately DFARS approved and Domestically Manufactured at our ISO9001:2015 & AS9100D Quality Certified Factory in Troy, NY.  

Pacamor Kubar Bearings(PKB) 

145 Jordan Road, Troy, New York 12180

sales@pacamor.com

How-To Guide: Proper Lubrication of Miniature & Instrument Ball Bearings
Bearing lubrication is an essential element of bearing selection.  Proper lubricant can reduce friction, prevent bearing wear, protect bearing surfaces from corrosion, and carry away excess heat from bearing operation.  Pacamor Kubar Bearings(PKB), selects only bearing approved and tested oils and greases for our wide variety of lubricant options.  Bearings operate on a very thin film of lubricant which must be maintained, or replaced, to ensure that maximum bearing life is achieved.

Proper selection, application, and maintenance are vital in maximizing bearing life.  Using the proper lubrication in the bearing will reduce friction and wear.  This is achieved by creating a hydrodynamic film of appropriate thickness and strength to support the load while separating the balls from the raceway.

How Does Lubrication Impact Bearing Life?

Bearing lubrication prevents against metal to metal contact. It also minimizes retainer wear by reducing friction. Proper lubricant will conduct heat away from the bearing. Operational conditions such as temperature, loads, speed, torque, and environment determine the lube appropriate for the application.

Should I choose Oil, Grease, or Dry-Film Lubricant for My Application?

Dicronite-coated bearings*

Oils are used where low bearing friction torque is a primary concern. Grease may provide longer operating life and resist lubricant loss due to centrifugal forces at higher speeds. Dry-film lubricant, such as Dicronite, is often appropriate for vacuum environments or other conditions where wet lube is not an option. Pacamor Kubar Bearings(PKB) offers bearing lubrication in grease form, oil lubricants, and solid dry film lubricants.

*You can find more info. on Dicronite, here.

What is Wettability and Why is it Important?

Wettability is the ability of a liquid to maintain contact with a solid surface.  A bearing that is contaminated with two different surface treatments (intentional or unintentional contamination by other lubricants, soaps, detergents, hand cream, food products, etc), could result in a non-wettable condition on the raceway.  In simplest terms, think about driving a car on the highway and the weather turns stormy.  Rain pours onto the highway, mixing with the gas, oil, rubber, and other debris that was already coating the road.  The road becomes very slippery in some places and not as slippery in others.  The automobile’s tires slip and then gain traction and then slip again, on the differently lubricated surfaces of the road.

When Should Bearings be Re-Lubed?

Bearings should be re-lubed at the recommendation of the bearing manufacturer, when the bearings have been subjected to temperature conditions outside of the recommended temperature range, if the bearings have become contaminated, if the original packaging has become damaged, if you’re unsure of the lubricant’s expiration date, if there is any question about the quality, condition, or type of lubricant in the bearings, or if the bearing lubrication appears to have separated, discolored, or otherwise changed appearance.

Can I Wash out the Lubrication and Install New Lube?

Many 440C Stainless Steel Bearings that are used in Aerospace, Medical, and other applications can be cleaned and re-lubricated, in proper clean room conditions and by properly trained personnel.  Improper handling can result in cross contamination, problems with wettability on balls & bearing races, or ball & raceway damage, as well as broken, cracked, lost or otherwise unusable retainers, seals, shields, or wires. PKB provides bearing wash and re-lube services, for many aerospace OEM’s and authorized re-sellers, in our factory clean room.

PKB maintains an extensive inventory of popular lubricant options.  Dry-film lubricants are also available upon request.

For further assistance with bearing selection and design, please feel free to contact our engineering team.

See our Bearing Installation Guide & Bearing Handling Practices pages for more information about proper handling installation of the PKB bearing into your device. Be sure to visit our Shaft and Housing Fits page for detailed information about this topic.

Other Recent Blog Topics:

• See our Shaft and Housing Fits page for a detailed chart and more information about this topic.
• See our Bearing Handling Practices blog, for more information about proper handling installation of PKB bearing, for improved bearing performance and life.
• See our Bearing Installation Guide page for more information about proper handling installation of PKB bearings into your device.

For further assistance with bearing selection and design, please feel free to contact us at sales@pacamor.com

Pacamor Kubar Bearings manufactures DFARS approved FAA TSO-C149 Aircraft Bearings in our ISO 9001:2015 certified factory in Troy, NY.

Pacamor Kubar Bearings(PKB) is continuing our HOW-TO GUIDE series with some suggestions for selecting the proper bearing fit on a shaft or in a housing.  We hope this will help you to maximize bearing life and performance.

How-To Guide: Choosing the Best Fit between the Bearing & Shaft, or Housing

Planning for proper fit between the ball bearing and the shaft or housing is as important as bearing design and cleanliness. Improper bearing fits or incorrect installation can damage the bearing assembly. 

This guide is for establishing shaft and bearing fits for miniature and instrument bearings when the expansion coefficients of the shaft and housing are similar or when the operating temperature differential between them is nominal. In other conditions, modification in fits and internal clearance may be required. See our Bearing Installation Guide & Bearing Handling Practices pages for more information about proper handling installation of the PKB bearing into your device. Be sure to visit our Shaft and Housing page for a detailed chart and more information about this topic.

Some Tips:

• Within the assembled mechanism, the fit of the ball bearing on its mating components is vital to maximizing bearing life. 
• If the fit is too loose, the bearings slide around on the shaft, eliminating the advantages gained by selecting a ball bearing in the first place. 
• If the fit is too tight, the bearing integrity may be compromised by reduction of radial play in the assembly. 
• The perfect fit enables bearings to run at peak performance for maximized end-product life. 
• There are three main types of shaft and housing fits. 
  • A loose fit is when the bore of the inner ring is slightly larger than the outer shaft diameter. 
  • A line-to-line assembly is when the bore of the inner ring of the bearing and the outer diameter of the shaft are the same. 
  • With a tight fit, the bore of the inner ring of the bearing is slightly smaller than the outer shaft diameter. Tight fits are also called interference or press fits, because bearings in these assemblies are pressed onto shafts.
• Slightly loose shaft-to-housing fits are suitable for most applications, while line-to-line fits often provide the best performance. 
• If bearings are assembled on a shaft that is too large (creating a press fit) the inner ring may stretch slightly. When this occurs, the bearing’s radial play can be diminished or even eliminated altogether.
• See our Shaft and Housing Fits page for a detailed chart and more information about this topic.
• See our Bearing Handling Practices page for more information about proper handling of PKB bearing, for improved bearing performance and life. 
• See our Bearing Installation Guide page for more information about proper installation of PKB bearings into your device. 

For further assistance with bearing selection and design, please feel free to contact sales@pacamor.com

Pacamor Kubar Bearings manufactures DFARS-approved FAA TSO-C149 Aircraft Bearings in our ISO 9001:2015 certified factory in Troy, NY.