Roller Bearing Noise

[Dstrnad]

The guide bearing on my norwood lm2000 are noisy. No slop just that dry bearing noise. I am new to this so not sure what it should sound like. Anyway should these be replaced at the first sign of noise or once slop or play can be detected. Also anyone know off hand what size they are? I thought I saw it somewhere on here. I would like to have the new ones in my hands before tearing the old out.

Thanks
Dave

[beenthere]

No parts list come with the Norwood?

[drobertson]

dave, bearing noise is the begining of the end.  I would just pull them, check them out, some grease might get you quiet a bit of life, take them to a bearing house and find the exact replacement, and either replace them or keep some on hand as you mentioned. Or you could find the part no. and order them,  david

[hamish]

Dave,

Are you referring to your blade guide roller bearings?

If so 6203 w 17mm bore diameter.

Jeremy

[Dstrnad]

Yes,

Thank you I just found the numbers they are the 6203

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Way to go Hamish. 

[tyb525]

Are you sure it's not the sound of a dry blade on the rollers? With my mill, the blade makes some noise until I put some water to it. Have you spun the rollers without the blade on? If it still makes the noise then they're probably on their way out.

[5quarter]

I'm with Tyb525 regarding blade noise. Squirt a little diesel on the blade and see if it quiets down first. if it is the bearings, change them out now. It's alot cheaper than waiting til they seize up and burn a flat on the roller guide. 

[redbeard]

The idle side roller bearing where the lube gets fed is usually first to wear. I like to put the new bearing on the drive side and move the used bearing to the idle side. That spray bottle of diesel is a must I use it for pitch build up also, it sure dose quite things down in a hurry.

[Dewey]

I have  Sprayed Fluid film directly on the bearings on the front  and back side and they have quieted down....  My thought is that they lubricant works into the bearing and helps out. it may buy you some time...

[Magicman]

Squirting will buy you some time, but bearings are cheap, replace them.

If squirting Diesel, ATF, or anything quietens them, that means that the lube is getting past the bearing seal to the rollers.  That also means that any soapy water blade lube is also getting past the seal. 

[ely]

dave, i bought the bearings at the local parts store for 9 bucks each... i have since found the same bearing online from SKB. for 10 bucks for 10 bearings in a bulk pack.,...i have since since recieved alot of new bearings from a buddy for free, new bearings... i you like i can send you 4 of them for free if you send me a PM with your address. ;D

also, i have taken the rubber seals out of the bearings and washed them out and regreased them and put the rubber back in so i could keep sawing... if you cant spin the bearings by hand without feeling a roughness they need some attention... i have taken to squirting the bearings front and rear with my oil can after each day of use.... i believe the water/soap mixture i use on my band washes the bearing out over time.

[tyb525]

I think the actual water (or lube of your choice) actually quiets things down when the blade moves across the roller. On my mill the blade "sings" a little with no lube, sounds similar to bad bearings. It's been like that since day one with my mill, so I don't think it's getting into the bearings to quiet them down.

[ely]

i agree the water/lube does quiet the band down, but when the bearing go bad i can feel the dryness inside the bearing when i untension the band and spin the guide rollers by hand. i have opened about six bearings and they were greasless/dry ,.. one was pitted beyond repair, the others i saved by using rust reaper and new grease.

the front bearing of the rollerguide thats farthest from the water is the one that most often has issues for me.? i cant explain that.  but 6 bearings since 04 aint that bad either.

[Dstrnad]

ely, Thank you for the kind gesture. I also ordered a 10 pk online today so I should be set for awhile. It definately is the bearing, but I shouldn't be doing any heavy cutting until the weather breaks so I will replace it next week.

Thanks
Dave

[ely]

just trying to keep up the FF way. ;)

[Dstrnad]

Ok I replaced the bearings, pretty easy. Now put everything back together nice and smooth, but the new bearings are stiff. I would say normal for new bearings, however when at full speed they stop turning. This is without cutting so maybe when cutting they will turn. Is this normal?

[hamish]

Check your band tenson first off.  The new bearings will have some stiffness to them till the lube inside gets warm and evenly distributed.  When I change out my bearing I can no longer give the blade guide a wheel of fortune spin and have it keep going and going, it stops within one revolution at max.

[5quarter]

If you continue to have trouble, adjust the downbearing of your guides a little. It will put some added pressure on the rollers. I did that with my last set of bearings... after about 2hrs of sawing they were warmed up and spinning nice.

[ely]

look at your drive belt carefully, i had the same thing happen to me a couple months ago. it was driving me crazy... i was wanting to come to the computer and ask folks here what the deal was... i noticed a bit of wear on the drive belt in the center, i changed both the drive belt and the idler belt out and the problem went away. they were both in bad shape....it makes no sense to me but it did work.

in my mind if the belts wear down it should put more pressure on the roller guides, but in reality i guess it did not. when at WOT my drive side roller would quit spinning , if ran about half throttle it would keep spinning. didnt matter if it was cutting wood or sitting still.

[Larry]

I thought my mill was going through bearings at too fast a pace so decided to try a modification.  Bought some bearing felt and was planning to machine a retainer to keep out the soapy water.  Before I got started I had a bearing start running dry.  Put a little hole in the shield and filled the bearing with water repellent boat trailer bearing grease.  Used a little grease gun meant to grease chainsaw bars.





I haven't sawed much since doing this in early winter but the bearing seems to be working fine for now.  I give it a little squirt each day I saw.  In any case its something to try and don't cost much.

[Dstrnad]

It seems to be starting to break in. I need some time to give it a good work out, only made a few cuts. I do not think that the down pressure is adjustable on the lm2000. I went through the manual and looked it over pretty well mechanically, I don't think it is adjustable.

Thanks

[bandmiller2]

I lube with a diesel/oil mix and have bearings live a long happy life. If I used water I would put an extra guard outside the bearing to protect it and mayby pack the space between with waterproof grease. Frank C.