Solid Oil Bearings

Every bearing in this category is filled with an oil-saturated polymer that keeps the rolling elements lubricated for the life of the bearing — no relubrication, no grease lines, and no lost production time for maintenance.

What are Solid Oil Bearings?

A solid oil bearing is a standard bearing whose free internal space is filled with a microporous polymer matrix saturated with lubricating oil. The matrix is moulded inside the bearing, so it takes the exact shape of the cavity around the rolling elements and cage, and it holds substantially more oil than a grease fill. In service the matrix releases a thin oil film onto the raceways and reabsorbs it when the bearing stops, which keeps the lubricant working and keeps contaminants out.

Key Features

• Maintenance-free: filled for the service life of the bearing, no relubrication points required
• Holds far more oil than a grease-filled bearing of the same size
• Resists washout from water, steam and clean-down cycles
• The matrix blocks the entry of dust, fibres and process debris
• Works in any mounting orientation, including vertical shafts
• Food-grade fill available with NSF H1 registered oil

Typical Applications

• Food and beverage processing, bottling and packaging lines
• Conveyors and material handling in wet or dusty plants
• Marine and shipyard equipment
• Steel, paper, textile and wood processing machinery
• Slow-rotating or intermittent-duty positions that are hard to reach

Operating Limits

The standard fill runs continuously from −40 °C to +85 °C. A solid oil filled bearing also has a lower permissible speed than the same bearing on grease — as a rule of thumb, keep n · dm below 150 000 for deep groove ball bearings, 60 000 for spherical roller bearings and 40 000 for tapered roller bearings, where dm is the mean of bore and outer diameter in mm. Mount with an induction heater only, never above 100 °C, and never clean the bearing with solvent.

Solid Oil is not Solid Lubricant

The two names are often used interchangeably, but they are different products. Solid oil uses a polymer matrix that stores liquid oil and releases it slowly onto the raceway. Solid lubricant (graphite or PTFE dry film) contains no liquid oil and works by transferring a solid film. Everything in this category is solid oil.

Brand Cross-Reference