yet another Bearing thread

[cfx]

So just went through a bearing change on my chair. The caster pivots long needed replacement and needed a bearing puller.
Anyways, I usually buy the cheap front caster wheel bearings R6-2RS on Amazon 10 for 7 bucks. I then pull the seals pack them with grease and good for a short while.
My question is I'm getting tired of replacing these bearings so often. What do others use or buy from. I have two ways the bearings fail Rust and or packed with dog hair. Yes even sealed they get packed with hair. probably because they are cheap.

So maybe its worth it do buy more expensive bearings and if so what to look for and from who.
I checked out McMaster-carr and they wanted 17.00 a bearing for sealed stainless steel

[pfcs49]

Maybe you need to keep the hair off them. Mine last years. When I get stuck waiting in the car, I clean the hair out. The chair's on the passenger seat.
I assume you're talking castor wheel bearing not stem bearing. Those are 15 years old.

[cfx]

Maybe you need to keep the hair off them. Mine last years. When I get stuck waiting in the car, I clean the hair out. The chair's on the passenger seat.
I assume you're talking castor wheel bearing not stem bearing. Those are 15 years old.

Yes Caster bearings.
keeping the hair off them is easier said than done when you have two goldens retrievers and I vacuum every day (no joke)

[Oddity]

That's strange to me. I live in a house with 3 other people with long hair and I constantly cut hair out from around the caster axles. Live on the east coast and go to beach often. Shower in my chair every month or so, too. Same bearings for past 11 years.

FYI, sealed bearings aren't supposed to be lubricated, either. That just collects dirt and contaminates and traps them in with the bearing balls. I suspect that is very much contributing to their shortened life span. Keeping them sealed is important. They come with a thin film of grease from the factory and that is all they ever need, becuase the relubing interval is longer than expected life. Adding grease causes issues and wrecks the seals...e.g.

http://mcguirebearing.com/faqs/bearing-relubrication/

[pfcs49]

Yes Caster bearings.
keeping the hair off them is easier said than done when you have two goldens retrievers and I vacuum every day (no joke)

good tweezers and a machinist's scribe-kept in console w/a few allens and basics for out of chair maintenance. If I transfer out to do it at home, I'm always stuck without the damn one I need!

[endo_aftermath]

My Golden Retriever could shed enough hair every day to make a puppy. I replaced my conventional caster forks with Frog Legs Uni Tines and that eliminated most of the problem. The side without a strut gathers no hair and the side with the strut for some reason gathers much much less than the conventional forks did.

[cfx]

My Golden Retriever could shed enough hair every day to make a puppy. I replaced my conventional caster forks with Frog Legs Uni Tines and that eliminated most of the problem. The side without a strut gathers no hair and the side with the strut for some reason gathers much much less than the conventional forks did.

I will have to check them out. You understand the hair they produce. I fill my office trash can with hair every week from the roomba They should be bald!

[Brad09]

I will second single sided forks to help with hair.

[Oddity]

If nothing else they are twice (or more) as easy to get casters off. With single sided I find it far easier to take the one bolt out, pull caster off axle, and remove hair in one lump, than cutting or using pliers to tear it out. Easier and quicker.

[Art454]

I used to have the same problem when I had dogs. Since they passed and I don't have any dogs anymore the problem is gone. I love dogs just to much work as you get older. Electric wheelchairs would be much more problems. Miss the dogs though. Wonder if you could make a shield from a thin washer or a piece of plastic might help? Anybody try something like that yet?

[Oddity]

There is a product to shield from hair in casters. I think it was Froglegs who made it, but I don't exactly remember. There is a thread or two around here about them.

[baldfatdad]

There is a product to shield from hair in casters. I think it was Froglegs who made it, but I don't exactly remember. There is a thread or two around here about them.

Someone on here took the plastic plugs they put in electric conduit, put hole in the middle to put on the casters. I put enough grease in them (good timkins) that keeps most stuff out. BUT a friend of mine has 3 feet long. They clean their casters every week, or else. Uses a roach clip to do it.

[Oddity]

https://www.carecure.net/forum/showt...er+hair+shield

That's what I was thinking of.

[SCI_OTR]

https://www.carecure.net/forum/showt...er+hair+shield

That's what I was thinking of.

Yep. I know one guy who got them and said they were working well for him so far.

BTW, Mark Chelgren, FrogLeg's owner was at the National Veterans Wheelchair Games in Louisville a couple of weeks ago. He was showing one of my vets the difference between a FLAHSR and a TiLite soft roll by dropping them and watching the bounce.

I'm not sure if that's scientific proof, but it was convincing enough to convince my vet to buy a pair. He swears the ride is better. Probably placebo effect, but its enough for me to reexamine whether the difference may be significant.

[Oddity]

Hmmmm. Yeah, I dunno what that 'test' reveals. I can't help but think a caster that absorbed impacts, instead of rebounding against them, would feel smoother rolling on the ground. A caster rebounding from impacts is transferring that energy right into the frame vs soaking it up. Just a hypothesis, of course.

Yep. I know one guy who got them and said they were working well for him so far.

BTW, Mark Chelgren, FrogLeg's owner was at the National Veterans Wheelchair Games in Louisville a couple of weeks ago. He was showing one of my vets the difference between a FLAHSR and a TiLite soft roll by dropping them and watching the bounce.

I'm not sure if that's scientific proof, but it was convincing enough to convince my vet to buy a pair. He swears the ride is better. Probably placebo effect, but its enough for me to reexamine whether the difference may be significant.