Westinghouse sidewinder questions

[Mike Morris]

Just have a question about bearing replacement and felt washer.  When searching the old forum, I noticed that some people have used needle bearings as a replacement instead of ball bearings.  Has any one noticed any benefit to this or is it pretty much a wash. The biggest difference I can see is the thickness of the bearing and race washers together is thinner for a needle bearing. I assume that the felt washer would need to be thicker, an additional thrust washer installed or use thicker race washer to match the thickness of the original combination..  Am I overthinking this?  Finally, what is a good source for the felt washers? McMaster & Carr seems to be the only one that has anything close. Have found several bearings and will stick to known manufacturers, NTA 2031 seems  the best match. This will be my first CF restoration and advice is welcome.

Thanks Mike

 

[Evan Atkinson]

You're not over-thinking the issue if original spec bearings can't be obtained. The rotor for a Westy Sidewinder is extremely heavy and needs robust support. In your situation, I can't think of a benefit to using needle bearings unless a proper replacement for the ball bearings can't be obtained (I haven't tried). Felt washers the correct OD and ID specs may not exist, so you may be forced to source felt of the the correct thickness and cut your own. Sorry I can't be of greater help.

[Dave Hoatson]

I use a common ball thrust bearing.

if the thickness Is less than the original (a very common issue), use one of the old bearing washers as a spacer. 

The bearing is a sandwich of a caged set of balls between two washers.  Often, one of the washers has a smaller inside diameter and may need to be ground out larger using a rotary stone bit.

Don’t use additional felt washers as spacers, as they can compress as the fan ages. 

If you need a new felt washer, just cut one out of felt. 

 

 

[Mike Morris]

Thanks for the replies. I was leaning toward needle bearing because they had a much higher load capacity. That is when the question of thickness came into play. This is one of the reasons I joined AFCA, so I could pick the brains of people with a lot more knowledge about these old fans.

David, are you getting your bearings from McMaster - Carr?  All of the bearings I have found have nylon inserts.  Wanted to ask now, once the fan is hung, I would prefer to not have to take it down, due to a mistake I made while restoring it. These have some serious weight to them.

[Dave Hoatson]

On 3/5/2022 at 10:03 AM, Mike Morris said:

Thanks for the replies. I was leaning toward needle bearing because they had a much higher load capacity. That is when the question of thickness came into play. This is one of the reasons I joined AFCA, so I could pick the brains of people with a lot more knowledge about these old fans.

David, are you getting your bearings from McMaster - Carr?  All of the bearings I have found have nylon inserts.  Wanted to ask now, once the fan is hung, I would prefer to not have to take it down, due to a mistake I made while restoring it. These have some serious weight to them.

I get most of my bearings from Amazon. 

For ceiling fans, the load and speed are very low. 

Once a fan is hung, it is possible to unscrew the oil cup and change the bearing without taking the fan down. The bottom plate will keep the rotor and blades from falling out.