Sealed bearing vs. open bearing on a spindle, I picked wrong

Last month I had to choose between sealed and open bearings for a high-speed spindle rebuild on a 10 year old Haas. I went with sealed because I figured less maintenance, but it ran hot after 4 hours and started singing like a tea kettle. Turned out the housing had a slight misalignment from a crash the previous operator never reported, and the sealed ones couldn't take the side load. I swapped to open bearings with a drip oiler and it's been quiet for 2 weeks now. Anyone else get burned by assuming sealed is always better for spindles?

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john_johnson753d ago

Yeah, that misalignment will eat a sealed bearing every time...