Hmec bearings ?

[ronan]

I went to a good well known bearing factors today to buy some wheel bearings for the bsa a10 i am restoring. Naturally they are imperial sized ls10, the assistant checked the computer and disappeared into the stores and got me the bearings, they aren't marked apart from the name and size , HMEC BEARING. I googled the name and they are chinese, not overly happy as the price was the same as good british , german or swedish etc bearings. Has anyone any experience of these ? Are they crap ? I don't want to have to be changing them again and forking out more money.

 

[Shox Dr]

Take them back IMO any saving made bites you in the 'arris BIG time sooner or later.

Brit*** whatever they are called for LR are case in point

 

[Jim_gsxr1000]

Yeh take them back, get yourself some good SKF or NSK bearings

 

[ford34/2]

Bearings

Simply could offer you some choices.

http://simplybearings.co.uk/shop/ad...ription=0&keywords=LS10+Bearing&x=-197&y=-204

Stan

 

[pedrobedro]

Bearingboys are pretty good.

 

[Glyn]

Used simplybearings a few times cos they are fairly local. Good service I found, even matching bearings battered beyond recognition.

 

[ronan]

The company I went to isn't the one I normally use, the company I normally use do skf a lot and I really like them as we used to use them at work and they never gave us any trouble. These Chinese things weren't cheap, same price as the top notch European stuff.

 

[Shox Dr]

Purchasecost has little to with anything

 

[ronan]

Purchasecost has little to with anything

Sadly that's true. Buy cheap far eastern crap, charge full whack and pocket a fatter profit. I'll return to my usual shop in future.

 

[mcostello]

Worked in a belt and bearing supply house, making belts. Heard a customer come in one day and complain about Chinese bearings. Professionally races dirt bikes. If He bought Chinese bearings they had to be replaced every race. If He bought "good name' bearings they were changed out at the end of the season and were still useable.

 

[Slovenianian]

I don't know if this post is still live but anyway, thought I'd throw my hat into the ring. With regards "Chinese bearings", sadly these days you will find that nearly every bearing "manufacturer" has some or all of their production in China. Because the bearings are made in China it does not mean that the quality will be low, it is all about choosing the correct quality level of bearing for your application. You can generally guarantee if choosing the likes of SKF, FAG, NTN the quality will be stable but you cannot guarantee that these bearings have not been made in China, the price will still be the same wherever they have been made, you are paying for the name. There are now some good economic alternatives, Codex springs to mind. They are fairly new on the new UK market, been around for 3 or 4 years but are making some real waves on the UK market and across Europe. They say that all of their bearings are tested independently to internationally recognised standards and have full traceability, however, you will pay a lot less than the price of a premium brand equivalent. HMEC as far as I know are not tested independently and as the main supplier in the UK does not own the brand I am not sure how much if any control they would have over the quality. Do remember though, there are some real smoke and mirrors used within the bearings industry these days as I dare say there are in other industries. Major premium brands do not like it commonly known in Europe that they have production in china or other far east countries as they are aware that it can damage the image of the brand in Europe. If a manufacturer has SOME manufacturing in Europe which could be just assembling of parts made in other countries or even packaging of bearings in Europe then they are likely to market their bearings as European bearings. The Chinese can churn out some real crap but they are experts in engineering now and have the most sophisticated and well equipped engineering and manufacturing plants in the World so do not assume that because something is made in China it is bad quality, that is rather foolish. I remember the perception of Japanese product when it first appeared on the UK market yet funnily enough people tend to associate Japanese product as high quality these days. I can't even say that you get what you pay for unfortunately as this is not necessarily the case. Do your research I guess and make sure that whoever you are buying your bearings from understands the application.

 

[mechman]

Never heard Timken mentioned for a while, are they still around ?.

 

[daleyd]

Never heard Timken mentioned for a while, are they still around ?.

I did some work for timken aerospace in Wolverhampton earlier this year, I think they are the same company or group of companies?

 

[dobbslc]

Never heard Timken mentioned for a while, are they still around ?.

Timken? Mmm...
I have a new set in my Zafira gearbox as the originals (Timken) failed at 43000 miles!
The rollers looked like they were made from lead!

 

[Wallace]

Timken are still out there producing bearings.

I did some research into SKF bearings a while back after buying a couple online and read some interesting info about fake SKF bearings and the lengths these scammers go to. One seller was buying genuine SKF bearings to sell on but keeping the boxes to repack with imitation bearings!

SKF PDF

 

[tomsutton529]

I have some right nightmares with cheap bearings that the boss bought. Ended up calling in to my local place on the way home and getting some SKF ones for twice the price.. Never had a problem with the machine after that. Sometimes for the hassle it takes to change a bearing your mad to take the gamble on a cheap bearing, not saying expensive bearings don't fail or turn up with a fault but it is a lot less likely than the cheap stuff.

 

[Robbie260]

All the skf bearings we have at work are all made in europe apart from a few made in Turkey. Fantastic bearings last so much longer than any other brand.

 

[Pete.]

I knowingly bought some 'budget' bearings recently for a lightly loaded application. Managed to brinell the races installing them.

 

[Robbie260]

I knowingly bought some 'budget' bearings recently for a lightly loaded application. Managed to brinell the races installing them.

done that ounce