Official Luthiers Forum!

Anybody ever changed one? Do I have to remove the motor? And can I do it all from above? Not looking forward to moving that heavy iron around! One more thing, are these bearings pretty standard in that I could order some higher grade versions?

Mike

I think it has a five year warranty. Are you still in that?

Probably

I am interested in this as well... mine is starting to make some noises that lead me to believe the bearing toward the motor is on the way out.

That happened to me also. Turned out to be a stripped plastic gear in the motor that drives feed belt

_________________
Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

If it's built like the 16x32, the coupler between the motor and the drum can get loose and wear down causing some funky noises on startup and wind down. New couplers can be found at Grainger.

If you do need a bearing, in my town, and in many others, there is a bearing store called Applied Industrial Technologies (http://www.applied.com). You take in your old bearing, they measure, murmur a bit, and go into the back and come out with a replacement. The price is always reasonable and I expect that for some they have differing levels of quality. They have never let me down and have given me bearings that were no longer available from the manufacturer of the equipment I was fixing.

I changed the bearings in my Ryobi WDS 1600, which is a knockoff of the Performax 1632. As I recall, the replacement was pretty straightforward, and the bearings were standard deep groove double sealed.
I believe I did remove the motor, but it was all done from above.

_________________
John