Grease for Brand New Concept 1 Needle Bearing

[broomvac]

Hi all,

I am seeking expert advice from those of you more experienced than I with Hoovers.

Sick and tired of my not-so-smooth sounding Concept 1, I have set out to replace both the 608 sealed ball bearing (fan side) and the horrible little Torrington J-65 needle bearing (belt side).

I have already replaced the fan-side ball bearing. Drilled out the rivets, replaced with a new sealed bearing, re-riveted, etc, and this has helped with the scratchy noise, but the old, remaining needle bearing on the other side still sounds loud.

This is the replacement I have ordered. It is basically a direct replacement, albiet from a different supplier:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007EDPXKI/ref=cm_cr_arp_mb_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8

I suspect this bearing will demand I "lubricate before use." This is fine, but I want to make sure I use the right grease before I put this beast back together, lest I take it all apart again later on. For my vacuums, I have this grease that I use with a syringe:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Super-Te...35&wl11=local&wl12=16928004&wl13=4299&veh=sem

Is this suitable for the first and hopefully only greasing of this brand new bearing? What grease do you all use to pack needle bearings?

Thanks. I'll let you all know how it works out.

broomvac

 

[gsheen]

I do this to all my concepts ones, I use standard bearing grease I buy from my local bearing supplier, Normally a metallic grey in colour or blue.

I tend to only fit F.A.G bearings as tend to be the best available.

 

[TheSpiritOf76]

I just use a good stiff....

White or black lithium grease. I find that a grease gun with a needle ejector attachment is the best to direct the grease exactly where it needs to go.  Then I take a Q tip and press the grease into the little needles and spaces, just to make certain it is really packed in there to take care of noise. I have not only employed that method with Concepts, but also Celebrity's too. It seems to help with both.


 


Good luck to you!

 

[broomvac]

Greased Lightning!

So I have her all together now and back in action!

The new (but otherwise identical) Koyo J-65 needle bearing quieted things down. I pressed out the old, then pressed in the new and injected some grey high-speed electric motor bearing grease into the center. With the help of a Q-tip (Thanks for that "tip," TheSpiritOf76!), I was able to fill the bearing nicely.

I wouldn't describe the machine as truly "quiet" per-se, but between the new fan side 608 sealed ball bearing and the new Koyo J-65 belt side needle bearing, it sounds as it would have coming out of the box new. That's good enough for me, I guess. These needle bearing supported Hoover motors just don't sound buttery by design. Shame they didn't engineer a dual sealed ball bearing supported motor. I'll bet the thought crossed their mind, but you know, cost and all...

I had half a mind to install two R1038-2RS sealed ball bearings side-by-side on the belt side to accomplish what Hoover never managed to. Such a setup would effectively take up the same space as the old bearing, save boring out the bearing holder in the plastic motor housing to 5/8" from 9/16"--this would be no problem since I have a spare housing I wouldn't mind experimenting with. However, I discovered that such bearings, which have a perfectly 3/8" bore, naturally would not slide onto the motor shaft, which is also perfectly 3/8" in diameter. Their installation would require either pressing the bearings on or turning a few thousandths off the armature on the lathe, an operation I don't want to gamble my only Concept One armature on. If I ever come across another 7.8 amp Concept whose armature I can use, though, I may have to give this "quiet Concept" a shot!

Anyways, gsheen and TheSpiritOf76, thank you both for your help! With your help, I got my Concept One nicely greased up and running very well!

Anyone else who has questions about servicing Hoover Concept style machines, I'd be glad to help.

broomvac

 

[TheSpiritOf76]

my pleasure!

I am perfectly happy that you found my advice useful! That turned out to be a beautiful machine!


 


I wish they would have used double ball bearing too! I know Hoover did use a upper sleeve bearing on the lower line Celebrity canisters (their motor construction is a lot like the Concept), the sleeve bearing cut out a lot of that noise. But it of coarse wouldn't be suitable for the higher amperage, and or two stage machines.