CASE STUDY

Bearing Isolator | Pump

THE ROLE OF BEARING PROTECTION IN adjustment), but rather that contact is not a requirement for
PUMP RELIABILITY proper function. For a non-contact seal, contact is not the
mechanism by which the seal performs.
Fifty years ago, cars had an odometer that rolled over at
100,000 miles. The reason was simple: 100,000 miles was a Contact seals are commonly further subdivided into lip seals
major accomplishment in the late 1970’s, and there was little and magnetic seals. Lip seals broadly refer to any design
need to record mileage beyond that point. The probability utilizing an elastomeric, usually circumferential contacting
that a car would last longer than 100,000 miles was, relative element. This static contacting element is pressed against
to today, small. A typical new car warranty then was only the shaft, often with the aid of a spring, to assure positive
twelve months or 12,000 miles. Today 100,000 miles is not contact. The elastomeric contacting element is often retained
an accomplishment, but an expectation, and many cars by a metal housing that is press-fit into the bearing housing
even have warranties that extend that far. Industrial rotating about the shaft. The primary advantage of lip seals is low
equipment, particularly industrial pumps, have undergone a cost. They are also readily available in almost any size
similar, though even more dramatic, transformation. Where required. The primary disadvantages are short life due to
90-day warranties and annual pump rebuilds were once wear, and that by dynamically contacting the shaft they can
common, users today have an expectation of five years or cause shaft wear and damage.
longer MTBR. The practical application of reliability science
Magnetic seals are optically flat, essentially simple
has made this possible, and attention to bearing life in
unbalanced mechanical seals utilizing magnetic attraction to
particular has been a major contributor to this new reality.
load faces as opposed
Given that bearing failure equals equipment failure, to mechanical springs.
bearing protection is an essential topic to any conversation The faces are usually
regarding reliability of industrial rotating equipment. Bearings comprised of different
are protected from their two major causes of failure, materials, such as carbon
contamination and lubricant loss, primarily by the bearing and stainless steel or
housing seals. The proper selection and design of theses other metals. The primary
bearing housing seals has a significant impact on pump advantage of magnetic
reliability. Some basic knowledge and understanding of seals over lip seals is
bearing housing seals is thus a prerequisite topic for any that they do not damage
practicing rotating equipment reliability professional. the shaft, as all dynamic
contact occurs within the
There are essentially two broad categories of bearing housing
seal and between the two
seals: contact and non-contact. Contact seals rely solely
faces. Magnetic seals
upon contact to perform their sealing functions. If there is
are considerably more
no contact, there is no seal. Non-contact seals, conversely,
expensive than lip seals. Contact seals, like lip seals, have a finite
do not rely on contact to perform their sealing function. life expectancy as they will eventually
That is not to imply the design of non-contact seals never wear at the point of contact or groove
permit components to touch (e.g., during installation or the shaft.

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Both types of contact seals have the advantage of being Seal selection, like most engineering decisions, is a trade-
able to seal positive pressures or static levels (i.e., heads) of off. While contact seals do, as their name implies, provide
lubricant. Their common disadvantage is in that contact seals a positive contact and thus an effective seal against static
are friction devices that will wear out and at some point fail. heads and pressure, they are plagued by finite life. They will
Predicting when contact seal failure will occur, or what seal fail at some point, the time of which is mostly unknowable,
life can be expected of any particular seal installation, has and there are an untold number of factors that may contribute
remained unknowable. While the magnetic face-type seals to contact seal life expectancy. When they do fail, an
are thought to offer greater life expectancy than lip seals, the equipment repair is not far behind. Non-contacting Inpro/
real-world life expectancy of either type of contact seal is Seal Bearing Isolators, conversely, will not fail and rarely
mostly still unknown. contribute to a reduction in overall equipment reliability. They
in fact increase reliability by eliminating the bearing housing
Non-contact seals can be divided into three distinct
seal as a failure point. Because of this, Inpro/Seal Bearing
categories: gap, traditional labyrinths or compound labyrinths,
Isolators are now a common default choice for industrial
often referred to as Bearing Isolators. Gap, or clearance,
rotating equipment, specifically industrial pumps. In the
seals provide minimal protection at best, as they rely solely on
decades since we celebrated our cars achieving 100,000
a gap or tight clearance as the sealing mechanism to block
miles, the availability and widespread application of Inpro/
anything larger than the gap. Traditional labyrinths added
Seal Bearing Isolators has had a major impact on rotating
a difficult path into the gap seal design to further hinder
equipment reliability. Without Bearing Isolator technology,
anything passing through the seal. Traditional labyrinth seals
it could be argued, our present expectation for five or more
are usually one-directional and thus are an impractical option
years between repairs would not be possible.
for a bearing housing seal where both contaminant exclusion
and lubricant retention are required. Both gap and labyrinth
seals are inexpensive.

During the late 1970’s, the compound labyrinth design was

introduced to the industry. Compound labyrinth seals utilize both
static and dynamic components to retain lubricant and exclude
contamination. Inpro/Seal®, the inventor of compound labyrinth
seals, coined the phrase “Bearing Isolators” to differentiate
them from more traditional labyrinth seals. The term has been in
common use ever since. Inpro/Seal Bearing Isolators are non-
contact seals, and thus have an unlimited life expectancy. Since
they do not fail under normal circumstances, they are rarely
the cause of equipment downtime. Being a non-contact seal,
Bearing Isolators are not the correct selection when a pressure,
such as a static level of lubricant, must be sealed or when a
bearing housing may become submerged. Against splash
lubricant and contamination, however, they are almost always
the preferred choice.

To say the common application of Inpro/Seal Bearing

Isolators to pump bearing housings was monumental would
be an understatement. Pumps operate within systems of
related components, and the failure of only a few critical
elements can bring an entire system down. Bearing housing The new Inpro/Seal VB45-S and VB45-U Bearing Isolators are the latest
seal failures can and do cause pumping systems outages. designs to provide permanent bearing protection for pumps.
As demand for increased reliability and life expectancy has
soared over the past decades, lip seals simply could not
keep up with customer expectations. The use of non-contact,
non-wearing Inpro/Seal Bearing Isolators was fundamental in
achieving the MTBR demanded in industry today.

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