Bearings for the Ubiquitous Porter Cable 690 Series Router: Mission Accomplished!

[Philip1231]

I am looking to pick up some spare bearings for a couple of Porter Cable 690 series routers. I would have thought that there would be some cross reference between PC part numbers and standard bearing numbers somewhere on the web. If it exists, I could not find it. Here are the two PC part numbers:

878065 fan bearing
855284 commutator bearing

I know I can take the unit apart and remove the bearings and measure them, but I'd like to have the replacements on hand before I disassemble the units.

Your assistance would be greatly appreciated.

[jteneyck]

I am looking to pick up some spare bearings for a couple of Porter Cable 690 series routers. I would have thought that there would be some cross reference between PC part numbers and standard bearing numbers somewhere on the web. If it exists, I could not find it. Here are the two PC part numbers:

878065 fan bearing
855284 commutator bearing

I know I can take the unit apart and remove the bearings and measure them, but I'd like to have the replacements on hand before I disassemble the units.

Your assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Here's the second one:  855284

And this one is said to be correct for the other end:  878064SV

John

[Brian in sunny FL]

Here's the second one:  855284

And this one is said to be correct for the other end:  878064SV

John

Those 608 roller skate bearings are very common, that seller is getting the PC premium but a good source to back into the numbers.

If I was replacing them I would get an Abec rated bearing like an Abec-5 as they are not much more expensive.

[Philip1231]

John/Brian: thanks for that feedback. Assuming we can trust the bearing numbers on the bearings shown in the pictures on the Amazon website (and assuming they are not just stock bearing photos). It looks like both the 608z and 6202rs are the standard bearing numbers and these are widely available, and at various quality levels. I am also assuming that I could substitute a 608zz for the 608z. I did find the exact OEM replacement bearings on ebay, but I suspect these bearings have been sitting on a shelf for many years and I've heard that there is an expiration date on these types of bearings due to the aging of the grease. If I am going to the trouble of changing the bearings, I'd like to get "fresh" bearings. Phil

[Brian in sunny FL]

John/Brian: thanks for that feedback. Assuming we can trust the bearing numbers on the bearings shown in the pictures on the Amazon website (and assuming they are  not just stock bearing photos). It looks like both the 608z and 6202rs are the standard bearing numbers and these are widely available, and at various quality levels. I am also assuming that I could substitute a 608zz for the 608z. I did find the exact OEM replacement bearings on ebay, but I suspect these bearings have been sitting on a shelf for many years and I've heard that there is an expiration date on these types of bearings due to the aging of the grease. If I am going to the trouble of changing the bearings, I'd like to get "fresh" bearings. Phil

The letters on the end are the shielding.  Z means dust proof and ZZ means dust proof both sides.  Different mfg may use different letters and I'm sure one Z is really the same on both sides of the bearing.  The 6202RS I have questions on.  There is a very common 6202 bearing used in a lot of 6" jointers but probably too large for a router.  So I'll assume it's a 620-2RS?  The 2RS means 2 sides rubber seal.  That would be a fully sealed bearing.

[jteneyck]

John/Brian: thanks for that feedback. Assuming we can trust the bearing numbers on the bearings shown in the pictures on the Amazon website (and assuming they are  not just stock bearing photos). It looks like both the 608z and 6202rs are the standard bearing numbers and these are widely available, and at various quality levels. I am also assuming that I could substitute a 608zz for the 608z. I did find the exact OEM replacement bearings on ebay, but I suspect these bearings have been sitting on a shelf for many years and I've heard that there is an expiration date on these types of bearings due to the aging of the grease. If I am going to the trouble of changing the bearings, I'd like to get "fresh" bearings. Phil

How did the numbers go from 878065 and 855284 to 608Z and 6202RS?  

John

[Philip1231]

How did the numbers go from 878065 and 855284 to 608Z and 6202RS?  

John

I took a look at the pictures of the bearings on the Amazon pages you provided links to and they are marked as such. Assuming these are not just some stock photos as I mentioned above, this would allow me to purchase from a wide variety of bearing manufacturers and quality levels, rather than trying to source the bearings based on the OEM part number.

[jteneyck]

I took a look at the pictures  of the bearings on the Amazon pages you provided links to and they are marked as such. Assuming these are not just some stock photos as I mentioned above, this would allow me to purchase from a wide variety of bearing manufacturers and quality levels, rather than trying to source the bearings based on the OEM part number.

Ah, I see now.  I'm not sure I'd trust that the photos are of the actual bearings.  I'd buy a set based on the original part numbers and see if they match up before looking further.  How many 690 routers do you own.  I have one.  It's been running for over 30 years - and does need some new bearings.  I suspect any quality new bearing will meet my needs for however many more years I will be wood working.   

John

[Philip1231]

Ah, I see now.  I'm not sure I'd trust that the photos are of the actual bearings.  I'd buy a set based on the original part numbers and see if they match up before looking further.  How many 690 routers do you own.  I have one.  It's been running for over 30 years - and does need some new bearings.  I suspect any quality new bearing will meet my needs for however many more years I will be wood working.   

John

John: I have fallen down (another) rabbit hole with this latest project involving these 690 routers. I am at the point where simply tearing it apart seems like the best course of action. I will update you on my findings. Phil

[Philip1231]

I have finally climbed back out of the bearing rabbit hole, I am happy to report.

In our last episode, you may recall (see above) that I opined on the lack of available information regarding replacement bearings for the ubiquitous Porter Cable 690 series router. I decided to investigate this further, and here are my findings.

My particular model is a 90690: this was a special edition 690 router that was offered in 1996 to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Porter Cable company. The model sported a very nice paint job and came in a nice metal storage case. AFAIK: all other specs are identical to the non-commemorative versions.

Once disassembled I removed the followings bearings:

NTN 608 Z
NTN 6202 LH

These were marked USA: something that is becoming quite rare in the bearing world.

After having no luck in my search for these NTN bearings, I contacted NTN. They indicated that these two bearings were no longer produced. The 608 Z has a metal shield on one side and a rubber seal on the other. The 6202 LH had two rubber seals and the LH indicates that it was a “low torque” version of the bearing, allowing it to operate at high speeds. NTN could not provide a replacement of this bearing that met the 25,000 RPM speed requirement.

I then turned to the OEM supplier replacement bearings that are supplied by Porter Cable. These are:

HCH 608 RW
CW 6202 RS

These are both chinese made bearings with rubber shields on both sides. Since I had trouble sourcing a bearing from NTN that met the high speed requirements of this tool, I decided to confirm with these two companies that their products did in fact meet or exceed the speed requirements. I tried to contact both companies after failing to find the required data on their web sites, but got zero response from both of them.

At this point, I decided to explore what was available from other top tier bearing manufacturers and was surprised at how the speed requirement kept coming up as the limiting factor. I eventually came across a special series of bearings manufactured by SKF. These are as follows:

SKF E2.608-2Z/C3
SKF E2.6202-2Z/C3

These bearings have metal shields on both sides and they both far exceed the speed requirements. FWIW: these are ABEC category 3 rated which means the manufacturing tolerances are tighter than garden variety bearings. A side bonus: these bearings are manufactured in Italy!

With these new bearings, the router runs like a top (it might even sound a little like a Ferrari) with essentially zero noticeable vibration.

Why did I change the original bearings: well they were the original bearings which meant they were 30 years old. Even though this particular router has seen virtually no use, I was suspicious that the bearing grease may not have aged well, and decided to replace them as a preemptive exercise. Would the original bearings have lasted two more weeks/years/decades: who knows.

Finally, I will note that the chinese made bearings supplied by Porter Cable and available on Amazon are priced at $20 plus shipping. I was able to get the SKF bearings delivered for around $20.

I hope this information makes it a little easier for other folks to source bearings for this most common of routers (and which are widely available for short money on craigslist, ebay, etc. ).

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