Bearing Noise

[George Yaklitch]

My sander has started to generate what sounds like a dry bearing noise. I cleaned the fan and removed a bunch of packed dust. The motor runs fine. I suspect orbital bearing to be out of lubrication rather than the motor. Is it likely the lower bearing will fail first before the upper and lower motor bearing?

[JimK]

There are 3 bearings in your sander. Although they are "shielded" bearings, they are not airtight. If you disassemble the sander, clean around the bearings, add a little fine oil and spin them by hand and they should loosen up. Also I have let the assembly sit overnight to let the oil soak into the bearing. The bottom is held by a retaining ring and the two smaller ones are a light press fit.