Spaces, hyphens and slashes can be typed or left out; the result updates as you type.
Type the marking from the quotation here; the table sets it against the bearing being replaced, read above. Copy link to this reading then carries both markings.
The designation etched on a ring face, such as 6312-2Z/C3, NU 214 ECP or 22220 E/C3, carries the bearing type, the bore and, in its suffixes, the seals, the cage and the internal clearance. This reader splits a marking into those parts using the standard system the major bearing makers share, and turns it into a line you can paste into a request.
Suffixes are decoded only where a maker’s own designation system states what they mean; every other code is kept exactly as marked. The reader explains a designation. It does not confirm a bearing; outside diameter and width are given for the common 60, 62, 63, 160, 618 and 619 series only.
The leading digits, or letters for cylindrical and needle roller bearings, give the bearing type and its dimension series. The series fixes the outside diameter and width for a given bore, by the ISO dimension plans; the reader gives them for the 60, 62, 63, 160, 618 and 619 series, and for other series they are in the maker’s catalogue.
The last two digits of the basic designation are the bore code. Codes 00, 01, 02 and 03 stand for 10, 12, 15 and 17 mm; from 04 upwards the code multiplied by five gives the size in millimetres, so code 12 means 60 mm. A size written after a slash is in millimetres already, and on the smallest deep groove ball bearings a single digit is the size itself, as in 608.
Letters and numbers after the basic designation describe the variant: seals or shields, cage, internal clearance, tolerance class, heat stabilization, lubricant, matched sets. Their meaning belongs to each maker’s designation system, and makers write the same thing differently: SKF writes 2RS1 or 2Z, other makers DDU, LLU, 2RSR, ZZ or 2ZR. The reader decodes the suffixes in SKF’s designation system and the clearance and tolerance classes every maker shares, and keeps the rest as marked.
| Starts with | Bearing type |
|---|---|
| 60, 62, 63, 64, 618, 619, 160 | Single row deep groove ball bearing |
| 42, 43 | Double row deep groove ball bearing |
| 70, 72, 73, 719 | Single row angular contact ball bearing |
| 32, 33 (also 52, 53) | Double row angular contact ball bearing |
| 12, 13, 22, 23 + bore code | Self-aligning ball bearing |
| 302, 303, 313, 320, 322, 323, 329, 330, 331, 332 | Tapered roller bearing |
| 213, 222, 223, 230, 231, 232, 239, 240, 241 | Spherical roller bearing |
| NU, NJ, NUP, N, NF | Single row cylindrical roller bearing |
| NN, NNU | Double row cylindrical roller bearing |
| NA | Needle roller bearing with an inner ring |
| 511, 512, 513, 514 | Single direction thrust ball bearing |
| 292, 293, 294 | Spherical roller thrust bearing |
| 811, 812 | Cylindrical roller thrust bearing |
For the deep groove ball bearings of the 60, 62 and 63 series, bores 10 to 100 mm, yes: as the Timken and GMN catalogues agree (6205 is 25 × 52 × 15 mm); for the thin 618 and 619 series, bores 10 to 90 mm, as the Timken and NSK catalogues agree (61805 is 25 × 37 × 7 mm); for the narrow 160 series, bores 15 to 90 mm, as the Timken and GMN catalogues agree (16005 is 25 × 47 × 8 mm); and a size typed instead of a designation reads back as the bearing. For other series only the bore follows from the code; the outside diameter and width are in the maker’s catalogue and are confirmed against the marking when the request is reviewed.
All three are 6205 deep groove ball bearings sealed on both sides, but the seals are not the same part: each maker’s code also says whether the seal touches the ring and what it is made of. Send the marking exactly as it is on the ring and say whether another maker’s seal is acceptable.
C3 is a radial internal clearance greater than Normal; a bearing with Normal clearance carries no clearance suffix at all. If the bearing being replaced is marked C3, the request should say C3 too, unless the equipment maker specifies something else.
Send it exactly as marked, with a photograph of the ring and the maker’s name. Inch-series, needle roller, super-precision and special bearings use designation systems this reader does not cover, and a worn marking is read best from the photograph.
A decoded designation is a cross-check on your own reading, not proof of the bearing. Attach the photograph of the ring, give the marking exactly as it reads and the maker’s name, and say where the bearing sits — Vessel Core checks them against each other before an offer goes back.
