This page covers the 15 mm bore size of 1200 Series Self-Aligning Ball Bearings to ISO 15 / GB/T 281 / DIN 630. It reproduces the dimensional row, then works outward from it: the fit for the load case, the internal clearance group, the shoulder and fillet the corner radius allows, and where this bearing type should and should not be used.
15 mm Bore Dimensional Row (ISO 15 / GB/T 281 / DIN 630)
| Designation | Bore d (mm) | Outer diameter D (mm) | Width B (mm) | Chamfer r min (mm) | Permissible misalignment (deg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1202 | 15 | 35 | 11 | 0.6 | 2.5 |
What a 1200 Series Self-Aligning Ball Bearings Does
Two rows of balls run in a spherical outer raceway whose centre lies on the bearing axis, so the inner ring, balls and cage swivel inside the outer ring. Misalignment between the two housing seats, or a shaft that deflects under load, is absorbed instead of being converted into edge loading — the reason this type survives on long line shafts, agricultural drives and fabricated frames where the seats were never machined in one setting.
Primarily radial load, with a modest axial capacity in both directions. The shallow spherical outer raceway is not a thrust face, and this type is chosen for its tolerance of misalignment rather than for combined loading.
Speed at 15 mm Bore
No limiting speed is tabulated for this product. Where speed matters, the figure to work to is the one the bearing supplier states for the exact design, cage and lubricant supplied — not a family value.
Shaft & Housing Fit for a 15 mm Seat
With the inner ring rotating under a load whose direction is fixed, the inner ring sees a circumferential load and must be an interference fit, or it will creep on the shaft and fret it. The outer ring sees a point load and takes a transition or clearance fit so that it can shift slowly and spread the wear — and so that one of the two bearings on the shaft is free to take up axial expansion.
| Shaft, light load (P ≤ 0.06 C) | h5 |
|---|---|
| Shaft, normal load (P = 0.06–0.12 C) | j5 |
| Housing — Axial displacement of the outer ring required | H7 |
| Housing — Normal load, outer ring may still shift | J7 |
| Housing — Normal to heavy load, quiet running, outer ring not displaceable | K7 |
ISO 286-2 tolerance grades, applied per the conventional bearing seat recommendations of ISO 1132-2 and DIN 5425-1, for a SOLID STEEL shaft in a cast iron or steel housing. A hollow shaft, a thin-walled housing or a light alloy housing needs a tighter fit than these, because the seat itself deflects.
Radial Internal Clearance at 15 mm Bore
Radial internal clearance is the total distance one ring can be moved relative to the other, across the bearing, before it is mounted. It is not a tolerance and not a quality grade: it is a quantity that gets USED UP on installation. An interference fit on the shaft expands the inner ring; a tight housing fit compresses the outer ring; and a shaft that runs hotter than its housing grows more than the housing does. All three subtract from the clearance the bearing was made with. C3 exists for that reason. Specify it when the shaft fit is heavier than normal, when the inner ring will run 10 °C or more above the outer, when a hollow or heated shaft is involved, or when the bearing sits on an adapter sleeve that is driven up hard. Specify CN — normal, and usually left out of the designation entirely — for the ordinary case of a moderate fit on a shaft close to housing temperature. The failure this prevents is specific and quick: fit a CN bearing with a heavy interference on a shaft that then runs hot, and the residual clearance goes negative. The bearing is now preloaded by its own installation, the rolling elements are squeezed, friction and temperature rise together, and the temperature rise tightens the fit further. It runs hot, then it runs blue, and the raceways spall long before the calculated life.
ISO 5753-1 tabulates clearance separately for each bearing type, and the numbers for this type are not the deep groove ball bearing numbers. Order the group — CN, C3 or C4 — and take the values from the table for this type.
Abutment Shoulder & Fillet Radius for 15 mm
The chamfer dimension r min for this size is 0.6 mm. That figure is a limit on YOUR machining, not just on the bearing: the fillet radius in the corner of the shaft or the housing must be smaller than the bearing's corner radius, or the ring seats on the fillet instead of on the shoulder face and is loaded on its corner.
| Chamfer dimension r min (from the table) | 0.6 mm |
|---|---|
| Maximum fillet radius on the shaft or housing | 0.6 mm |
| Shaft shoulder must exceed | 16.2 mm diameter |
| Housing shoulder bore must be under | 33.8 mm diameter |
The two shoulder figures are the geometric floor and ceiling: a shoulder outside them fouls the corner radius instead of bearing on the ring face. The practical values sit inside them — the shoulder must contact the ring face over a useful area without touching the seal, the cage or the opposite ring, and it must still leave room for a puller when the bearing is dismounted. Take the working da and Da from the abutment table for the bearing; the ring shoulder height they are built on is not a boundary dimension and is not in this table.
Mounting a 15 mm Bore 1200 Series Self-Aligning Ball Bearings
The ring that carries the rotating load takes an interference fit; the ring under a stationary point load takes a transition or clearance fit so that it can creep slowly and spread the wear, and so that one ring is free to take up axial expansion. With a rotating shaft under a fixed load direction, that means an interference fit on the shaft and a looser fit in the housing. Press only against the ring being fitted — force driven through the rolling elements leaves brinell marks in the raceway before the bearing has run a revolution.
At a 15 mm bore the interference is small enough that a cold press or a light hydraulic press is normally enough; heating the bearing in an induction heater or an oil bath to 80–100 °C above the shaft is the alternative, and never above 120 °C for a standard-stabilized bearing. Keep the heated bearing pressed against the shoulder while it cools, because it shrinks axially as well as radially.
Lubrication & Relubrication
Grease is the normal lubricant for this type: it stays where it is put, helps to keep contamination out, and needs no circulation system. Fill roughly 30% to 50% of the free space in the bearing arrangement — a bearing packed full runs hot, because the excess grease is churned rather than used. The relubrication interval is not a fixed figure; it falls with speed, with temperature and with load, and it halves for roughly every 15 °C of temperature rise above about 70 °C. Where speed, temperature or the required interval put grease out of reach, change to oil.
Sealed-for-life versions carry their whole service life of grease inside the seals and cannot be relubricated. That is the right choice where the bearing is inaccessible and the duty is mild; it is the wrong one where the temperature is high, the environment is wet, or the required life is longer than the grease life — and the grease, not the steel, is what ends it.
Failure Modes and What They Look Like
- Subsurface fatigue (spalling) — a flake of raceway lifts out and the bearing gets noisy and rough. This is the failure the L10 life calculation predicts — if it arrives near the calculated life the bearing did its job, and if it arrives early the load, the fit or the lubrication was not what the calculation assumed.
- Inadequate lubrication — a polished, then discoloured, then torn raceway, running hot with a darkened grease. It is the most common cause of early failure by a wide margin, and the interval, not the grease, is usually what was wrong.
- Contamination — dents in the raceway with raised edges, then premature spalling from those dents. Wear particles, casting sand and washdown water all do it; sealing and filtration are what prevent it.
- False brinelling and fretting — evenly spaced dull marks at ball or roller pitch, produced by vibration while the shaft is stationary — a machine that travels on a truck, or a standby pump beside a running one. It is not caused by overload and cannot be cured by fitting a bigger bearing.
- Loss of internal clearance — the whole raceway path is loaded, the bearing runs hot from installation and it discolours evenly. The fit was too heavy, the shaft ran hotter than the housing, or a CN bearing was fitted where C3 was needed.
- Seal failure — grease escaping, then water and dirt getting in. A contact seal is a wearing part with a temperature limit of its own, and a washdown at 80 °C will get past a standard nitrile lip long before the bearing itself is in trouble.
Where NOT to Use a 1200 Series Self-Aligning Ball Bearings
- Do not choose a self-aligning ball bearing for heavy axial load. The shallow spherical outer raceway is not a thrust face — its axial capacity is incidental, and the type is selected for misalignment, not for combined loading.
- Do not press on the OUTER ring to mount it. The outer ring can swivel; press force applied to it goes through the balls into the inner ring and leaves marks in the raceways before the shaft is even turning.
- Do not use self-alignment as a substitute for machining. It absorbs static misalignment between seats; it does not fix a bent shaft, which loads the bearing dynamically every revolution.
- Do not treat a sealed bearing as sealed for life in a wet or hot environment. A contact seal has a temperature and a pressure limit of its own, and once it is past them the grease leaves and the water arrives.
Stepping Up or Down from 15 mm
Within the same series, the next bore up in this series is 17 mm and the next bore down is 12 mm. Changing bore changes the shaft, so it is the last thing to change: when the calculated life at 15 mm is short, the first move is to a heavier diameter series at the SAME bore — the 6300 envelope instead of the 6200, for instance — which raises the rating without touching the shaft. The second is to change type: a roller bearing carries far more radial load than a ball bearing of the same envelope.
