L1A liquid bearing?

[isaacmacdonald]

have l1a's always used liquid filled bearings?

 

[beatle]

AFAIK, yes.

 

[0roo0roo]

panaflo = fancy sleeve bearing.

 

[Cerb]

fancy sleeve bearing = fluid bearning

 

[gujuguy007]

anybody know the longevity of panaflos?

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Cerb
fancy sleeve bearing = fluid bearning

don't all sleeve bearings have oil? thats a fluid.

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: Cerb
fancy sleeve bearing = fluid bearning

don't all sleeve bearings have oil? thats a fluid.

Yes, but so do ball bearings.
IIRC, the point of the fluid bearing is that the oil used, in theory, keeps a thin, moving film so that there is no metal-to-metal contact.

...in theory.

 

[lchyi]

Originally posted by: gujuguy007
anybody know the longevity of panaflos?

Probably longer than you'll need them for.

 

[0roo0roo]

sleeves wear out faster then ball bearings.

that being said, sleeve bearings at low rpms like panaflos will last for a long time

i think my vantec stealths haave balls though.. i forget.

 

[MDE]

Yeah Stealths are ball bearings, but they're still quiet enough for me.

 

[0roo0roo]

and at that rpm, they'll last an insane amount of time

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
sleeves wear out faster then ball bearings.

that being said, sleeve bearings at low rpms like panaflos will last for a long time

i think my vantec stealths haave balls though.. i forget.

Many 15000rpm SCSI drives use fluid bearings, and they're warranted for five years of 24/7 operation. That comes out to almost 40 trillion revolutions. Not bad for "sleeve" bearings

The difference between the Panaflo hydrodynamic bearing and a conventional sleeve bearing is partly that the Panaflo uses a thrust plate that has a wave shape that is made to keep the rotor suspended on an oil bearing... check their PDF file here for a schematic on that.

 

[Jeff7]

Generic sleeve bearing fans have a habit of dying early, after less than a year usually - at least for me. I've not had a Panaflo die on me yet.