Fantastic explainer video, and good insight on the planned obsolescence in the engineering. I'd say more likely than not, the actual designing engineer(s) created that specifically for the bearing so that it would be a higher quality product, and the finance side ddcided to not only cheap out on the parts (because bushings are still marginally cheaper, even buying in mass quantities like these companies do) and would fail, requiring either service or repair. Crappy practice, but it's unfortunately commonplace nowadays, so it's good to see people finding ways to lengthen the lifespan with cheap and easy fixes like this I did want to note that, especially for people wuth less experience in the repair and restoration field, press fitting these bearings is often a safer and easier choice than percussive application using a hammer like this. There's less risk of damaging both the drive shaft and the bearing itself, and is most often easier to execute precisely. To do this at home without expensive tools like a full-size press, you can easily flip the operation around: instead of putting it on a hard surface and pressing the bearing down onto it, instead push upward like many people do to work new tire rubber onto wheels. First, find a solid, sturdy surface to press up onto, like a car body, anchored desk/tabletop, or countertop (just make sure its secure and won't be damaged by the upward pressure). Place a jack of some kind with a flat surface on top (I use an automotive floor jack, with either a wood plank or other flat surface on top to spread out the force) onto the ground directly under the tabletop, and then put the motor assembly on top of it. Set the rest up just like in the video, with something like a socket to fit over the bearing and shaft on top of the bearing to be installed. As you raise the jack up, it put pressure from the socket onto the bearing, which will gradually and evenly force the bearing onto the drive shaft of the motor in a precise and controlled manner. This will save the potential headache of a warped or damaged bearing or shaft, which could either be a much more costly and/or skilled repair, or necessitate replacing the parts entirely. Thanks again fkr both the insjght and the excellent tutorial video. Keep up the great work; it is much appreciated!

Great video and just ordered my replacement bearing. Please note the link no longer works but I was able to figure out what I needed from the data in the link itself. Looking forward to getting my Shop Vac back up and running.

Worked like a charm! Thank you.

best vid ever

Perfect example of planned obsolescence. What a waste that all of these shop vacs end up in landfills over a part that wouldn't cost the manufacturer 50 cents a piece. Thank you for posting your solution.

So helpful!!! Let me help too perhaps... Measure the shaft diameter before ordering the 608-2RS bearings. That is an 8mm shaft, 8mm ID bearing. 26mm OD. My Craftsman 2.0 hp, 6 gallon had a different diameter, 10mm, so I needed a 10mm ID bearing. Also, instead of a 26mm OD bearing to fit in the upper housing, mine was much larger, 30mm, so rather than the larger ID but same OD, like a 6000-2rs(10mm ID, 26mm OD) I needed the 6200-2rs to take up the surrounding space in the upper housing. PS....look at the thin squirrel cage fan to confirm there is no debris stuck to it like mine had, causing out of balance vibration. That bearing was still fine.

Another thank you. And another 20-something year old machine saved from the landfill.

Sounds great

Great video!!!!....🤔One thought I had about the bearing being lose in the bracket is making a shim out of metal from a soda can may give a tight fit. Or possibly a very light application of JB weld to the outside of the bearing before installing the bracket would work too.

You could affix the replacement ball bearing outer race in the bore by applying a thin coat of Ultimate Gray RTV--by JB weld--give it a 1/2 day to cure.

Another THANK YOU!!! for letting us know about the 608 bearing that fits right in the bearing support bracket. Mine is working as it should now.

Thanks so much for this tip, did this mod last night, now the vacuum sucks insanely strongly and is much quieter.

Thankyou for taking your time to share this! Can't see how this isn't an intentional failure point. I will add some bearing retaining compound on the outside of the bearing to tighten up the housing play. This really made my day. Again, thankyou!

Wooooo! YESS. I did it! Heck yes! Thank you so much!! 🎉🎉🎉👩‍🔧

Thank you so much for this excellent video. Videos like these is why i love youtube!!!

brass bushings are generally designed to be porous and absorb oil--longer lasting in hot applications such as a printer fuser. the bearing is probably much quieter in this high speed application tho

Great tutorial video 🙌☀️

Finally, someone that actually fixed something. The rest of these videos simply replace the entire blower.

Well done sir 🤙🤙

Where did you get the bearing puller?

This is awesome! I have replaced a few power unit assemblies over the years on a couple trying to save but this is obviously a great better then factory fix. Nice work 👌

Finally a video with a guy using actual tools. Thank you!

Tha ks so much! Saved me buying new shop vac! Perfect fix! Really appreciate the tone to make the video and share your knowledge!

Some skateboard bearings are 2rs with a rubber shield on each side like Bones Redz. You can get a set of 8 for $15.

Oh theres definitely a reason they dont put a bearing... Im an HVAC tech. I replace tandem conpressor sets that cost 14k every day and the failure mode? A crappy sleeve bearing (metal bushing) that gets chewed up.

Awesome video. I work at one of my states top 2 venues and we have this console handling concerts and sports. I'm used to other boards but this video has me more comfortable on this specific one. Gonna send to the newer guys too

So the bushing is surrounded by a felt ring, that needs to be oiled since it s the oil supply for the bushing. If that isn't saturated with oil, the bushing will run dry pretty quickly. Replacing it with a ball bearing is a good solution too.

got a 1900's building, 50+ years of dust, a basement full of ash and coal dust. Just removed plaster on my wall and stuck around an extra day to 'clean' and this thing broke. I am furious I am already renovating a 100+ year old building and this 2 week old vacuum is doing this. This is poor poor poor. Go google better than shopvac Wow, look those brands you never heard of and ya know for the $80 dollars an hour i get paid why would I go to the hardware store to fix it when there is a better product. Great video, but I'm not a shop vac person anymore. Ya know, I even used a dust collector to keep the bearings from getting worn out. Brick dust will kill it.

Thank you so much sir for your packaged information.

This worked! Lubricating the shaft did not work, but this easy bearing replacement did, and my 25 year-old shopvac now works like new. The place he linked has free shipping too, and I realized I've ordered bike bearings from in past years. Thank you!!!!

How do you read them once installed

You sir are a genius !! I lubed the bushing and it worked for a while but the noise came back eventualy. I'm looking forward to try your solution. Thanks so much for sharing that video !

Thank you so much! I don't know if I thanked you before. My son gave me one of his skateboard wheel bearings and I fixed the shop vac two years ago. It's just now worn out after 2 years and I'm getting ready to put in a new bearing. I'm hoping a wiper arm puller is going to fit under the bearing to pull it. The arms are too thick on the pullers I've got...

What a great video! I don't know how many Shopvacs I've thrown away... BUT... it is now 2023 and I've got to rebuild Shopvacs and many other things to get by. In 2018 the 608 bearing at the referenced site may have been $3 to $4 dollars. NOW it is $6.90. Why the rant? Because I went on a fixed income a few years ago. The economy sucks for the small guy. So this bearing has gone up by between 73% and 276% (one early commenter paid $2.50 for theirs ranging to the $4 quoted in this video). Gas has increased by 35% to 50%. I can still afford a gallon of gas (1 gallon 🙂) but eggs, milk, home improvement supplies and of course bearings have risen exponentially. So remember this when you go to vote. All politicians on both sides need to address this. BTW, social security increases don't cover these price increases. Outrageous. Some may challenge my numbers, some will say it happened under two different administrations, even others will point out that inflation is not linear... and I agree. But it doesn't excuse the inflation in our economy that doesn't phase the upper class which your politician belongs to. Are telling your representatives what is happening? They don't seem to know about this or what to do when I send a concern to them.

Do you know if it's a 608 bearing for the 2.5HP motor also?

many, many thanks. easy peasy after seeing your video. Notes: when replacing screws, put drill clutch on lowest / least torque setting which seems perfect for going into plastic. Skateboard shops sell 608 bearings but are rubber one side only with steel on obverse -- thus the -2rs noted in the video. With steel side inside the bracket housing (has a solid cap), I'm hoping it will last. if a little play, wrap a single layer of electric tape around bearing and trim off excess.

Absolutely fantastic! Thank you!

They use the bushing so it will fail and you have to buy another vacuum

This video is extremely helpful brother. Much appreciate. Coincidentally that’s a standard skateboard size bearing…. Robbed an old board, re-packed, did ur hack and good as new!!! Love this!!!!!!!

Lennox uses inducers (Fasco made) with the blade molded around an apparently press fit bushing in a replacement price gouging move. There is no way I see to take blade off for motor bearing replacement. I speak of Fasco A209 in this instance but several similar models likely made same way. Original fan lasted 4 years (bearing failure) .. the replacement last 13 years (nearing total bearing failure at this moment). Despite everything other than fan working fine, this gouging on an inducer (cheapest assy ~ $300) plus the apparent low quality of Fasco will defo make me steer clear of Lennox

Thank you! Just what I was looking for. Good tip with the socket underneath to not damage the fan impeller

Thanks for the video was able to repair all three of my Shop Vacs two made around 2007 and my newer Shop Vac mini from 2020 with the same bearing. One thing to note as explained in the video it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT to only press the bearing on the motor shaft until bearing cap is FLUSH with the motor laminations where the screws go through. The bearing is a tight fit between the inner race and the motor shaft but a rather loose fit between the outer race and the bearing cap. So you want to drive the bearing on just far enough so the loose outer race wedges itself inside the bearing cap and won't move. I pressed the bearing on too far while repairing my second shop vac and there was a slight grinding sound when the motor powered off. This was because the bearing outer race was wobbling and spinning inside the bearing cap (I was able to see the shaft wobble with the motor running). Luckily I had the tool (a split bearing puller) to pull the bearing back off so I could drive it back on properly. Long story short take your time and drive the bearing on little by little and test fit the bearing cap. It's easier to install than it is to remove.

Great video I have to shop vacs but I have had to lubricate a few times thank you for making this I'm about to order the bearings now for both of them

You must shim the bearing in that bracket so that it CANNOT spin within the bracket. What will happen is the bearing will spin, the outer race will wear down the inner surface of the bracket, the clearance will increase and now you will have a loose noisy bearing that isn't working. You can shim the bearing with some aluminum cut from a beverage can. Another guy did it with electrical tape wrapped around the outer race of the bearing. You adjust the amount (length) of shim material to get a firm press fit of the bearing in to the bracket. The place the bearing fits in the bracket is properly called the bearing boss. Here is a video showing this: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ptx5oq-WnZ6Xenl8.html I replaced the bronze bushing with the 608 bearing on two shop vacs a couple days ago, and shimmed them for a tight press fit in the bearing boss. I never expect to have a bearing failure on these for the foreseeable future. This is a great mod and you did a nice video to show people how to salvage their shop vacs and not trash them. Excellent!

Finally performed this repair on my whizzing/burning-smelling Shop Vac, and it worked perfectly. Thanks!

I have 3 Shop Vac's. Two had the death rattle and I wound up doing this mod to all three yesterday. Comments: A) I used the orange HF hook tool that you used on the oil pad cover and was able to extract the screens without tearing up the edge, with the help of pliers. B) If I do this again, I'll use a block when first putting the bearing on. On one unit, the bearing went from resistant to shooting on almost too far using the socket. On with the block and then "gently" with the socket. Thumbs up.... I wish I'd known this a decade ago.

I have a craftsmans vac, same problem. In my the piece on top does not have screws to remove to get to that bearing, any help with this? Thanks

Do you know how this meter can be reset?

are these 110V AC?