How do you change the bearings in the P20SB? Any recommendations for replacements?
Go to this link for the parts list and assembly drawing for P 20SB: www.hitachipowertools.com/product/files/woodworking/planers/P20SB_BD.pdf. Get the bearing part numbers off the list and order them from your local Hitachi Service center (4 bearings). The bearings are press-fit on the shafts; you’ll need a puller and a press to install them. If you try and pry them off and/or hammer the new ones in, you’ll probably bend the shafts. You may want to get the bearings and take it to a tool repair place, or take it apart yourself and get a machine shop to do removal/press fit.
The stock bearings suck, if you’re going to replace them, best to go ahead and get good ones.
If you’ve already worn out a set that means you’re using the tool enough to justify the extra
expense of good bearings.
Mike is very right. You need to use “sealed” bearings (plastic cover over the balls), ask Hitachi to verify. The ABEC grade doesn’t really matter, it only has to do with the machining tolerance of the balls. The belt loading and the RPM speed are within the ABEC-1 grade which is the lowest. I assumed that Hitachi factory replacement bearings are sealed as Bosch and Makita. If not, you need to measure the old ones (mm) with a dial micrometer and get your own replacements from a bearing supply. Before you replace the bearings, check the plastic bearing housings where they go into. Often on Hitachi’s, the bearings will seize on the shafts and melt into the plastic. If this has happened, the planer is history.