Whitemetal & White Metal Bearing Repair
Emergency repair, re-lining and re-engineering of white metal bearings, also known as whitemetal or Babbitt bearings, for turbines, compressors and critical rotating equipment.
Rapid Response Repair
Emergency breakdowns are part of our business. We restore white metal lined journal, thrust and tilting pad bearings for planned outages and urgent failures.
We Support Operators With
- Fast assessment and inspection
- Priority repair turnaround
- Clear communication throughout the process
- Support during critical outages
Our goal is simple: minimise downtime and restore operation as quickly as possible.
More Than Repair — Engineered Recovery
Repair is not just about restoring a component. During repair, we can:
- Identify root cause of failure
- Re-engineer the bearing design
- Improve performance and reliability
- Provide upgraded or spare components for future outages
Turning a failure into a long-term solution.
When Failure Happens
Whitemetal bearings are designed to fail first — protecting the rotor and critical components of your machine.
But when they do fail, the cost of downtime escalates rapidly.
Unplanned outage? Bearing wipe or damage? OEM replacement lead time too long?
Oiltech provides rapid, engineered repair solutions to return your equipment to service quickly and safely.
Repair Process
Every repair follows a robust, quality-controlled process.
Quality-Controlled Restoration
- Inspection and condition assessment
- Removal of damaged whitemetal or white metal lining
- Surface preparation and re-lining
- Precision machining and re-sizing
- Ultrasonic bond testing to ISO 4386-1
- Dye penetrant testing to ISO 4386-3
- Final machining and dimensional verification
- Preservation and delivery
The terms whitemetal, white metal and Babbitt describe the same family of soft bearing alloys. Repairs follow the same inspection and quality controls as newly manufactured bearings.
Equipment We Support
We repair bearings and components across critical rotating equipment.
Rotating Equipment
- Steam and gas turbines
- Compressors and pumps
- Generators
- Gearboxes
- Mining and mill equipment
Bearing Types
- Journal bearings
- Tilt pad bearings
- Thrust bearings
- Combined bearing assemblies
- Seals and auxiliary components
Common Failure Modes
- Oil starvation and wipe damage
- Fatigue cracking and material loss
- Contamination and scoring
- Misalignment and uneven loading
- Electrical discharge damage
Why Repair Instead of Replace?
In many cases, repair offers significant advantages:
Faster turnaround than new OEM supply | Lower cost compared to full replacement
Ability to improve design during repair | Reduced downtime and operational risk
Bearings can often be restored to full operational performance with confidence.
Why Oiltech
Rapid Response Capability
Supporting urgent outages and critical repairs.
Engineering-Led Approach
Failure analysis, re-design and performance improvement.
Quality Assured Process
Ultrasonic bond testing to ISO 4386-1 and dye penetrant testing to ISO 4386-3.
Lifecycle Support
From repair to re-engineering and future supply.
High-Speed Fan Thrust Bearing Upgrade
After a fan thrust bearing failed every 3-6 months, Oiltech modelled and re-engineered the design with spherical offset pivots and improved pad heat transfer, ending the repeated failures.
Read the Case StudyNeed Urgent Bearing Repair?
Talk to our engineering team now to assess your situation and plan the fastest route back to operation.