7304-BEP bearing: complete specifications & equivalents

Specification table

Source: catalog reference (SKF PUB BU/P1 17000/1 EN (Oct 2018)) · extracted 2026-09-27

Parameters extracted from the official SKF Rolling Bearings catalogue (SKF PUB BU/P1 17000/1 EN (Oct 2018)); SKF® and SKF Explorer® are trademarks of AB SKF, used here for identification only — mpnbase is not an authorized SKF distributor. Boundary dimensions are ISO 15 interchangeable; current production values may differ, verify at skf.com.

Cross references & equivalents

Interchange levels: full standard interchange · partial verify parameters · verify manual confirmation required. Links resolve to the equivalent model's specification page where available.

How the 7304-BEP model number is decoded

7304 BEP is SKF's 20 mm-bore single-row angular-contact ball bearing in the 7300 series, nominal 40° (B) contact angle, 20×52×15 mm to the ISO dimension plan. 40° contact angle (suffix B): the steep standard single-row angle, giving the highest axial capacity at the cost of speed, with a recommended load ratio Fa/Fr ≥ 1. E marks the optimized internal design with an enhanced ball complement and race geometry. glass-fibre reinforced PA66 cage, ball-centred (suffix P), with a 120 °C continuous-temperature ceiling. The plain BEP is a basic single bearing: its faces are not ground for universal matching, so defined pairs require the BECBP execution rather than two arbitrary BEP units.. Envelope 20×52×15 mm (0.787×2.047×0.591 in), 16.0 mm radial section height, C 17.4 kN, C0 9.5 kN, Pu 0.4 kN.reference speed 17,000 r/min (thermal) and limiting speed 16,000 r/min (mechanical), catalogue mass 140 g. At the printed limiting speed of 16,000 r/min the mean pitch diameter dm ≈ 36.0 mm implies a dn value around 576k mm·r/min; the 17,000 r/min reference speed is the thermal-planning figure under catalogue load. The 0.4 kN fatigue load limit is the equivalent-load floor for long-life adjustment; with 17.4/9.5 kN ratings and 140 g mass this execution carries about 0.87 kN of C per millimetre of bore. Bore-to-OD planning: OD 52 over bore 20 is a 2.60× step for this size, and the 15 mm width gives a bore/width ratio of 1.33; use these ratios when housing space around the 20 mm shaft is the first constraint. Basic polymer-cage execution: BEP is delivered as an individual open bearing with the 40-degree optimized internals and a glass-fibre PA66 ball-centred cage; it is not ground on the side faces for arbitrary pairing, so a reversing-thrust position should order BECBP for a set rather than mounting two unmatched BEP units.

Typical equipment & failure modes

Selection pitfalls — read before you substitute

• Mount by induction-heating the inner ring to max 120 °C — the PA66 cage sets the ceiling, not the steel; driving the bearing home through the outer ring or balls brinells the asymmetric raceway.
• Reference and limiting speeds are different ceilings: design to both, and remember preload and oil/air cooling move the real thermal limit far from the catalogue reference value.
• Reference and limiting speeds are different ceilings: design to both, and remember preload and oil/air cooling move the real thermal limit far from the catalogue reference value.
• Greased positions should fill roughly 25–35 % of the free volume on a 7304-BEP of this section and route the surplus past the outer ring; overpacking churns the grease and reproduces the thermal preload problem mechanically.
• The steep 40° angle of 7304-BEP favours thrust-heavy combined loads; for a predominantly radial high-speed position the 25° ACCBM execution of the same size is the alternative order number.
• Catalogue ratings are SKF PUB BU/P1 17000 figures for 7304 BEP as the single basic pa66 execution; the other order numbers of the 7304 size are different products and may carry different ratings — always quote the full designation when purchasing.