On Fri, 07 Jun 2013 15:14:06 -0500, dpb wrote:

not worry much whether were NSK or SFK or whatever.
If were really interested in cheapest
possible route, then again, I'd probably take a chance't on the VXBs.

Thanks. That's the kind of pragmatic advice I need.

Sometimes it matters to go name brand; sometimes it doesn't.
Only the experienced will know.

For example, I learned that the Craftsman chain saw (actually
Poulan) sucked; it died at just over a year. So, in that case,
I learned the hard way to go name brand (Stihl or Husky).

Yet, going name brand on pump seals (as I showed earlier) gets
me a $75 pump seal (which, for four pumps, is $300). Going
trade size US Seal (which is the same seal!), is $10 a seal,
for a savings equal to the price of an entire new pump!

So, the experienced person (which I am now on pump seals)
would never go to a pool store (or Sears) for a name brand
pump seal by pool equipment part number.

It may be either way with bearings:
a. Name brand rules?
b. Trade size rules?

I'm just not an experienced person on bearings yet; so,
I don't know which sourcing algorithm is the one you guys
use.

Note: It may be helpful to note that I've had my pumps
rebuilt before; and, for $150, they put in the *wrong*
bearings! (they put in the 6203D bearings!) That might
indicate that it doesn't matter all that much.