Insulation for guide bearing support rings

Abstract From the Canadian patent

There is described a guide bearing for use in a hydrogenerator. The guide bearing includes two concentric ring plates with the outer ring plate shrunk fit onto the inner ring plate. Sandwiched between the inner and outer ring plates are layers of electrically insulating sheet. This sheet is of a predetermined thickness so that the gap between the inner and outer ring plates can be more readily controlled. Between the layers of insulating sheet in one preferred embodiment is a layer of a copper which detects leakage current passing through the layers of insulation closest to the inner ring.