Circlips and Retaining Rings, DIN 471 / 472 / 6799

A circlip is a stamped spring steel ring that springs into a machined groove and forms a shoulder, holding a bearing, gear, pulley or pin in position along a shaft or inside a housing. It replaces a machined collar or a nut and takes almost no axial space.

Three standards cover the forms in the product photograph. DIN 471 is the external ring, fitted into a groove turned on the outside of a shaft and covering shaft diameters from 3 mm to 300 mm. DIN 472 is the internal ring, fitted into a groove bored in a housing. DIN 6799 is the retaining washer or E-clip, pushed on radially from the side rather than opened over the shaft end, in clip sizes from 0,8 mm to 30 mm, for shaft diameters of 1 mm to 42 mm.

Standard rings are stamped from spring steel; stainless 1.4122 is available where corrosion matters. The size marked on a circlip is the shaft or bore diameter it fits, not a part number, and the matching groove diameter, groove width and ring thickness come from the same standard's table. External and internal rings are not interchangeable and a ring of the wrong series will not hold.

Fit and remove circlips with the correct circlip pliers, opening the ring only as far as the shaft requires: a ring that has been overstretched has lost its grip and should be discarded. When ordering, give the standard (DIN 471, 472 or 6799), the shaft or bore diameter, the material and the finish.