February 29, 2012
The Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades’ Power Plant Technology Program recently obtained an OPTALIGN tool, a high tech laser alignment system, from LUDECA, Inc, a company in Doral, FL, that specializes in predictive maintenance solutions. Don Meredith, of Precise Vibration and Alignment, Inc., spent a morning training power plant technology seniors and juniors in the [...]
February 28, 2012
MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY • February 2012 So many machines. So little time. What’s the best approach? Vibration analysts are often faced with scores—perhaps hundreds—of machines, many of which exhibit vibration frequencies that are very hard (if not impossible) to identify. Some machines can absorb countless hours of an analyst’s time before he/she can confidently identify all [...]
February 27, 2012
As with most projects, communication is the vital key for a successful completion. When you purchase an online remote monitoring system, such as a VIBNODE or VIBROWEB, there are other things to consider besides the purchase of the equipment itself. Factors to consider include: Deciding who will install the hardware; deciding how communication from [...]
February 23, 2012
Dial indicators are ubiquitous in shaft alignment; they have been used (and misused) extensively for alignment throughout industry for many years. In the right hands, a very accurate alignment can be performed with dial indicators. However, even under the best of circumstances, it will be a time-consuming task with many traps and pitfalls for the [...]
February 23, 2012
The best alternative to using dial indicators for shaft alignment is to use a good laser alignment system such as the ROTALIGN ULTRA or OPTALIGN SMART. All the inherent problems and disadvantages of dial indicators are immediately eliminated. Here’s why: Training: Far less training and expertise is required of the millwright to use a laser [...]
February 21, 2012
Detecting rolling element bearing defects can be difficult if a few things are not taken into consideration. First, consider how the bearing fails. Normally one of the races will begin to fail followed by the roller/ball and then the cage. Initially these failures do not show up at the calculated bearing fault frequencies, but at [...]
