June 27, 2013
Soft foot conditions lead to a distortion of the equipment’s frame. Soft foot can exist in several forms such as parallel air gap, bent foot, squishy foot, or an induced soft foot condition. A good laser alignment tool, adequate alignment training, and best practices will help you identify the existence and type of soft foot. […]
June 24, 2013
To appropriately determine monitoring intervals a couple of things must be known. First, the point in time (P) that the potential failure becomes detectible must be known (detected with vibration monitoring, etc.). Second, the time (F) at which the potential failure would degrade to a functional failure must be known. This difference in time (P-F […]
June 20, 2013
With the shift in technology over the last ten years, it is easier to store pictures, music, and documents on a computer. The computer allows quick access to files and the ability to share them. Of course, with technology there are risks, but most can be minimized. One of the worst things that can happen is […]
June 18, 2013
Vertical turbine pumps need frequent alignments of their guide bearings. The result of not performing the proper alignment can be seen in the image above. In some cases when maintenance disassembles a pump the damage to the shaft is so substantial, that the entire shaft needs to be replaced. This problem translates into more costly […]
June 13, 2013
As Published by BIC Magazine May 2013 issue A relatively small investment in training is a win-win scenario for the plant with a huge return LUDECA has trained its customers’ maintenance personnel for more than 25 years. The incidence of mistreated laser alignment systems coming back for repair drops dramatically when a plant’s millwrights are […]
June 11, 2013
Most equipment failures are not age-related. The equipment will provide some sign of impending failure if we have the right tools available to understand the change in condition. A lot of facilities assign monitoring intervals based upon arbitrary schedules such as 30, 90, 180, or 365 days. Often this is due to a lack of […]
June 6, 2013
Engage, support, train, provide direction, and set goals for those involved in the Condition Monitoring (CM) effort. Otherwise, they will most likely make poor decisions on your behalf. Unfortunately, most reliability efforts fail. This can be due to a change in management focus and the lack of importance placed on reliability efforts such as Condition […]