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In today’s industry, predictive maintenance plays a big role in keeping machinery operating in peak condition.

Many maintenance departments strive to have a first-class predictive maintenance program; they do this by collecting data on a continuous basis through routes with handheld data collectors to evaluate the health of the machines that are needed to keep their plants producing at full capacity.

The data collection process, a key element in this task, can easily be flawed if we are not careful with various aspects of the placement of the sensors used to collect the valuable data. Consistency in the placement of the sensor on the equipment being monitored is key. Otherwise, the accuracy and reliability of the data collected can be compromised. Is the sensor being positioned in exactly the same place, at the same angle, and pressed with the same pressure each time data is collected at a given point? As machines age or are refurbished, they may be repainted; over time, several coats of this protective paint may be added. This can interfere with the positioning of the magnetic base of the sensor and the quality of the data collected.

Solution: A Stainless Steel disc can be permanently mounted on the equipment either by drilling and tapping the bearing housing or by using a special adhesive. This will allow for a firm location to mount the magnetic base of the sensor on the machines and will ensure consistency in the placement and location of the sensor. With a capable data collector such as the VIBXPERT® and a smart sensor such as the VIBCODE®, the analyst in charge of a predictive maintenance program can measure the data consistently every time, and on the first attempt. The VIBCODE smart sensor interlocks into a permanently mounted stud, guaranteeing consistent measurement placement, angle, and pressure every time. The measurement stud is encoded with the location number and the required measurement(s) type(s), making the data collection process fully automatic. Besides guaranteeing consistency in sensor placement, VIBCODE greatly streamlines the data collection process —saving time.

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by Mario Rostran CRL