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December 2018 – EFFICIENT PLANT The recently released Alignment Standard (ANSI/ASA S2.75-2017) from the American National Standards Institute, Washington (ansi.org) took nearly three years to develop. A committee of alignment experts discussed every aspect from safety procedures to the mathematics involved in defining the new standard. Alan Luedeking, CMRP, CRL, of Ludeca Inc., Miami (ludeca.com) […]

Necessary equipment information needed for a successful vibration database can and will vary greatly depending on the person being asked.  This variation is due to their involvement with the process; for some, plant criticality defines what they believe to be important; for others, it may be how often a piece of equipment fails. Generally we […]

Prevent metal-to-metal contact (which creates wear particles) by using condition-based lubrication through ultrasound. Ensure the proper oil viscosity and additive package is selected and that the bearing load does not exceed its design capacity through proper installation, alignment, balancing and operation. Use desiccant breathers. Adopt an aggressive fluid management program that establishes acceptable ISO cleanliness […]

Often, maintenance departments invest in good quality Bolts and Nuts (Grade 8), but neglect to do the same with flat washers. The importance of a good washer cannot be overstated. If you use a typically thin Grade 2 (or worse) flat washer under the bolt head of the hold-down bolts of your machine, this washer […]

An overall level is a single number representing the amplitude of a vibration measurement. Overall values can be derived many different ways. You should be very cautious when assigning generic or the identical alarm values to your equipment. Similar machines can operate at different vibration levels. The individual characteristics of each machine should be taken […]

Compressed air is the fourth most commonly used source of energy in industry. Walk through any facility and see miles of pipe transporting this house-made energy source to its point of use. On this journey its fate is undecided. Will it arrive to deliver the intended value? Or is it lost along the way? Why […]

MYTH: “All Soft Foot can be corrected by proper shimming.” TRUTH: Soft Foot is Machine Frame Distortion. This can sometimes be caused by problems not easily fixable by shimming, like pipe strain, which can only be properly corrected by adjusting the piping and interface with the machine. A good laser system with positional change monitoring […]

Is it bearing information, number of poles, frame size, number of gears, impellers, blades, horse power, operating voltage, motor type, manufacturer, number of belts, sheave size, or tooth count? Nope! None of the above. All of the above information is great to have when analyzing vibration data, but the single most important item that is […]

Guest post by Paul Llewellyn – LUBRICATION ENGINEERS As with so many things, such as dogs, all greases are not the same. There are greases that are made simply to meet the slimmest of specifications and then there are greases designed to far exceed basic performance specifications. Greases are primarily made up of oil (70%-95% base […]

MYTH: “Pipe Stress makes the alignment difficult.” TRUTH: Pipe stress does not have any significant influence on the alignment unless you make corrections on the machine with the piping attached. In most alignment the corrections to eliminate misalignment are performed on one machine only, typically the one that is easier to move. In a pump-motor […]

In every facility there are pieces of equipment that are critical to the daily operation of the plant. Those machines are the ones that keep you awake at night. If the equipment fails or has a break down unexpectedly it has an adverse effect on production.  An online vibration system can assist in giving you […]

Are you adding grease to a bearing and not hearing any changes from your ultrasound equipment? If so, start wondering where the grease is going. It is a fact that if grease gets into a bearing the ultrasound decibel will either go down on a bearing that needs grease or go up on a bearing […]

We often hear “Coupling alignment tolerances provided by the coupling manufacturer are good enough for shaft alignment.” or “There’s no need to align your machines tighter than the tolerances allowed by your flexible coupling.” This is wrong because good quality flexible couplings may be built to withstand much more misalignment than what is good for […]

Bearings are probably the more complex designed component of any rotating equipment; yet, they are the most misunderstood by the maintenance practitioners who handle them on a daily basis.” —Holcombe Baird, Reliability Center, Inc. If experiencing premature bearing failures, you should not only look at bearing lubrication practices but also at bearing installation practices. When […]

Every analyst develops their own process for analyzing vibration data. This is generally learned from others, being around to observe or communicate with, or from training the individual receives.  Often, the person collecting the data will be the same person that analyzes the data.  The process could include that during the data collection the person […]

We just returned from performing a stern tube bearing carrier alignment on a large container vessel currently in construction at a leading US shipyard. The one-meter diameter bearing carriers needed to be set to specific tolerances with respect to an established datum line along the longitudinal axis of the ship. Historically, this was accomplished using […]

When the breakdown/repair cycle becomes routine, you can bet money is being wasted. The psychology of manufacturing (if we can call it that) is very much overlooked. Q: What if it was a personal affront to everyone in the plant, management, production and maintenance, for a machine to break down? Seriously. What if everyone viewed […]

The diesel engine is the heart of heavy construction equipment and replacement costs are in the millions. Ingress of dust due to leaky air intake systems shreds components in short order.  The SDT TIGHTChecker quickly and easily pinpoints leaks in the air intake system. Dust is no friend to a diesel engine. But when the integrity […]

Knows how to use the software package they have. Knows how to use the hardware they have. Knows where to place the vibration sensor to ensure good data. Knows how to recognize bad data. Knows what to look for while collecting data besides just the vibration sensor. Knows how and to whom to report their […]

Centrifugal pumps have a specific design point at which they operate most efficiently. This sweet spot is known as the BEP (Best Operating Point) which provides the design engineer with the required flow and pressure while also providing the best efficiency. If the pump has been specified incorrectly or is placed into a system which […]