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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. This determination is critical because the proper correction method must be applied.

The resulting frame distortion can lead to several equipment reliability issues.  Some examples are:

  • Coupling misalignment
  • Coupling strain
  • Internal misalignment of bearings
  • Increased radial load on bearings
  • Distorted bearings
  • Distorted seals
  • Bent shafts

Watch our Video Course: Soft Foot Checks and Corrections

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by Trent Phillips