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 would like to have the basic machine configuration such as motor-pump, motor-gearbox-fan, is there belt driven equipment, etc. Also needed are the speeds in RPM or Hz of each shaft involved. What type of bearings—fluid film or rolling element, and their part numbers, as well as coupling type—grid, toothed, fluid, or even rigid.  Also needed is mounting type: solid or isolated or set up on boards.

The more information the better, though a program can and is usually started with much less.  At a minimum have shaft speeds and bearing type and number of vanes on an impeller or blower wheel. Additional information can be added such as actual bearing part numbers, and the number of stator or rotor poles on a motor, which your motor repair facility should be able to provide. The more information that a vibration database contains the faster the analysis process and the better its accuracy.

Take a look at our Vibration Analysis Tools!