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Machinery Maintenance
Learn to Hold Down Your Equipment!
During a recent balancing class, I was requested to help the customer balance a couple of fans. Typically, our services team does this, but I agreed to help. When we got to this rooftop penthouse, I noticed a few things: The fan wheel, housing, and shaft were coated in a fairly thick coat of rust…
Read MoreHow Many Times Do I Need to Align This Machine?
A customer called me recently with concerns about a pump alignment job he completed about six months earlier. He had checked the alignment again and found that the alignment values changed. He was concerned that he had done something wrong. I explained to him that he was performing the alignment correctly, however, the machine could…
Read MoreClosing the Loop in Reliability
The Journey of Reliability A machine is identified by the vibration analyst and recommendations are made for repair, the planner orders the parts, management gets together and determines when the repairs are made, and the maintenance team carries out the plan to replace the defective component. Success! We averted disaster once again! … And the…
Read MoreV-Belt Sheave and Groove Gauges
V-belts are cheap, right? That’s what most people in industry think, but a dumpster full of worn-out belts represents a good amount of money. Not only that, but the time required to change belts, along with any downtime, can be significant. Make Belt Drives Efficient Belt drives need four things to make them efficient: Proper…
Read MoreWhy V-Belt Tension Gauges Matter
An often-overlooked precision maintenance tool is the V-belt tension gauge. Many maintenance technicians believe they can just go by “feeling” for what proper belt tension should be. In our Reliable Precision Maintenance (RPM) course, we often let mechanics tension the belts to what they “feel” is correct. Then we check the tension with a V-belt…
Read MoreRCFA: Another Acronym but an Important One
There sure are a lot of acronyms around and it seems like new ones come out every day. Not sure about you, but I have a hard time keeping track of them. There are times when I attempt a conversation with someone, and they are spewing out so many acronyms it is hard to decipher…
Read MoreUnderstanding Thermal Growth Target Inputs
Acoem alignment systems allow the user to input thermal growth (offline to running) targets prior to performing a precision shaft alignment. Using targets allows the alignment to be completed to tolerance and the thermal growth will be compensated for. The real key to success, of course, is determining good targets. These are best obtained via…
Read MoreBasics of Centrifugal Pumps – Know Your Machines
Centrifugal pumps are common in industry. They are used to move various liquids from one place to another. This work is performed using a rotating pump wheel, or “impeller”, with a number of “vanes” on it. The wheel acts against the pump housing internals, which are either a volute or diffuser style, and produce the…
Read MoreDoes Your Maintenance Program Need Maintenance?
Does your maintenance program need some… well, maintenance? A “good” maintenance program involves keeping equipment in peak condition and mitigating failure. Getting to this result takes the proper balance of strategies, people, and resources. Between changes in management, the revolving door of employees, and unreliable contractors, it can be relatively easy for an organization’s program…
Read MorePerforming Shaft Alignment on a Caterpillar!
Aligning motors to pumps, fans, compressors, etc., it’s what we do. But occasionally we get to assist a customer perform some real “millwright” work! Case in point – a 1000HP Caterpillar engine, driving a backup floodwater pump for a large municipality in the southeast US. This pump is critical to prevent flood water from mixing…
Read MoreSheave Alignment: Aim Small, Miss Small
A customer recently called saying his Belt Hog Sheave Alignment Tool was out of calibration. He stated that when he placed the Belt Hog lasers in the sheave grooves, they showed a slight amount of misalignment. However, when he rotated the lasers 180 degrees to check, there was a variance of 3mm (0.118”). While this…
Read MorePhone a Friend
A few years back, there was a game show that used the idea of “Phone a Friend” when a contestant got in a jam. At Acoem USA, we have been a “friend” for maintenance and reliability personnel for a long time! I recently took a call from a maintenance mechanic who was installing a new…
Read MoreThe Basics of Fans – Know Your Machines
Fans are a very common component in industry, they are used to move air from one place to another. Fans are used in dust collection, supplying air to boilers, provide ventilation to factories, are used in the manufacturing process and more. Even your HVAC system at home has a fan/blower in it to move the…
Read MoreFire Pumps – Shaft Alignment & Vibration Testing
Fire pumps are probably THE MOST CRITICAL machines in industrial and commercial buildings. If they don’t work when they are supposed to, no other machine in the building matters. A fire pump needs to be reliable enough to run for a few hours. After that, either the fire is out, or the building is gone.…
Read MoreCardan Shaft? Spacer Shaft? What Kind Is It?
Recently, I provided training for a location that had vertical mounted electric motors driving pumps that were one or more floors below them. In this case, these pumps were driven with Cardan Shafts, however they did not have the typical 5-to-15-degree angles (between the motor & pump shafts and the drive shaft) recommended for lubrication…
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