A customer called me, extremely frustrated, because he could not get a good alignment. “I’ve spent two hours trying to align this stupid pump!” he said. He blamed the laser, the “cheap” pump his company had, the bad base, his bad trainer (me), and anything else that came to mind. I did not take it…
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Electric motors are almost always well-balanced when they leave the motor manufacturer. But occasionally, motor unbalance problems are picked up with vibration monitoring tools, such as the OneProd Hawk. Here are some easy troubleshooting methods to determine the cause of unbalance in the motor. An electric motor’s rotor, like any rotating mass, cannot become out…
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A question often asked during our training classes is how to deal with base bound and/or bolt bound conditions when performing a precision shaft alignment on rotating machinery. Base Bound and Bolt Bound Conditions Base bound is the vertical condition that occurs when the moveable machine needs to be lowered but is “bound” by…
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Some people believe that precision laser shaft alignment has evolved to the point where pre-alignment steps, such as roughing in the alignment with a straightedge, are no longer needed. Well, quite frankly, those people are wrong! The reason for roughing in the alignment has little to do with how accurately the lasers/sensors measure. It has…
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Gearboxes are common in industry. They are used to increase or decrease speed from the driver, provide increased torque, and change direction of power transmission. There are two main types of commonly-used gearboxes: GEARBOX TYPE Parallel or Standard Gearbox-one where the input and output shafts are parallel. Bevel or Right Angle Gearbox-one where…
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We have written, here on the VibrAlign blog, about adjustable chocks used in place of shims for vertical adjustment and machine support. A recent experience at a customer site prompted this article, to share a simple tip that could save valuable time and effort. The customer was using vertical jack bolts while viewing live alignment…
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Knowing the correct shaft speed of both shafts on a belt-driven machine is important when performing machinery diagnostics. Ideally you would do this by first identifying the input and output speeds using a strobe light, photo tach or laser tach. Once you know the accurate speed of both components, use this formula to determine the…
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Time is a commodity maintenance personnel typically have in short supply. We hear quite often, in our on-site Shaft Alignment Best Practices training classes, “………. doesn’t give us enough time for a proper shaft alignment”. So how can maintenance personnel get more time for shaft alignment? Stop wasting it! I had the pleasure of working…
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A VibrAlign customer recently called, stating they were having repeatability problems with aligning a small motor to gearbox to pump. After some phone conversation, I asked if they could send me photos of the machine, and the discrepancy in the measurements. After seeing them, I knew what the problem was. Machines with small diameter…
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Everyone knows that keeping rotating equipment clean and free of debris and dirt will prolong the operational life allowing for maximum efficiency and performance. Bearings, seals and other components will last longer and perform better plus repairs and alignments will be faster and easier. Motors, pumps and machinery with excessive dirt build-up will fail more often…
Read MoreThis question comes up frequently in our Shaft Alignment Best Practices training classes. The result screens below both show two different aligned machines meeting 3600 tolerances. The question is; is one better than the other? There has been a lot of discussion about this very topic. The theories are abundant and points of view…
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In industry, many couplings utilize an elastomeric insert or element. This type of coupling has many advantages, among them: Ease of replacement Ability to absorb torsional loading No need for lubrication Tolerant of slight amounts of misalignment Inexpensive It is important to remember that even though these elastomer couplings can be tolerant of misalignment, the…
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A recent NXA Pro training class performed an alignment check of a winch driven by an 80 HP, 1800 RPM, DC electric motor with a gear style coupling. The initial results revealed a misaligned machine, with a vertical angularity over 13 times the tolerance of 0.7mils/1” (1.0 mil = .001”), vertical offset six times tolerance…
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Proactive Maintenance includes a number of maintenance strategies, such as Precision Maintenance, Reliability Based Maintenance, Reliability Centered Maintenance, and Root Cause Failure Analysis. The idea is to anticipate and solve problems before they become problems. Reliability Centered maintenance would begin with a study done on a piece of equipment to gain understanding of all its…
Read MoreAt VibrAlign, we are in the precision maintenance business. Our tools, our training, and our people, are all about precision maintenance. While teaching the field alignment portion of our shaft alignment training, at a customer site, we went out to align a particularly troublesome pump. They didn’t think they were getting the life…
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If you’re working to maintain machines, Acoem USA wants to help.
We’re committed to providing tools, training, and services that will transform your approach to maintenance and reliability.
