Sometimes machines need to be added to a route that is already established. This is quite easy to do in the Nest. After you have collected all the pertinent information including machine name, RPM and horsepower (at a minimum) go into your Nest home screen and select “set up machine”. Once into machine set up…
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In our last Balancing How To, we discussed how to set up and get your original measurements on the rotor to be balanced. This How To discusses selecting a proper trial weight. A trial weight is used to make a change in the original vibration amount and direction. Changing either the AMOUNT of vibration (amplitude),…
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Unbalance (Imbalance) is often defined as the unequal distribution of the weight of a rotor about its rotating centerline. A rotor can be balanced either in-place or in a balancing machine assuming unbalance is the issue and weight can be added or removed. Modern balancing instruments will do the math for you. I originally learned…
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The recent blog on troubleshooting balancing ( https://acoem.us/other-topics/smc-touch-tip-using-the-smc-when-unbalance-is-diagnosed/ ) brought up some additional questions from our readers, so let’s tackle them in order. The first one is setting up to perform a balance job. NECESSARY EQUIPMENT FOR BALANCING If you have gone through the checklist and confirmed unbalance, you will need: A machine to perform…
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The goal of a precision alignment is to align the machine within tolerance when at operating condition. Many, but not all, machines are aligned without the need to compensate for offline to running (OL2R) movement most often associated with thermal growth. A previous blog post (see link below) discussed how to read an alignment report…
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A common source of frustration during the precision alignment process is, how can we make a controlled move when making the horizontal adjustment? We trainers often hear our clients say they don’t have jacking bolts, or pushers, etc. There have been numerous excellent blogs written on the subject of jack bolts. Pry bars, sledge hammers…
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The Fixturlaser Smart Machine Checker (SMC) is a great balancing tool (for me personally, it’s the best balancer I’ve ever used). Unbalance is one of the most common machinery problems on rotating equipment, especially fans. If you get a diagnosis of unbalance, be aware of these tips: Be mindful that a rotating mass, once balanced,…
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As you may have noticed if you follow VibrAlign’s social media accounts, we have been going through “Maintenance Tip Mondays” for the past couple months. This is a fun opportunity to hear from our experienced technical trainers as they share the top tips and tricks they have learned over the years in the field and…
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Preparation is the key to efficiency. Having an appropriate selection of tools and necessary supplies on hand will make a precision shaft alignment fast, accurate and easy. One way to do this is to have a dedicated alignment cart or job/work box. Some facilities are not conducive to the little casters on some carts, so…
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Taking the ONEPROD Falcon to the field is a big part of the 2-day training we provide on our entire Falcon line of condition monitoring tools. When we go to the field we always find interesting issues to analyze and discuss. A recent check of a centrifugal pump yielded one of those issues. The pump…
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This is as much a title for a blog as it is a question. One our Technical Trainers once stated that to align rotating machinery, they must first be alignable. What is meant in part by this is that when we have a collinear tolerance of 0.5mil /1” angularity and 2.0 mils offset, the machines…
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It’s almost time for turkey and stuffing and all the fixings. People are getting ready to jump into cars and board planes to be with family for the holiday. There is much to look forward to and appreciate about this fall holiday—the food, of course, but also the time with family and friends, the…
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This month marks my 41st year of being involved in industrial maintenance. Early on during my apprenticeship in a machine shop, as an outside machinist, I thought living long enough to know everything was not going to be possible. Even now I am reminded of this from time to time. I am also reminded that…
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Veterans Day is Sunday, November 11. Here at VibrAlign we currently employ eight Veterans who have served this country honorably in the Navy, Marine Corps, Army, and National Guard, including two active guardsmen. We wish to thank Mac MacCormack, Gary Madsen, JP Guerard, Jonathan Dissinger, Tim Sorensen, Doug Burdsall, Peter Eccleston and William Cooper for…
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A common vibration signature on equipment is looseness. There are two types of looseness: structural/fastener, fit between rotating components. For this discussion, we will focus on structural and fastener looseness. Typically, it is highly directional, occurs at 1xRPM, and will look similar to this spectrum. In this case, the vibration was confined to the vertical…
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