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Posts Tagged ‘Obvious soft foot’
Challenging, But Not Impossible!
As we trainers travel around the country conducting precision shaft alignment training, we often run into some fairly harsh work environments during the field portion of the training. At times the equipment that needs to be aligned is caked in product from spills or leaks. This can create a significant challenge when attempting a precision…
Read MoreThe Soft Foot Primer (Part 3) How to REALLY Minimize Soft Foot Every Time
It is both possible, and desirable, to minimize the negative effects of soft foot. While it may be difficult to completely get rid of soft foot, it can typically be reduced to a few mils, if the following techniques are used. PREPARATION AND CLEANLINESS CLEAN! If you remove the motor, wipe the feet clean, before…
Read MoreThe Soft Foot Primer (Part 2) Vibration and Alignment Problems Related to Soft Foot
Most industrial maintenance mechanics who are involved with precision shaft alignment are familiar with the phenomenon of soft foot. From an alignment standpoint, soft foot causes: Changes in alignment values, between when the hold down bolts are loose, and when they are tight. Non-repeatability in alignment measurements, especially if the bolts are not tightened in…
Read MoreThe Soft Foot Primer (Part 1) Are You Measuring Soft Foot, or Just Its Effect?
Most laser alignment tools include a soft foot function. However, in truth these tools haven’t measured ACTUAL soft foot, instead they have measured the EFFECT of soft foot at the shaft or coupling as that is where the laser heads or sensors are mounted. While the EFFECT of soft foot is important, correcting the ACTUAL…
Read MorePlan Your Work for Quick Alignments
We have been teaching maintenance personnel to use the Verti-Zontal Process to perform precision shaft alignments quickly for years. The key to quick alignments is to follow the Verti-Zontal plan which includes the pre-alignment steps Obviously when alignment checks are done, the pre-alignment steps aren’t performed on the “front end” of the alignment however they…
Read MoreIs There Garbage Under Your Belly?
The belly of your electric motor that is! During the OJT portion of a training class, at an Omaha NE client, I ran into a most extreme case of soft foot. The customer told me they had a motor/pump set that they could not align no matter what. This was a 100 HP electric motor…
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