After 34 years, aligning a few thousand machines, teaching millwright training for a technical college, and being an instructor for VibrAlign, I sometimes think that no alignment challenge can beat me! Then something comes along to really put me in my place! I was put in such a place while training at a large manufacturer…
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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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According to our resident alignment training “philosopher” Stan Riddle, “The fastest way to complete a precision shaft alignment is to take your time”. This doesn’t mean to take numerous breaks, what he is telling us is to stop and think! As Industrial Mechanics, usually in a production environment, we tend to try and complete a…
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In my previous blog entry “Why do people struggle with alignment? Part 1”, we discussed the importance of not only micing, cleaning, and consolidating shims but also noting the total amount of shims under each foot of the movable machine. The motor-pump set we performed an alignment check on, had the following amount of shims…
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After a shaft alignment check, if it’s out of tolerance, some maintenance personnel will skip the pre-alignment checks and proceed directly to correcting the vertical and horizontal misalignment. Frustration begins to set in as the alignment results go back and forth and seem inconsistent. The laser shaft alignment instrument says to add 20 mils to the…
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Balancing your couplings is not essential to a great precision shaft alignment, though it is an essential part of a job well done. As part of your prealignment steps/checks, the keyways of the driver and driven machine shafts should be set 180 degrees apart from each other. This will help to correct any influence that…
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On rotating machinery, runout is defined as the degree to which a shaft or coupling deviates from true circular rotation. Every shaft or coupling has a center or rotation, or centerline. Any stray from concentricity is considered runout. If runout is severe, it can cause many problems with equipment, such as: Excess vibration Seal wear…
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During our Best Alignment Practices Training classes our staff of VibrAlign Trainers stresses the importance of rough aligning the machines as part of the pre-alignment steps. The main reason to do so is to minimize the coupling influences on the movable and stationary machine’s rotational shaft center-lines so the final alignment can be completed with…
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While working on a sludge pump, several issues arose that could have caused alignment headaches that would have lasted hours. There isn’t any medication that would have removed that pain. In this scenario and all alignment jobs, Pre-Alignment is a MUST! I was asked to witness an alignment; a 400 HP motor driving a sludge…
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Normally, it is faster and more accurate to perform shaft alignment while the machines are coupled together. This offers several benefits such as: Keeping the relative angular positions of the shafts the same allows the technician to align the true shaft rotational centerlines. Coupling Gap is less likely to change while adjusting the moveable machine,…
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Not too long ago I was called to one of our sister shops to perform a laser shaft alignment on a 3600 RPM skid-mounted end-suction ANSI pump. Easy, right? Honestly, I made a few mistakes right off the bat: Thinking this would be easy (and starting right before quitting time). Taking for granted that all…
Read MoreIn my last two classes, we (well, they) aligned a couple pumps that were a little finicky. OK, they were pains. But they were alignable. The process and troubleshooting steps we practiced in class were applied to real-world, flimsy-based, soft foot-ridden, base/bolt-bounded equipment. Completing the pre-alignment steps, using the Verti-Zontal compound move, knowing what to troubleshoot…
Read MoreWell the cat is out of the bag…… we have a new product! Meet the new Go Pro Attached here is the official press release from VibrAlign. Go Pro is a wireless and color screen shaft alignment laser that also features the new Verti-Zontal compound move. Check back here in the next few days for…
Read MoreLooking at how the alignment process works we wanted to point out two features of laser alignment tools that will help the aligner during his/her alignment process. The first aspect to a better alignment is a color screen. Some of the benefits to a color screen are:
Read MoreA basic alignment class consists of one and a half days of work. Yes, there is real work involved. The first day is in class working on alignment demonstrators and covering topics like pre-alignment, colinear shafts, base-bound/bolt-bound solutions, etc. It’s a controlled environment to learn the concepts and ask questions. Less of the ‘buttonology’ (learning how to…
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