vibrationmonitoring-blog1

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Vibration Testing Technology

To the savvy maintenance professional, industrial machinery almost "talks" to reveal its condition. The key to success is in understanding what the machine is saying. To detect problems, the professional "listens" in many ways: With eyes and ears, to see and hear conditions that may indicate problems and...

• With thermometers and thermal images, to detect overheating, poor electrical connections or failing bearings

• With digital multi meters and power analyzers, to diagnose electrical problems

• Using techniques like lubricant analysis, to gauge machine condition over time

And now new vibration testing tools provide the maintenance professional with a valuable new way not just to listen, but to find mechanical problems and fixes: these new troubleshooting tools are engineered to detect and evaluate machine vibration immediately and recommend any needed repairs.

A new kind of troubleshooting tool

Many industrial maintenance teams today work under severe restrictions on money and time. They may not have the resources to train for and implement the typical long-term vibration analysis program. Further, many professionals may think there are only two options for vibration testing; high-end vibration analyzers that are expensive and difficult to use, and low-end vibration pens, which aren't particularly accurate.

Fortunately, a new breed of vibration-testing tool fills the middle of the category, combining the diagnostic capability of a trained vibration analyzer with the speed and convenience of lower-end testers, at a reasonable price. This type of tool is designed to be not merely a Vibration Monitoring detector, but a complete diagnostic and problem-solving solution, and targeted specifically for maintenance professionals who need to troubleshoot mechanical problems and quickly understand the root cause of equipment condition.

These tools are designed and programmed to diagnose the most common mechanical problems of unbalance, looseness, misalignment and bearing failures in a wide variety of mechanical equipment, including motors, fans, blowers, belts and chain drives, gearboxes, couplings, pumps, compressors, closed coupled machines and spindles.

Not just data, but actionable results

When these new testers detect a fault, they identify the problem, its location and severity on a multi-level scale to help the maintenance professional prioritize maintenance tasks. They may also recommend repairs.

Mechanical diagnosis can begin with the user placing the device's accelerometer on the machine under test. The accelerometer may have a magnetic mount or can be installed using adhesive. As the machine under test operates, the accelerometer detects its vibration along three planes of movement (vertical, horizontal and axial) and transmits that information to the tester. Using a set of advanced algorithms, the tester then provides a plain-text diagnosis of the machine with a recommended solution.

No training? No problem

Mechanical equipment is typically evaluated by comparing its condition over time to an established baseline condition. Vibration analyzers used in condition-based monitoring programs rely upon these baseline conditions to evaluate machine condition and estimate remaining operating life. System operators must have considerable training and experience before they can determine the meaning and significance of the vibration spectra they detect.

But what about the maintenance pro who isn't trained in vibration analysis? How do you tell the difference between acceptable vibration, and the kind of vibration that demands immediate attention to service or replace troubled equipment?

Fortunately, extensive experience with mechanical vibration, what it means and how to fix it is built into the advanced algorithms of today's testers. Now the maintenance professional can quickly and reliably determine the cause of the machine vibration, learn the severity and location of the problem and receive recommendations for repair. It's all done with the intelligence built into the tester, without the extensive training, monitoring and recording required for typical vibration monitoring programs.

[vibrationmonitoring-blog1]

Offsetting Machine Vibration

Machine vibration causes a multitude of problems for any company, including potential damage to the equipment, any other equipment it is contact with as well as the facility itself. Gone are the days when a vibration analysis took days and was quite expensive for a company. Modern technology has afforded solutions that are affordable and that quickly and accurately identify problems. Companies have come to rely on these technologies and Diagnostic Solutions is proud to offer an entire suite of vibration monitoring solutions.

Few companies can compare with the latest advances of our incredible research and development teams. Offering online surveillance systems that are economical, non-intrusive and most importantly, effective, it is time to bring forward the new generation of online wireless monitoring. By keeping wiring costs to a minimum and incorporating revolutionary PDA notification methods, businesses can now get back to...well, business. With solutions designed for any size plant, no project is too small or too overwhelming.

Our WiVib 4/4 wireless surveillance pod provides time and frequency domain trace capabilities with four vibration channels that incorporate ICP or AC input. Frequency increments are plentiful as are the number of lines. With several software packages to select from, including the SmarTrend web software that is become a staple in the industry, your needs are more than met and your worries are over.

And speaking of the SmarTrend software, consider what it offers. The exclusive VibPod is programmed at whatever intervals you set to collect data from your machinery. From there, it is encrypted and passed to a secure web server via the Wi-Fi ADSL access points. From there, the data is sorted into symptoms, compared with its alarms and then provides accurate assessments to whomever you choose. Personnel is then able to see at a glance the status, courtesy of the use of industry colour codes, including red, amber and green. This is all done in real time, adding even more benefits to the system as a whole.

The browser software is easily configured to accommodate your readings and with remote access, you can easily view any alarms and diagnoses of data sets. The software then issues its recommendations, again, based on your configurations. Incorporate your company's PDAs, our vibration collectors, wiring kits and diagnostic and troubleshooting visits, and you have a full service solution that is guaranteed to reduce costly machine vibrations. No more worries over having to replace what are expensive investments due to not being aware of problems when they occur and no more concerns over who is monitoring what. With Diagnostic Solutions, every potential scenario is addressed and your peace of mind is assured.

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The Reason for Condition Monitoring