Vibralign Blog

"shaft alignment"| condition monitoring| data centers| Machinery maintenance

By VibrAlign Author on May 3, 2019

  The emergence of portable computers, the internet, and the ubiquity of portable smart devices has given rise to a new type of industry–the data center. A data center is simply a building used to house computer servers. While these servers may be used for many different types of data storage, their requirements for in-house […]

"shaft alignment training"| equipment reliability| maintenance reliability| training| VibrAlign Training

By Mac MacCormack on May 1, 2019

It’s no secret that there is a shortage of skilled labor in manufacturing, specifically in machinery maintenance. Therefore, those in leadership positions must answer the question “training or no training?”. Another way to look at it is, am I willing to invest in the workforce to better insure a more reliable operation? I wrote a […]

Balancing| rotor unbalance| unbalance

By Stan Riddle on April 25, 2019

Once unbalance is determined, the original unbalance run (amplitude and phase) is measured, and a trial weight size is determined, the next step is where to place the trial weight. If you have no balancing record for this rotor, where to place the weight is little more than a guess.  But there are some things […]

accelerometer| OneProd Falcon| vibration| Vibration Analysis| vibration sensor

By Chris Troutt on April 17, 2019

From time to time, when performing route-based vibration analysis, you run across situations where access is limited to a data collection point. For example, this large pump below. Climbing up a structure to collect vibration data is unsafe and keeping a ladder stationed nearby can cause headaches as well. A simple solution is to permanently […]

Job Safety| Precision Shaft Alignment

By James Pekarek on April 9, 2019

Over the past few years I have had training classes for the maintenance personnel at several ski resorts in the Rocky Mountains. These are some of the most memorable training trips I have had.  But apart from the beauty of these areas, there is one downside for some: the high altitude.  These resorts are typically […]

bar sag| flexible couplings| Machinery maintenance| Precision Shaft Alignment

By Steve Gordon on March 27, 2019

Some things just don’t pass the “eye test”.  Your eyes are actually great tools for seeing things that are not straight, not plumb, not level (pictures hanging on a wall for example), not right.  Many times, just by looking at a coupling you can tell “it’s not aligned”, and you are usually correct. Visual Inspection: […]

backlash| coupling backlash| non-repeatability| Precision Shaft Alignment| Repeatability

By Mac MacCormack on March 21, 2019

Although we have many excellent blogs on the cause of non-repeatability, or more commonly known as frustration when attempting a precision shaft alignment, this issue continues to come up nearly every training session I conduct. And the number one cause? Not controlling backlash or looseness. All the trainers teach this and VibrAlign has a very […]

"Hot Check"| Hot Alignment Check| Pre-Alignment| Precision Shaft Alignment| VibrAlign Training

By Tom Shelton on March 7, 2019

One question that arises regularly in training is about doing alignment checks. Is it okay to just check the alignment? Of course, it is. As a matter of fact, many industries have dedicated crews to specifically do alignment checks. The major difference is no equipment is moved, just measured. We lockout, remove guards, install the […]

condition monitoring| OneProd Falcon| OneProd Nest| Vibration Analysis

By Chris Troutt on February 28, 2019

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 […]

Balancing| Imbalance| One Prod Falcon| rotor unbalance| SMC| unbalance

By Stan Riddle on February 22, 2019

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), […]

Imbalance| rotor unbalance| unbalance

By Michael Keohane on February 7, 2019

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 […]

Balancing| OneProd Falcon| rotor unbalance| SMC| unbalance

By Stan Riddle on January 30, 2019

The recent blog on troubleshooting balancing ( https://vibralign.com/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 […]

"thermal growth targets"| "thermal growth"| "thermal offsets"| OL2R

By Michael Keohane on January 23, 2019

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 […]

"jacking bolts"| horizontal alignment| jack bolts| Precision Shaft Alignment| push bolts

By Mac MacCormack on January 16, 2019

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 […]

Balancing| rotor unbalance| Smart Machine Checker| unbalance

By Stan Riddle on January 7, 2019

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, […]