Vibralign Blog

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, […]

Balancing| Machinery maintenance| Precision Shaft Alignment| shims| soft foot| Vibration Analysis

By VibrAlign Author on January 7, 2019

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 […]

"shaft alignment tools"| Laser Alignment tools| Precision Shaft Alignment

By Tom Shelton on December 20, 2018

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 […]

condition monitoring| OneProd Falcon| pump vibration| seal failures| Vibration Analysis

By Chris Troutt on December 13, 2018

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 […]

"c-face motor"| Alignment tolerances| looseness| Precision Shaft Alignment

By Tom Shelton on November 20, 2018

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 […]

holidays| thankfulness| Thanksgiving

By VibrAlign Author on November 20, 2018

  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 […]

"vertical shaft alignment"| Fixturlaser EVO| Precision Shaft Alignment

By Mac MacCormack on November 14, 2018

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 […]

"shaft alignment"| Couplings

By VibrAlign Author on November 9, 2018

Couplings connect a driving shaft to a driven shaft. There are essentially two families of couplings: Rigid couplings Flexible couplings There are, of course, differentiations within these two types. Rigid couplings connect shafts so that the two shafts are essentially one continuous unit. Be advised that runout can be an issue when this kind of […]

By Steve Matthews on November 8, 2018

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 […]

condition monitoring| looseness| machinery diagnostics| machinery vibration| OneProd Falcon| Vibration Analysis

By Chris Troutt on November 2, 2018

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 […]

Alignment tolerances| Precision Shaft Alignment| shaft alignment tolerances| tolerances

By Tom Shelton on October 15, 2018

VibrAlign and Fixturlaser have done what we can to make the precision shaft alignment process quicker and easier for the end user of our tools. To assist maintenance personnel during an alignment a tolerance table “pops up” on the display unit screen (of our tools) when entering dimensions for the machines being aligned. The tolerances […]

"coupling gap"| compressor thrust| disc pack couplings| engine thrust| reciprocating compressors| shim pack couplings| thrust

By Brad Case on October 3, 2018

Gas engines and reciprocating compressors, used in the gas compression industry, have a certain amount of crankshaft end play or thrust (as it’s commonly called). The amount of thrust is determined by the OEMs of the machines. The crankshafts of these machines must be able to “float” axially to prevent excessive/premature bearing wear. When new […]