Plan 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…

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Fire Pump Maintenance

Fire Pumps are a critical safety item in facilities across the world. Their purpose is to make sure a building has enough water pressure in case of a fire emergency. Of course, the hope is that they are never needed but if they are they need to perform reliably. Fire Pumps are typically tested on…

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IT’S HAS TO BE ALIGNABLE!

One of the issues precision shaft alignment technicians face is whether a machine is alignable. There will be times that a machine cannot be aligned in its current condition. A recent Fixturlaser GO Basic training class ran into this issue when performing alignment checks on 4 small centrifugal pumps.  All pumps had 10 HP electric…

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The Devil is in the Details!

During the field alignment portion of a Fixturlaser GO Basic shaft alignment training class, we were attempting to align a 100 H.P., 3600 RPM  motor to a double suction pump. Sounds easy enough! Here’s the skinny… The pump and motor were the top set in a vertical, two unit skid made of I-beams and very…

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Non-Repeatability, a Little Movement can Cause a Lot of Headaches!

A recent Fixturlaser GO Basic Training class performed a field alignment on a 100 HP, 3 Phase, 5600 RPM electric motor coupled to a crude oil pump in a refinery.  The class decided it would be permissible to use the 3600 RPM setting in GO Basic active tolerance table, which is +/- 0.5 mils/1” angular…

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The Importance of Proper Alignment Technique and Being Aware of Movement

During the OJT portion of a Fixturlaser GO Basic Training class, with the Army Corp of Engineers, the class aligned two electric motors driving large winch gearboxes on a dredging barge.  These winches are used to move the barge into position during dredging operations.  The class wanted to rotate both shafts to perform the alignments,…

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