How to detect bearing failure
before it happens!
I
t is generally accepted that the three
main causes of premature bearing
failure in rotating equipment are:
•
Out of balance
• Misalignment
•
Lack of lubrication
Fortunately, thanks to modern
technology, all of these conditions can
be detected very easily using extremely
affordable, easy to use handheld
vibration analysers.
Out of balance shows up as a large
amplitude vibration at the running speed
of the machine. Misalignment on the
other hand generally shows up as a large
vibration at twice the running speed.
Typically, machine looseness generates
vibrations at higher harmonics (e.g. three
times running speed and above).
Lack of lubrication will result in high
frequency vibration (bearing noise) that
is not necessarily audible to the human
ear but can easily be detected by a
vibration analyser.
These days, once diagnosed, all these
faults can easily be remedied in-house
using affordable, easy to use tools, such
as laser alignment systems and dynamic
field balancers or even a simple grease
gun.
The TPI 9070 (pictured) is a simple to
use, incredibly low cost vibration meter
that records, analyses and displays
vibration signals at the push of a button.
The unit includes colour coded alarm
levels based on ISO vibration values and
bearing condition. It also incorporates a
zoomable vibration frequency spectrum
(FFT) display with cursor, and diagnoses
out of balance, misalignment, looseness
and bearing faults.
TPI manufactures and supplies a
complete range of low cost, high
performance, easy to use vibration
analysis tools for maintenance engineers.
From the simple one-button-to-press,
TPI 9070 to top-of-the-range units
for condition based and predictive
maintenance, machine balancing
and alignment, TPI’s products are all
incredibly easy to use.
The TPI 9080 is the latest in a line
of easy to use high specification
maintenance products and perfectly
complements TPI’s family of condition
based monitoring and inspection
systems, offering high level functionality
and capability at extremely low cost. The
9080 is capable of storing equipment
routes (as simple lists) that can be
followed by even the lowest skilled
operative to collect and store vibration
readings for transfer to the included
VibTrend PC trending software. This
allows faults to be identified well
ahead of the point at which they start
to become a problem, where they might
result in excessive bearing wear for
example.
www.tpieurope.com
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