June 23, 2005 Industrial Lubrication and CMMS by Eric Bevevino
CMMS-2005 Learning Zone Session
Computerized Maintenance Management Summit
July 26-29, 2005
Indianapolis Indiana
Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) traditionally concentrate on monitoring machinery and parts statistics; unfortunately these systems often overlook lubricants, a critical part of the maintenance reality. Even though money spent on lubricants is a small portion of most industrial facilities’ operational budgets, the impact of a poorly maintained lubrication program can be financially devastating. It’s estimated that downtime related to preventable lubricant related failures costs as much as $4 billion each year in North America alone. Given this reality and the ever increasing need to boost productivity, there needs to be a way to integrate lubricant related maintenance data into existing or new CMMS systems. In this session, we will discuss the options, need, benefits and logistics associated with integrating lubrication data into a CMMS as well as the potential consequences of not doing so.
Join Eric plus more than 35 other presenters, workshop leaders and learning labs directors at CMMS-2005.
To learn more please call toll free 888-575-1245 or…
June 23, 2005 Welding Tip
Welding Impacts Reliability – Part 2
Last time we discussed numerous reliability issues created by welders, whether in maintenance or not. As pointed about by a Maintenance-Tips reader, the number 1 cause of reliability issues involves the improper grounding of the welding process. Many times a person welding in a facility will ground the welder to the closer location to the welding machine and not at the location of the welding. By installing your ground clamp any distance from the welded area causes the electrical current to flow to the path of least resistance. This path of least resistance can be through electrical controls (via aluminum conduit), motors, bearings, etc. The destruction is typically not instantaneous but causes the electrical or mechanical device to begin its premature failure journey.
A number of years ago I was asked to visit a plant by a large corporation that had a high level of bearing failures on one piece of equipment (so they stated). When I visited the plant I found that numerous pieces of equipment had premature bearing failures. What I found as the problem was that the ground clamp from the welder was attached to a steel column in the building (this welding machine was permanently mounted). After a correction was made the plant ran many years with minimal bearing problems.
As a “rule of thumb”, the welding lead (stinger or electrode holder) and grounding lead should be the same length. The ground clamp should be placed as close to the welded area as possible (within 6 inches was always my rule as a maintenance supervisor). Be sure contractors follow this rule also.
Tip provided by Ricky Smith, CMRP
MAXZOR
Tel: 843-762-3168
http://www.success-in-training.com
June 23, 2005 Reliability Tip
When maintenance has to use a come-a-long (lever hoist) to line up pipe flanges for bolting the supervision should check historical downtime data for failures that have shown cracks as the results of a repair. This could manifest itself in the housing, piping, bearings, etc. When there is significant misalignment of piping to equipment the results is usually the equipment components are in a stressed state.
Tip provided by the Reliability Center
http://www.reliability.com
Tel: 804-458-0645
June 23, 2005 The Mikron Infrared “Name the Camera” Contest!
Our friends at Mikron Infrared have recently launched its newest line of high-performance, hand-held thermal imaging cameras and are now soliciting input on a product name that will truly reflect the superior performance of this new product line. The lucky winner will receive the M7800 model camera and a voucher for a FREE Level 1 or Level 2 ASNT training course through Snell Infrared.
June 23, 2005 Motor Testing Tip
Rotor bar issues can and do occur in electric motors on occasion. Normally the issue relates to mis-application or improper operation of the electrical machine with rare instances of motor manufacturing defects. There are three types of rotor bar types: Cast aluminum-alloy; Cast copper-alloy; and, Copper-alloy bars. The variety of rotor bar shapes depend upon the application and design considerations for the motor, itself.
All rotor bars can fail due to extreme overloads, under voltage or too-frequent starts. The most common cause is frequent starting which causes extremely high electro-mechanical stresses. The heating and cooling causes thermal stress, the acceleration and deceleration causes inertia fractures and the magnetic fields cause mechanical stress. These stresses will eventually cause the rotor material to fracture or break. In addition, the expansion and contraction of materials can also cause looseness in the rotor slots resulting in noisy starting. Motors have number of start limits partly due to this situation.
Cast rotors have casting voids as a normal result of manufacturing. All cast rotors have some level of casting voids. (Note: The copper industry has announced that cast copper alloy rotors have fewer casting voids than aluminum alloy.) This condition has received a great amount of attention over the past several years as newer technologies are sensitive enough to identify casting voids easily. Only a small percentage of cast rotors are affected by this condition and dynamic balancing takes care of the primary concern of vibration. In severe cases, the casting void(s) may restrict or block current flow through rotor bars acting as a broken rotor bar. These are manufacturing defects that may, or may not, be honored by the manufacturer, depending on if the motor meets the nameplate of the motor.
Copper alloy rotor bars tend to break where the rotor bar exits the rotor laminations or at the joint between the rotor bars and shorting ring. These can occur due to mis-operation of the motor, such as too many starts or excessive loading and unloading, or due to poor braizing or welding of the bars.
The effect of a broken rotor bar is a reduction of torque and, in severe conditions, torsional pulses and vibration. Eventually, some broken bars may lift and damage the motor winding. However, the time from fault detection to failure can be a considerable amount of time. The detection of a broken rotor bar due to operation, as opposed to a casting void, should prompt a review of the operating conditions of the application.
Tip provided by Howard W Penrose, Ph.D.
T-Solutions, Inc.
http://www.tsoln-inc.com
Phone: 860 577-8537
June 23, 2005 5th EPRI Conference on International Maintenance - Hosted by PSE&G
August 8 - 10, 2005
Jersey City, NJ, USA
The electricity generation industry is continuing the rapid changes of the last five or more years from a stable, predictable past, to a future of competition, changing ownership, and dynamic new business goals. Adding to this new challenge, we are faced with the loss of long-term employees along with their knowledge. Many companies have mortgaged their human assets hoping to succeed in bridging the gap in knowledge and training without having developed a contingency plan.
The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has structured this conference to provide some of the latest work being accomplished in the area of business evolutionary ideas, technology updates to forge ahead with more effective and efficient methods of completing maintenance work, as well as the ability to more accurately project what work has to be accomplished and when. This conference is structured for both the tactical maintenance needs as well as strategic ideas for focusing the future changes to be more successful.
June 23, 2005 Maintenance Tip
Easy Removal of Damaged Phillips-head Screws
Cross-head, or Phillips screws have a plus-shaped slot in the head and are driven by a cross-head screwdriver, designed originally in the 1930’s for use with mechanical screwing machines. They were intentionally made so the driver would ride out, or cam out, at a certain force to prevent over-tightening. After a piece of equipment has been disassembled and rebuilt numerous times, the Phillips head drive wears out in the screw head “by design.” When removal is required but the driver continues to ride out of the slot, place a small amount of lapping compound in the +-shaped slot of the screw head and proceed with removal, (always replacing the stripped screw with a new one.)
This method works like magic on all sizes of Phillips head screws and can save a lot of needless frustration. Not earth shattering technology, but a pretty neat trick.
Submitted to Ludeca for Reliabilityweb by Thomas Keefer of Tennessee Valley Authority.
Tip provided by LUDECA, INC.
ALIGNMENT * VIBRATION * BALANCING
http://www.ludeca.com
Tel: 305-591-8935
More Case Histories and Articles by Ludeca
June 23, 2005 Inventory and Purchasing Maintenance Tip
Inventory and Purchasing Maintenance Tips to
Enhance Maintenance Planning and Scheduling
(Tip 4 of 6 in a series) Archived at
http://maintenancetalk.com/blog.php/tipsblog
Internal storage arrangements – Row, Shelf, and Bin locations
Internal storage arrangements for maintenance spare pasts are required if the parts are going to be easily found when they are needed. The key identifiers for a location would include:
• Storeroom – (If a multiple storeroom location)
• Row – The storage row location
• Shelf – The shelf level where the item is stored
• Bin – The exact bin location where the part is located.
In some storerooms, cabinets are used for storing smaller spare parts. In this instance, the identifiers might be somewhat different. A sample might be:
• Storeroom – (If a multiple storeroom location)
• General Location – The area of the storeroom the cabinet is located
• Cabinet Number – The number for the cabinet
• Drawer – The drawer where the item is stored
• Space – The exact location in the drawer where the part is located.
Why is this organization and information so vital to an effective maintenance planning and scheduling initiative? Consider the impact missing or hard to locate spare parts has on maintenance labor productivity. How often are maintenance technicians:
• Looking for spare parts in the storeroom?
• Looking for parts in remote storage locations?
• Checking the receiving dock to see if someone forgot to put up spare parts
• Scavenging spare parts from older equipment?
• Fabricating/ repair old parts, since the new one can’t be found?
These delays can only be eliminated if spare parts are properly received and then taken to properly identified storage locations. Unless this process is followed, there will always be lost productivity on the part of the maintenance technicians, but more importantly, unnecessary equipment downtime and lost profits.
Tip provided by Terry Wireman
GenesisSolutions
http://www.GenesisSolutions.com
Tel: (203) 431-0281
