April 19, 2007 Do you have a Tip to share?
Maintenance-Tips is read by 50,000 maintenance and reliability professionals from around the world.
By far the most popular maintenance tips are Reader supplied tips.
If you have some tips or just plain common sense to share - our readers are the most appreciative people around.
Lend a hand and share a Tip - if we publish it you will get your very own Maintenance-Tips hat!
April 19, 2007 Balancing Tip
Number the blades on a Fan starting at the Keyway
One thing that always helps when balancing fans is to number the blades against rotation starting with the blade that is closest to the keyway. Do this right away, the first time the fan cover or door is opened. This is helpful when attaching or removing weights as the blade number can help ensure the proper add/remove location of the weight. Example: If you have a fan with 12 blades, the keyway reference allows you to set up the same configuration every time. Use the keyway as 0° (zero degrees) then blade #1 (the one most closely aligned with the keyway) is 0 degrees, blade #2 is 30 degrees and so on. This process helps prevent weights from being placed in the wrong position, creating extra balancing runs or the destruction of the equipment if the vibration were to increase too much.
Tip provided by LUDECA, INC.
ALIGNMENT * VIBRATION * BALANCING
http://www.ludeca.com
Tel: 305-591-8935
April 19, 2007 GE’s Plant Optimization and Control Users’ Conference
With over 25,000 Bently Nevada condition monitoring systems and 3000 System 1 condition-monitoring software platform installations worldwide—GE Energy is sponsoring a series of forums where operating users and reliability professionals can share experiences and benefit from direct access to GE reliability experts. Learn how reliability improvement services help customers spend up to 60% less on maintenance while improving uptime, wrench time, environmental compliance and more.
Hosting the user conferences in four worldwide locations, agendas include user presentations, technology trends, workshops, and user group networking sessions.
April 19, 2007 Motor Testing Tips
When evaluating test equipment, those that incorporate a multiple technique, or “Swiss army knife” approach, tend to be able to diagnose a wider variety of motor and winding faults. Just like a toolbox.
For example:
Many motor repair facilities have Hi-pot testers. In some cases these Hi-pot testers are older than the technician operating them. Let’s face it, using a modern GPS to navigate is accepted as easier than using an antique sextant and the North Star.
The same situation applies with test equipment. There have been many test techniques implemented into modern equipment that allow quick, easy, and non-destructive diagnosis of a wide variety of motor faults.
One of these new, non-destructive motor testing techniques is the DC Step Voltage test.
This technique uses modern, microprocessor control to automatically plot the leakage current at standard intervals. This automatic control allows reliable, repeatable test results to be obtained. 15 or more years ago, to attempt this test required a technician to have great patience, concentration, (and a stop-watch) to time 15 or more 1-3 minute steps!
Test equipment that integrates this technique into one box with other proven methods, such as the Meg-Ohm, Kelvin Bridge, Continuous Ramp and Surge test, will help you keep your motors running!
Tip provided by Baker Instrument
http://www.bakerinst.com
April 19, 2007 Reliability and Maintenance Tip
In the Reliability and Maintenance Industry, there is a rule that is often broken: Tools such as RCM, CBM, Lean Maintenance, TPM, etc. are designed to help the business understand the budget requirements of optimal Reliability and Maintenance program.
They are not designed to make Reliability and Maintenance program fit a specific budget. This error has led to the collapse and disaster of many maintenance program attempts.
The concept of Reliability and Maintenance is to provide an investment into capital assets in such a way that the optimum investment provides the maximum return on that asset. Excessive maintenance or a lack of maintenance will both have a similar impact: Significant negative bottom line impact on the business as a whole.
Professional financial investors work and study hard to determine how to invest early (minimal investment) and rise with a stock before selling at the peak possible price (maximum return). The same rules apply for excellence in Reliability and Maintenance.
The objective is to perform the correct maintenance at the correct time on the correct equipment for the correct reasons. This allows both a minimal investment in the asset with the ability to detect equipment degradation ahead of time. A condition based maintenance strategy will also allow the early detection of issues in such a way that the company can obtain the maximum life of that asset prior to correcting the problem before a loss occurs. In effect, getting the maximum return before the price falls. Once in a while a miss may occur – equipment can be as finicky as the markets.
Tip provided by Howard W Penrose, Ph.D., CMRP
SUCCESS by DESIGN
http://www.motordoc.net
Send in your maintenance tip - and get a Maintenance Tip hat!
April 19, 2007 FREE e-Book: Beginner’s Guide to Machine Vibration
Commtest knows that vibration monitoring can be an easy and painless task – not a mysterious art. They have written Beginner’s Guide to Machine Vibration to give you the key information you need to be successful with your vibration monitoring program.
Engineers, technicians, machine operators, and accountants will be able to quickly grasp the concepts presented in this free e-Book. Commtest has avoided complicated mathematics and physics formulas, focusing on just the principle concepts necessary for performing basic vibration monitoring. The text is interspersed with simple diagrams, and care has been taken to use everyday language wherever possible.
Request your FREE e-Book: Beginner’s Guide to Machine Vibration
April 19, 2007 Oil Analysis Tip
Tips for Effective Oil Sampling
To achieve the most representative and trendable information from oil sampling, follow these basic tips.
1. Samples should be collected when machines are running at normal operating temperatures, loads, pressures and speeds. This will ensure that insoluble and semi-soluble (dirt, water, and other debris) material is suspended evenly throughout the system.
2. Sample upstream of filters and downstream of machine components such as bearings and gears to obtain the best data. Sampling downstream from the filters should be performed if you wish to determine the effectiveness of your filtration system.
3. Document oil sampling procedures for each system - tools needed, line flushing requirements, sampling locations, sampling methods, and safety requirements are among some of the items to include in the written procedures. This ensures that each sample is taken in the same manner and from the same point. Procedures that are documented also help new employees quickly learn the process.
4. Properly flush sampling valves, devices, and hardware thoroughly prior to taking oil samples. To avoid cross-contamination, use a new sampling tube for each sample taken.
5. Make sure that oil samples are taken at the proper frequency and that the frequency is sufficient to identify problems. Sampling frequencies should be set specifically for a particular machine. Every machine is unique in its intended performance, condition, locality, operating environment, and maintenance schedule.
6. Forward samples immediately to the lab after sampling. Ideally, oil should be analyzed within 48 hours of being sampled.
Tip provided by Trico Corp
http://www.tricocorp.com
iPresentation Invitation: Proper Oil Sampling Tools to Obtain Safe & Reliable Results
April 19, 2007 Vibration Analysis (Vibration Alarms) Tip
If you ask most vibration analysts what they think about their current database’s Alarm Sets, you will find that most people are not happy with them or just don’t use them at all. Typically, these vibration databases contain Alarm Sets that were given to assets prior to taking actual vibration data on it at the conception of the program.
So why do these Alarm Sets go unchanged? One of the most common remarks to this question is that “I don’t have time to work on alarms, take condition monitoring data, and analyze the data”. This reason for NOT working on your Alarm Sets is exactly why you SHOULD work on your Alarm Sets. First & foremost, an analyst with properly designed alarms will not have to “analyze” every piece of data that has been taken on a piece of equipment. By having a meaningful Alarm Set that has been designed specifically for a given piece of equipment based on historical vibration data, all known fault frequencies will be targeted with their own alarm bands. With this one change to a database, not only will you be able to skim through your data faster (using Alarm Summary Reports to aid in finding “problem” machines), you will also find that many assets that are identical in make & model actually vibrate very differently.
Tip provided by Allen Bailey
IVC Technologies
http://www.ivctechnologies.com
