Recently, BENCHMARK PDM owner John Lambert was interviewed by reliability expert James Kovacevic from HP Reliability on proper machinery installation techniques.
The Rooted in Reliability podcast is a weekly Maintenance and Reliability podcast covering common industry challenges and what you can learn from them. Each episode dives deeper into critical issues and explains who you can begin correcting theses maintenance flaws today. Sharing new tips and techniques to help you achieve industry best practice and shining a light on widely debated maintenance topics with special guest experts.
The Easy-Laser XT Alignment App is used together with the Easy-Laser® XT measuring units. With this combination you align shafts, couplings and other rotating machinery. Without the hardware you can still use the demo mode to test the functionality of the app.
Dowels have been used by carpenters for centuries. They would have a length of rod which they would cut the required amount needed from it. It would have been inserted into a joint to give the joint more strength and to stop or reduce the share of forces that are on that joint. Basically, a pin to keep something in the same position. It is not designed to be fastener or a clamp, as something else would meet this requirement. So it’s no surprise that we see them in our industry.
A DECLARATION OF INDEPENDANCE!
With XT, Easy-Laser’s next generation of products, a new era in laser alignment begins. One that better aligns with today’s industry needs. We call it the age of independence.
The 2016 EASA (Electrical Apparatus Service Association) Convention in Toronto on June 12-14 was a great opportunity to show off our new Easy-Laser E720 shaft alignment tool to the people attending the show.
The Metro Toronto Convention Centre was full of attendees from around North America.
At the Hannover Messe, Easy-Laser showcased (see image above) a new all-in-one solution for the machinery installation process, the Easy-Laser® E720.
There are other issues we should be aware of when talking about a machine’s thermal growth in our rotating machinery and how it affects the machine’s alignment at the coupling. One major factor affecting machinery alignment is Dynamic pipe strain caused by thermal growth. However, there are two types of pipe strain and the other type is also important to know about. Static pipe strain exists when the machines are not even operating. Static pipe strain is a major cause of machine failures and is the result of incorrect fabrication and/or installation, inadequate or missing support, or machine movement after piping is connected. Its effects are relatively simple to measure however, it’s often ignored because repairs or rework are perceived to be costly, but that’s not always the case.
Easy-Laser® is one of the world’s largest suppliers of laser based measurement systems to the manufacturers and service companies in the wind power generation industry. There are many applications for the Easy-Laser® systems in this industry.
In the first part of this article (click here for Understanding Thermal Growth in Your Rotating Machinery – Part 1), we defined what thermal growth in machines is. We used an example of a machine growing equal amounts in the vertical direction. The fix was to lift or lower the machine of choice by a total of 5 thou (0.005“) to compensate for the growth offset. To reiterate this example a little further see below the temperature readings we took on a motor running at approx. 1800 rpm. The first reading (PHOTO – below) the front foot is 51° C and the next reading (PHOTO – below) the back foot is 38° C.
