Shaft Alignment Equipment

At BENCHMARK PDM we place extremely high value on the customer experience and we are continuously evaluating our offerings to ensure that we adapt to the needs of our clients. This is why we know how important good quality shaft alignment equipment is, since you need to rely on it for efficient and accurate readings in order to tackle non-repeatability caused by looseness, twisted bases or softfoot. Here we have compiled some more information on soft foot.

What Causes Soft Foot And What Does It Do To Your Alignments?

Here are some common causes of soft foot to take note of:

• Dirt, trash, or other unwanted materials under machine feet
• Twisted or warped machinery foundations or baseplates
• Excessive tension on machine feet due to jack bolts warping the machine feet
• Twisted, warped, or damaged machinery feet
• Dents or other flaws in machine base or machine feet
• Improper amount of shims under machine feet

These conditions will adversely affect the repeatability and alignment quality. You may have a bent motor foot, an angular or parallel soft foot, a bent or deformed shim, a deformed machine base, or a bolt hole with a burr, all of which cause alignment problems.

Addressing SoftFoot

With your shaft alignment equipment you will be able to detect and correct these issues efficiently. A useful tip here is that if you find a foot that causes a noticeable change in the vertical or horizontal readings as you tighten a particular bolt then this is often the location of the soft foot condition. You should then follow through with corrective action using a variety of shims and checking your adjustments to see if you have obtained repeatability. Use feeler gauges or shims to find the gaps first, fill them in and then verify with your laser alignment system.

Building Lasting Relationships That Better Service Your Machine Assets

At BENCHMARK PDM, we place high value on the relationships we have with our clients. We are a family owned and operated business and we extend that commitment to our customers. We ensure that all our staff are highly trained and ready to answer any questions you may have. Contact us today to address any queries or to order your shaft alignment equipment. You can reach us by telephone on +1-800-598-1117, e-mail us on info@benchmarkpdm.com, or fill in our contact form here. Whether you have a product or training related query, or whether you want to address a machine application issue, our friendly team is here to help. We look forward to hearing from you!