January 4, 2018
The below video is a 15 minute segment of an hour long presentation given by Todd Hatfield of HECO at the 2017 Reliability, Process, and Maintenance (RPM) Symposium. This presentation discusses common preventable causes of electric motor failures. This section of the presentation discusses bearing related failures as bearings account for about 51% of all …
July 6, 2017
Category I, Category II, Category III and Category IV – What are they and what do they have to do with vibration analysis? Why should they matter to my corporation? Through The Vibration Institute, Mobius Institute, Technical Associates of Charlotte, and various other groups offer certification in vibration analysis. More importantly, they are certification to …
May 25, 2017
It is very regularly that we receive a call from a client that a fan is vibrating and that we need to send someone out there to balance the fan! A good portion of the time when we arrive, it is indeed a balance issue, where the fan has had a buildup of material on …
February 22, 2017
In the world of technology, more specifically maintenance technology, there are so many different tools we are using to make decisions. We use vibration analysis, ultrasonic analysis, motor current analysis, thermography, and so many other technologies that many times the most simple and cost-affordable technology is sometimes forgotten: YOUR EYES! Visual inspections can tell you …
January 27, 2017
Tom Spettel, Senior Reliability Engineer, Category IV ISO Certified Vibration Analyst. The below video is a case study of a large 3-stage air compressor that was directly coupled to a 2-pole (3600 RPM) motor that had vibration problems after the air compressor was re-located to a different building. This was originally presented at the 2016 …
January 3, 2017
Shaft currents can have a destructive effect on electric motor bearings. This article, with information from our friends at AEGIS Shaft Grounding Rings, is intended to inform professionals about these voltages and their effects on bearings in electric motors. Because of the high-speed switching frequencies in PWM inverters, variable frequency drives induce shaft currents in …
December 26, 2016
Tom Spettel, Senior Reliability Engineer, Category IV ISO Certified Vibration Analyst The below video is a vibration analysis case study where there was a coupling bolt failure on a 4000HP ID Fan motor on a fluid drive. This was originally presented at the 2016 Reliability, Process, & Maintenance Symposium (RPM) in Kalamazoo, Michigan on September …
November 21, 2016
Tom Spettel, Senior Reliability Engineer, Category IV ISO Certified Vibration Analyst The below video is a case study of a 400HP, 3600RPM (2 Pole) Boiler Feed Water Pump Motor that had vibration problems after a used motor was put in place of the original motor. This was originally presented at the 2016 Reliability, Process, & …
November 9, 2016
Tom Spettel, Senior Reliability Engineer, Category IV ISO Certified Vibration Analyst The below video is a case study of a 4000HP Induced Draft (I.D.) Fan Structural Resonance. This was originally presented at the 2016 Reliability, Process, & Maintenance Symposium (RPM) in Kalamazoo, Michigan on September 13-14, 2016.
August 11, 2016
Before reading about these different tests, please check out our last few articled on electric motor theory and rotor bar cracks: How Does an Induction Electric Motor’s Rotor Work? How do 2-pole Electric Motor Rotor Bars Crack? Besides a simple visual inspection, below is a summary of the most common methods of detecting cracked rotor …
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