When performing condition monitoring tasks, don’t just rely on expensive condition monitoring tools. You would be surprised at the unusual and simple tools that can be used.
Here’s a preventive maintenance example (on a bearing) from my early days in maintenance management consulting to demonstrate that.
Arusha, Tanzania, 1978. I was in Tanzania for four weeks to set up maintenance centers and train the teams. I was quickly alerted to a problem with a piece of equipment in the board mill.
The bearing was not hot, but the sound coming from the equipment had gotten worse over the last month. The mill maintenance manager was worried. This bearing was used in a slow-moving press roll, and if it failed, the entire plant would shut down. It was the 70s, so was going to take some time for the maintenance manager to go through the avenues for approval to import a new bearing. On top of that, it had to be paid in USD instead of Tanzanian schillings. The typical delivery time for a new bearing was six months, best case three months¾we needed it yesterday.
“I can’t prove to top management that something is wrong with the bearing. Any way you can help?” the maintenance manager asked me.
I could have suggested methods such as Shock Pulse Measurement (SPM), wear particle analyses in oil samples, and more.
These methods were, for this plant, too expensive and unavailable. I always travelled with an SPM instrument, but back then this instrument wasn’t reliable enough to prove something was wrong with very slow-moving bearings like it can today.
By necessity, a big part of the training focused on basic and affordable inspection methods. For example, how to check misalignment and wear of a coupling using a stroboscope, checking the position of a bypass valve to find out if a heat exchanger needed to be cleaned before overheating a system, visual inspection of a V-Belt drive to see if pulley and/or belts were worn out, discovering and documenting the level of pitting in gears, using lead wire to measure clearances, alignment and roundness of rollers in cement kilns, and many more.
Simple and Unusual Condition Monitoring Tools
When you go to the dentist, they will use a hook to gently scratch the surface of your teeth. That way, small uneven areas and cavities can be discovered. Believe it or not, a dental hook is one of the condition monitoring tools I still bring with me when visiting plants.
Did you know? You can use a dental hook to check for unevenness.
Both the upper and the lower bearing elements were accessible from the side by removing a cover plate. I suggested that we use a dental hook as a condition monitoring tool to examine the inner and outer ring surfaces for any unevenness during the next short scheduled shutdown.
When we did the inspection, we discovered a damaged area in the load zone of the outer ring. We took polaroid pictures of the damaged area and then rotated the out ring 180° to get the damaged area out of the load zone.
Using this very simple and inexpensive method for condition monitoring, the maintenance manager could convince decision makers to order a new bearing. The delivery time was four months, and the bearing lasted until the new one arrived.
Conclusion
In this era of rapidly advancing technology, it’s easy to overlook the value of simple, time-tested techniques. Younger generations have much to gain by learning the old dogs’ tricks. Most experienced craftspeople probably keep a dental hook in their toolbox. These kinds of practical, low-tech approaches are wisdom worth passing down.
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Christer Idhammar
Christer Idhammar started his career in operations and maintenance 1961. Shortly after, in 1985, he founded IDCON INC in Raleigh North Carolina, USA. IDCON INC is now a TRM company. Today he is a frequent key note and presenter at conferences around the world. Several hundred successful companies around the world have engaged Mr. Idhammar in their reliability improvement initiatives.
Awards:
He received the coveted EUROMAINTENANCE Incentive 2002 award during the biannual EUROMAINTENANCE 2002 conference in Helsinki in June 2002. Among 19 member European countries he was nominated and received the award from EFNMS – European Federation of National Maintenance Societies – for outstanding achievement and worldwide accomplishments in the field of reliability and maintenance.
In 2008 he received the Salvetti Foundation Best Speaker all categories award among 154 speakers at Euromaintenance 2008 in Brussels, Belgium
In 2013 he received the “Best presentation award” among 120 speakers at Reliability 2.0 conference in Las Vegas.
Infrared Thermal Imaging is an excellent condition monitoring tool to assist in the reduction of maintenance costs on mechanical equipment. The technique allows for the monitoring of temperatures and thermal patterns while the equipment is online and running under full load. Most mechanical equipment has allowable operating temperature limits that can be used as guidelines. Unlike many other test methods, Infrared Thermal Imaging can be used on a wide variety of equipment including pumps, motors, bearings, pulleys, fans, drives, conveyors etc.
Infrared Thermal Imaging is an excellent condition monitoring tool to assist in the reduction of maintenance costs on mechanical equipment. The technique allows for the monitoring of temperatures and thermal patterns while the equipment is online and running under full load. Most mechanical equipment has allowable operating temperature limits that can be used as guidelines. Unlike many other test methods, Infrared Thermal Imaging can be used on a wide variety of equipment including pumps, motors, bearings, pulleys, fans, drives, conveyors etc.
SPM Instrument AB, Sweden, launches a brand new diagnostic method in connection with Leonova™, a hand-held machine condition analyzer. Called the SPM Spectrum™, it is the result of an FFT on the time signal recorded with an SPM shock pulse transducer from a rolling element bearing. The individual bearing frequencies (BPI, BPO, 2*B2 and FT) and their harmonics are highlighted in the spectrum. This is displayed together with the measured shock value and a light signal, green, yellow or red that shows the result of bearing condition evaluation.
SPM Instrument AB, Sweden, launches a brand new diagnostic method in connection with Leonova™, a hand-held machine condition analyzer. Called the SPM Spectrum™, it is the result of an FFT on the time signal recorded with an SPM shock pulse transducer from a rolling element bearing. The individual bearing frequencies (BPI, BPO, 2*B2 and FT) and their harmonics are highlighted in the spectrum. This is displayed together with the measured shock value and a light signal, green, yellow or red that shows the result of bearing condition evaluation.
Understanding the infrastructure behind smart maintenance is crucial. It’s not just a technical upgrade — it’s a strategic foundation to build a value-adding business case for agility, resilience, and continuous improvement.
Understanding the infrastructure behind smart maintenance is crucial. It’s not just a technical upgrade — it’s a strategic foundation to build a value-adding business case for agility, resilience, and continuous improvement.
The maritime industry is in many aspects using maintenance strategies from the past. Land based industry used to take influence from shipping to organise the maintenance in the 70:ties. Now industry is perusing new strategies that give better reliability and are more profitable. By focusing on reliability the indirect effects from doing the wrong maintenance can be reduced considerably. Shipping industry has from a maintenance aspect been doing the wrong things correct for many years. The opportunity is now to do the right thing correct instead.
The maritime industry is in many aspects using maintenance strategies from the past. Land based industry used to take influence from shipping to organise the maintenance in the 70:ties. Now industry is perusing new strategies that give better reliability and are more profitable. By focusing on reliability the indirect effects from doing the wrong maintenance can be reduced considerably. Shipping industry has from a maintenance aspect been doing the wrong things correct for many years. The opportunity is now to do the right thing correct instead.
When it comes to sheaves, proper vibration analysis is critical for identifying faults and preventing costly damage to equipment. These vibration analysis tips highlight two common sheave-related issues—eccentricity and misalignment—and presents practical advice for diagnosing them.
When it comes to sheaves, proper vibration analysis is critical for identifying faults and preventing costly damage to equipment. These vibration analysis tips highlight two common sheave-related issues—eccentricity and misalignment—and presents practical advice for diagnosing them.
When selecting pressure measurement transmitters, the first stage is whether to opt for a transducer or a transmitter. Although the terms are often confused, there are several differences between transducer and transmitter devices. A transducer creates a low-level electronic signal in response to changes in applied or differential pressure. As with transmitters, transducers feature an internal sensor that converts the applied force into an electrical signal, from which the measurement is derived.
When selecting pressure measurement transmitters, the first stage is whether to opt for a transducer or a transmitter. Although the terms are often confused, there are several differences between transducer and transmitter devices. A transducer creates a low-level electronic signal in response to changes in applied or differential pressure. As with transmitters, transducers feature an internal sensor that converts the applied force into an electrical signal, from which the measurement is derived.
Industrial Video Solutions (IVS) supplies high-speed digital video technologies to packaging, manufacturing and paper industries around the world. These systems combine the latest in GigE technology, digital video developments, efficient lighting and an intuitive, feature-rich user interface. The goal: keep that product moving!
Industrial Video Solutions (IVS) supplies high-speed digital video technologies to packaging, manufacturing and paper industries around the world. These systems combine the latest in GigE technology, digital video developments, efficient lighting and an intuitive, feature-rich user interface. The goal: keep that product moving!
