Ballbar data will quantify faults in the machine center such as servo mismatch, stick-slip error, straightness of the axes, lateral play, backlash, reversal spikes, circularity error, scale, and machine geometry. Each of these conditions can be trended over time.
Detecting Corona in High Voltage Systems
A potentially destructive phenomenon occurring in high voltage electrical systems is corona. Corona occurs when the air surrounding a conductor is ionized, causing an electrical discharge. Corona discharge represents a power loss, and can damage system components over...
Start Small and Build Support
Picture this: you are a maintenance manager who is in the planning stages for a new predictive maintenance (PdM) program. Other initiatives like this have failed in the past, but you are determined to change the maintenance culture in your facility. To enable this,...
Oil Analysis for Predictive Maintenance
Predictive maintenance (PdM) is a broad field of many overlapping technologies, all of which have one common goal: find faults in a machine’s condition before the machine fails. On their own, predictive technologies each have their own strengths. For example, the...
Key Traits of Successful PdM Programs
In our last post, I touched on some negative factors which can lead to program failure. Today, let’s flip the script and take a look at three positive traits of successful predictive maintenance (PdM) programs: top-down support, communication and documentation, and...
Three Reasons PdM Programs Fail
It is easy to justify starting a predictive maintenance (PdM) program. A successful PdM program will monitor all of a facility’s critical assets, detect failures before they occur, and perform necessary maintenance on those assets, reducing repair costs and downtime....
Vibration Analysis Using Overall Vibration Alarms
As an organization’s predictive maintenance (PdM) program grows, limitations on manpower require the technicians and/or analysts to work more efficiently to monitor the growing list of critical equipment. Often, practitioners will look to cut corners on vibration...