During our Best Alignment Practices Training classes our staff of VibrAlign Trainers stresses the importance of rough aligning the machines as part of the pre-alignment steps. The main reason to do so is to minimize the coupling influences on the [...] Read More
A customer in the northeast US was concerned that his laser wasn’t working properly. He called into our office stating “the motor shaft is a ¼ inch low at the coupling, but the laser shows I need to remove a [...] Read More
Most mechanics are pretty familiar with flexible couplings. They are designed with an elastomer, or flexible element, which compensates for slight amounts of misalignment through a sliding motion between the coupling hubs and the insert. However, it is very important [...] Read More
While working on a sludge pump, several issues arose that could have caused alignment headaches that would have lasted hours. There isn’t any medication that would have removed that pain. In this scenario and all alignment jobs, Pre-Alignment is a [...] Read More
Normally, it is faster and more accurate to perform shaft alignment while the machines are coupled together. This offers several benefits such as: Keeping the relative angular positions of the shafts the same allows the technician to align the true [...] Read More
The inclinometers in a laser alignment system work against gravity in the horizontal plane for a typical horizontal shaft alignment. When performing a vertical shaft alignment, the process will be different. Here is the process for aligning a vertically-mounted C-faced [...] Read More
Good day Alignment Blog readers! Today, I would like to introduce a new member of the VibrAlign team in the Eastern Region. Art McFadden joined our sales team in the Mid-Atlantic this year and he shares our Passion for Precision. [...] Read More
Last week, a customer asked me how to do a laser alignment on a fluid coupling. This question comes up occasionally, so I thought it would be a good subject to address here on thealignmentblog.com. First, it would be helpful [...] Read More
QUESTION: When mounting the lasers, if it isn’t possible to mount to the shafts, can they be mounted to a flanged sleeve gear type coupling? (The outer “floating hub”, not the inner one pressed on the shaft.) I have seen [...] Read More
We are sometimes asked, “Does your laser alignment equipment measure axial alignment?” While it sometimes raises some eyebrows, the answer most frequently given is, “There’s no such thing.” What is sometimes referred to by maintenance personnel as “axial alignment” is really [...] Read More
If you are a regular Alignment Blog reader, you may remember an entry in which Stan Riddle discussed why we should care about precision alignment of flexible couplings. Today, I would like to offer up some evidence that many of you [...] Read More
Bowl mills are used to pulverize coal prior to being blown into coal fired boilers. They are very large machines with heavy rotating components usually driven by an internal planetary gear set in the bottom of the mill. A typical [...] Read More
In a recent training class, a mechanic asked, “Why should I worry about aligning a flexible coupling? I thought the reason we used flexible couplings is because they didn’t have to be aligned.” That’s a great question, and one that [...] Read More
A few months ago, while teaching a shaft alignment training class, a customer asked if we could take a look at a machine that the maintenance group was having trouble assembling. After a quick inspection, the photo on the right [...] Read More
There are three common errors made in shaft alignment—coupling backlash, soft foot and not tightening and loosening moveable machine hold down bolts in a proper sequence. Of these, soft foot can be the most problematic. But coupling backlash runs a [...] Read More