March 17, 2005
Motor Testing Tip
How important is megohm testing?
To a technician evaluating a motor, a megohm meter is like a Doctor’s blood pressure cuff. It is a measurement you have to make. It provides important information, and when it’s bad, it’s bad. But it is a one dimensional test, evaluating only the integrity of the insulation system to ground. By itself, it does not provide enough information to diagnose overall motor health. A high megohm reading does not rule out motor electrical problems any more than a normal blood pressure reading rules out serious illnesses.
Statistically only about 5% of motor failures start out as ground failures, so the odds of pro-actively detecting a fault with a megohm meter are small. In addition, a megohm test will miss inter-turn faults in the windings, it will miss poor connections, it can miss an open phase, and is totally unaffected by rotor problems.
So should you measure insulation resistance? Of course, but recognize that much more information is needed to assess motor electrical health. Combining insulation resistance with other AC based tests such as Motor Circuit Analysis can give you a complete picture of motor electrical health, whether for troubleshooting or condition monitoring.
Tip provided by ALL-TEST Pro, A Division of BJM Corp http://www.alltestpro.com
Tel: 860.399.5937
March 17, 2005
SAP-centric EAM Conference 2005 (ADV)
Software giant SAP (sap.com) is intensifying its focus on the Enterprise Asset Management (Maintenance Management) market.
With the broadest solution for EAM currently on the market, SAP and partners are introducing new functionality in the areas of:
• Planning and Scheduling
• RCM support and integration with the Work Identification – Execution cycle
• Fully integrated Maintenance Cost Budgeting and analysis
• Role-based intuitive portals ensuring easy transaction and information access with visibility on asset condition
• EAM Business intelligence solutions
SAP’s Service and Asset Management unit is taking an aggressive approach to push SAP’s market leadership in this area. As they have shown in CRM (where SAP has now toppled Siebel as market leader), when SAP focuses its attention on a market, its only a matter of time.
Evidence of this new intensity comes in the SAP-centric EAM conference running in Tucson, AZ from March 20-23, 2005 [ http://www.sap-centric-eam.com ]. Organized by event experts Functional Asset Solutions in conjunction with SAP, this event features impressive content from SAP customers in North America, updates on strategic plans from SAP’s Service and Asset Management Unit and showcases new EAM functionality from SAP and its technology partners – NRX, Meridium, Impress and more. The show is rounded out with the key service providers around this space – the “globals” - Accenture and IBM and specialist players such as New Dimension Solutions.
We suggest you kick the tires and the winter blues in Arizona in March – this looks like a very interesting event in a lovely corner of the country (especially in March!)
For more information please visit the conference website at http://www.sap-centric-eam.com or call New Dimensions at 914-509-5355.
March 17, 2005
Vibration Analysis Tip
Do you need phase data to better analyze your equipment but don’t have the time to set up a tachometer at each measurement location? Try using cross-channel phase readings. This is a feature offered by some vibration analyzers. This reading uses two accelerometers to take vibration data and the difference is phase is calculated between both of them. Often times a coherence value will also be displayed, which verifies the validity of the readings.
Tip provided by LUDECA, INC.
ALIGNMENT * VIBRATION * BALANCING
http://www.ludeca.com
Tel: 305-591-8935
Learn about VIBXPERT - Powerful machine diagnosis in the field!
March 17, 2005
Oil Analysis Tip
New lube reference gives test results and recommendations more meaning
Oil analysis is all about change – about how a lubricant changes during use and to what degree. The properties of a used lubricant cannot be properly evaluated without knowing its properties when new. Comparing used oil analysis results with a “new lube reference” is a key factor in effectively assessing any change in an oil’s physical properties or additives.
Contamination and additive depletion rates are quickly obvious when an analysis report includes a new lube reference. New lube references also ensure product integrity - that you’re getting what you’ve paid for – and can potentially save you millions of dollars in unnecessary oil drains, equipment repair or replacement and unscheduled downtime.
Tip provided by POLARIS Laboratories
877-808-3750
http://www.polarislabs.com
Learn how new lube references give more meaning to oil analysis results
March 10, 2005
Airborne Ultrasonic Tip
When performing acoustic lubrication of bearings, it is best to approach the lubrication procedure with a mindset that the bearing may in fact be “over-lubricated” and proceed to only use “half-strokes” of the grease gun (using a grease gun with no loss of movement in handle) instead of pumping full strokes until a difference is heard. Using half-strokes you may hear a difference after the first half-stroke of sound increasing and not decreasing. If sound increases and you are using a digital readout or indicator type, allow 15 seconds for sound to decrease before proceeding. If sound does not decrease, “stop” lubricating.
Tip provided by Ultra-Sound Technologies, LLC
http://www.ultra-soundtech.com
Tel: (770) 517-8747
March 10, 2005
Machine Moving Tip
Don’t use a hammer. Four Pony type pipe clamps that are used by carpenters can be adapted to pull a machine into position. Rotate one clamp to grip the foundation; the other to pull the foot. For small machines, 1/2” NPT, for large machines, 3/4” NPT. The pipe can be as long or short as necessary.
I wished I had thought of this when I was aligning a 200 HP motor. I could have saved an entire day in retrospect.
Reader Tip provided by Jon McFadden
Vibration Analyst
Conway Personal Care Facility
Kimberly-Clark Corp.
March 10, 2005
CMMS-2005, the Computerized Maintenance Management Summit
Please join us for CMMS-2005, the Computerized Maintenance Management Summit from July 26, 2005 through July 29, 2005 in beautiful downtown Indianapolis Indiana.
With over 60% of all CMMS implementation falling far short of expectations, we have created a conference to address the strategies, tactics and technology for more productive maintenance work process automation through Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) and Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) Systems.
The only event dedicated to Computerized Maintenance Management and Enterprise Asset Management, Maintenance Inventory, Maintenance Planning & Scheduling and Maintenance Work Management.
You should attend this event to:
• Reduce the cost of maintenance purchasing and inventory
• Learn successful software implementation techniques
• Develop an intelligent CMMS/EAM evaluation and selection process
• Improve your maintenance information management
• Learn how to create accurate Bill of Materials
• Learn how to use CMMS data to support other improvements
• Generate Failure codes in a CMMS/EAM System
• Increase the productivity of your existing CMMS/EAM
• Discover new Web Based option for rapid CMMS/EAM implementation
• Develop Key Performance Indicators for Maintenance
• Manage a Computerized Maintenance Management System
• Much more…
Like other Reliabilityweb.com conferences, CMMS-2005 features a wide selection of pre- and post-conference workshops, daily short courses, hand’s-on learning labs, numerous learning zone sessions and plenty of networking opportunities with people who face the same issues you do on a daily basis.
For more information call 239.985.0317 or…
March 10, 2005
Reliability Tip
Is it worth performing time based maintenance if equipment failures are random?
Where failures are random, time based replacement or overhaul cannot prevent ALL failures but, if the time interval is, say 25% of the MTBF, then it can prevent about 60% of the expected failures. The question is, ‘why would you want to do this?’ when you would be sacrificing a considerable amount of the ‘useful’ life of the component.
By definition, a breakdown can occur at any time, whereas time based maintenance is usually scheduled to be performed on a down day. In circumstances where there is a considerable cost of ‘lost product’ due to a breakdown, but little or none due to time based replacement or overhaul, then it may be cheaper overall to adopt a time based maintenance strategy.
To determine whether this is so, you need first to assemble ALL the cost data for both scenarios. Then, for any given time interval, you can calculate the probability of unexpected failures using the appropriate Weibull function. For each time interval, factor the breakdown costs by this probability, add the costs of time based maintenance, and annualise the result.
If this seems like a tortuous task, believe me, it is. Fortunately, there are ‘expert systems’ for RCM analysis that will do all this calculation for you and provide a graph of annualised costs vs. the frequency of predictive or preventive maintenance. From this you can choose either, a suitable frequency or, to ‘operate to failure’.
Reader Tip provided by Colin Parish
Chameau Systems Limited
Oxted Surrey, UK
Thank you Colin - your Maintenance-Tips hat is on the way!
March 10, 2005
Alignment Tip
Obtaining Positional Repeatability while turning shafts on Vertical Machines On vertical flange-mounted machines, or those that are foot-mounted to a wall with a vertical shaft orientation, the traditional inclinometer-enabled measure modes will not work, nor will any external gravity operated inclinometers. Thus, in order to obtain repeatability in your rotational positions when turning the shafts, try this: wrap a piece of string around the shaft, carefully note the total length of the circumference, then stretch the string out on a flat surface and divide this length into eight equal segments that you will mark out on the string.
Now wrap the string back around the shaft again and mark these eight equally spaced positions on the shaft, preferably right where the shaft disappears into the bearing housing or seal, so you can line these marks up with a match-mark on the housing. White-out works nicely, or you can scribe the marks. Alternatively to the string, you can use a pi-tape to mark out your positions. This will give you excellent positional repeatability when rotating the shafts to specific clock positions.
Tip provided by LUDECA, INC.
ALIGNMENT * VIBRATION * BALANCING
http://www.ludeca.com
Tel: 305-591-8935
March 10, 2005
The Reliability Toolbox™ CD ROM
The Reliability Toolbox™ CD ROM is an organization-wide solution to improving and enhancing the weakest link in your CMMS program, maintenance procedures and documentation. Gain control of your maintenance and reliability programs, by capturing valuable machinery information and creating job aids for current and future employees. The value of machinery knowledge is immeasurable and is essential to a successful implementation of reliability programs. The Reliability Toolbox™ is an enhancement program that will help your company to obtain and secure this valuable information, provide consistency in job performance and training of employees. The Reliability Toolbox™ CD ROM program offers a reliability knowledge assessment and several live multimedia training modules that explain and demonstrate the use of various maintenance forms and procedures. This program also provides a collection of over 50 generic boilerplate maintenance forms, procedures, and job aids that can be used as is, or modified to meet the procedural requirements of an existing reliability improvement program.
The Reliability Toolbox™ has four key areas that contain multimedia training, reliability knowledge assessment evaluations and maintenance procedures and forms: Maintenance Management, Condition Monitoring, Maintenance Practices, and Precision Alignment.
For more information please call (303) 838-3447 or…
