IMC-2008 23rd International Maintenance Conference is held December 8-11 in Bonita Springs Florida.

Each year reliability leaders from over 36 countries participate in one of the best events for reliability guidance and new ideas to transform your maintenance performance.

Register now to save on conference fees, hotels and airfare.

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When checking for a suspect resonance on a fan that could not be shut down I used a strobe fired from a tunable filter set to the suspect frequency.

Unfortunately I could not find a reference point (e.g. a key way or mark on the shaft) so I coated an foam ear plug with twink (white marker) and inserted it into a short length of plastic pipe and using it like a blow gun aimed it at the shaft .

My aim was good so this left a white mark that was quite clear using the strobe. By moving the accelerometer attached to the filter around the skid I was able to see a definite 180 degree change in the position of the mark left by the ear plug when it hit the shaft.

This confirmed the suspect resonance when I also plotted out the amplitudes along the skid.

Reader tip provided by Ian McNab
Work Preparation Engineer
Transfield Worley
Eltham Taranaki
New Zealand

Good shot Ian! Thanks for the tip. Your stainless steel, diamond plate Reliabilityweb.com coffee mug is on the way.

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Not all failures of machinery that have circulating lubrication systems are trendable.

Some events occur due to abuse or environmental factors that you just can’t see coming with the best of lubricant analysis or vibration analysis. Or the case may be that you can’t economically see them coming. Payback after all is a prime consideration in the application of any PdM strategy.

Given a choice of having a piece of equipment come crashing down after it has “made metal” in the oil until the next sampling interval or having an instant alert when it starts making metal, I will always take the later choice. You at least maintain some control of the shutdown and minimize collateral damage.

This is particularly applicable to mobile equipment. But works equally well on large gearboxes and hydraulic systems. Do you want the operator to have a warning of possible impending failure or should the first warning come when the oil pressure light comes on followed shortly by seizure? A chipped gear tooth is bad, a ruined crankshaft and collateral damage is very, very bad.

In many systems it has been the practice to install magnetic drain plugs to trap particles and to allow examination. But that allows only infrequent warning of impending problems. Also for years in the higher end hydraulic systems it has been a (little used) option to install magnets in the return or case drain lines that can be removed and examined with the unit in service. This obviously allows more frequent inspection, but is still limited to some time based inspection interval.

An often overlooked and surprisingly inexpensive method for real time failure detection is the simple magnetic chip detector. These were first used extensively in helicopter gear boxes during the 60s. Even a few minutes warning that a gear box was “making metal” could be a life saver back then. A chip detector slightly resembles in size and configuration a spark plug in that it has an electrical gap in the end of it and electric leads to it. Add a magnet to a spark plug and insert it into the oil stream and it is now a chip detector.

When the magnet attracts enough ferrous debris (either a large chip or accumulated fines )the gap in the probe is bridged, a low voltage current flows, and a light or annunciator goes off. The operator is warned and a mechanic can be summoned. Depending on the circumstances and your procedures, the machinery can be proactively shut down until help arrives. The probe can be removed while in or out of service and the debris examined to determine what - if any - further evaluation needs to be performed.

For low pressure systems, a kit with the probe, receptacle, and a 12 or 24 volt indicator light can be purchased for under $300. For engines of mobile equipment there are even oil filters with the chip detector integrated into the housing for around $1000. This is some of the cheapest life insurance you will ever buy for some of your equipment. You can find providers on the web, or buy them out of aviation supply catalogs.

Tip provided by Sam McNair
Life Cycle Engineering
Charleston SC

Find out more about Life Cycle Engineering

Be Optimistic

Some people think that optimism is about living in a Pollyanna world where everything is nice and bad things never happen to good people. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. Optimism really is a courageous state of mind – one that comes from a person’s desire, effort, and choice to accept and make the best of difficult situations. Certainly, the road of optimism is not without its potholes. And that’s especially true from those in leadership positions.

If you serve as a leader long enough, you’ll undoubtedly come face to face with setbacks and unexpected events that have the potential to be devastating. People and situations change, and your ability to remain optimistic will surely be tested against fear of the unknown. Refusing to engage in the all-too-common “woe is me” lament takes courage.

The optimistic leader believes that defeat is a temporary setback – isolated to a given situation. He or she wants the best possible outcome and therefore concentrates on finding something positive and hopeful in what appears to be a hopeless situation. This is a leader who understands a basic principle of human nature: You usually see whatever it is you are looking for.

There is an endearing story about how optimistic people look at situations differently – seeing the potential that others fail to realize. It goes like this: Two researchers were independently dispatched to one of the world’s least developed countries by a large shoe manufacturer. Their task was to assess the business possibilities within that country.

When the first report came back to the manufacturer’s headquarters, the message read: “No market here. Nobody wears shoes!” A few days later, the second report came back from the other researcher. It read: “Great market here. Nobody wears shoes!”

Tip excerpted from Leadership Courage by David Cottrell and Eric Harvey

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Zoom lens adapters are available for some infrared camera platforms. Built-in zoom features are not always the best way to get an image that is presentable for quality report generation. This lack of image quality also makes correct defect classification less certain.

For collecting data at a distance, a zoom lens adapter should be used so that image quality and data collection is not compromised. There are a variety of infrared camera platforms be sure to select the one recommended by the IR equipment manufacturer you use.

Tip provided by Rich Epps
Allied Reliability, Inc.
Charleston SC

Find out more about Allied Reliability PdM Training

Tip 6 - The system wins every time

The late Dr. W. Edwards Deming made the point that everyone works within a system. Most people want to do a good job. Often, they cannot do so due to constraints of the system. In point 5 above, if the “system” does not allow them time to use precision methods, we will not get a precise result. If our materials management “system” does not ensure we will have the materials required to do the work, we will experience delays. If our work management “system” does not include documenting work details after the job is done, we won’t have accurate equipment history. Good people performing in a poor system will produce poor results; average people performing in a good system will produce good results.

No organization can afford to be stagnant. There is always room for improvement, and it is a key responsibility of a leader to continuously drive improvements. Remember the saying, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” If we want to make improvements, we’ll have to change the system – but these changes usually cost money.

Since we operate within a larger financial “system”, we need to be proactive in obtaining funding for necessary improvements. One of the best ways to do this is to have a three to five year master plan that is updated on an annual basis. This will allow us to get our improvement ideas into the budget cycle, which will greatly increase the chance of funding. It will also increase senior management’s confidence in your ability to manage the department in a proactive fashion.

Tip provided by Bruce Hawkins
MRG
http://www.mrginc.net

iPresentation Tutorial Invitation: Maintenance 201 – More of the Basics

In the last balancing tip the contributor advised use of MEK (methyl ethyl keytone) to clean the shaft surface

MEK is a very potent chemical.

Gloves, breathing protection are appropriate, but prudence would indicate that another product would be a healthier alternative.

‘Please follow all safety procedures.’ is far too mild a statement for this chemical.

Find out more about the use of MEK (methyl ethyl keytone)