Knowledge Base

Courtesy of SKF Maintenance Products Detect hot spots before they cause trouble. Since the dawn of the industrial age, temperature has been used to give an indication of machine condition. Technicians know that abnormal…

A short definition of intrinsic safety and the ATEX, FM and CSA approvals used for instruments in hazardous areas.

How the SKF OilCheck TMEH 1 uses changes in an oil's dielectric constant to indicate water, oxidation, metal particles, dust and fuel contamination.

How velocity pickups work and how to install them: signal conventions, construction, number of sensors, mounting, sensitivity, frequency response, calibration, wiring and grounding. STI field application note.

Turbine valve position measurement with LVDTs and rotary potentiometers: theory, operating range, installation, measurement convention, wiring and calibration. STI field application note.

Measuring steam turbine shell or case expansion with DC LVDTs: theory of operation, range, installation, measurement convention, wiring and calibration. STI field application note.

A guide to specifying or retro-fitting a Turbine Supervisory Instrumentation system, parameter by parameter. STI field application note.

Turbine Supervisory Instrumentation (TSI) for steam and gas turbine generator sets: the parameters measured, CMCP500 series transmitters, A/D converters and Wonderware integration. STI field application note.

Transient vibration analysis during startup and shutdown using Bodé, polar (Nyquist) and cascade (waterfall) plots. STI field application note.

Thrust position monitoring with eddy current transducers: single vs dual voting, linear range, internal and external mounting, measurement conventions, target, wiring, calibration and gapping. STI field application note.

How stiffness, damping and mass determine a machine's response to excitation, and what happens to amplitude and phase below, at and above resonance. STI field application note.

Monitoring reciprocating compressors: frame vibration, rod drop, rod run-out, crosshead vibration, main bearing vibration and valve temperature. STI field application note.

How to build an efficient predictive maintenance data collector route, with a worked pump, compressor and fan room example. STI field application note.

Testing piping systems for vibration amplitude, frequency, nodal points and mode shape, and how to correct excessive pipe vibration. STI field application note.

Who uses a vibration monitoring system and how: operations, maintenance and the vibration specialist. STI field application note.

Breakdown, preventive and predictive maintenance compared: what each costs and what each delivers. STI field application note.

Classifying machine trains as critical, essential or general purpose to decide what level of vibration monitoring each needs. STI field application note.

Frequency domain vibration analysis: FFT spectrum displays, band analysis and choosing spectral resolution. STI field application note.

Field wiring for permanently installed vibration monitoring systems: low level signals, noise sources, AC power, instrument wire gauge, junction boxes, conduit spacing and single point grounding. STI field application...

Field service levels for vibration monitoring system installation: pre-installation survey, installation assistance, startup and calibration, turnkey projects and training, plus a project checklist. STI field applicat...

How the two methods of vibration transducer fault detection work, Fault Detection Circuits and OK Circuits, and the advantages and disadvantages of each. STI field application note.

Shaft eccentricity (rotor bow) measurement on large steam turbines: why it matters at slow roll, where to mount the eddy probe, midspan calculation, target, cabling, calibration and gap. STI field application note.

Differential expansion and rotor expansion measurement on large steam turbines: collar and ramp targets, retrofitting with eddy probes, single and complimentary systems, calibration and gapping. STI field application ...

Permanent vibration monitoring of cooling tower fan gearboxes and motors: frequencies of interest, recommended sensors and monitors, start-up and DCS/PLC considerations. STI field application note.