Top 10 Machinery Installation Issues with John Lambert
When you are installing a new machinery in a facility of the organization, there are certain issues. These issues are listed from top to the bottom categorized on the basis of seriousness. The top of the list is shaft alignment. It is the most common issue while installing the machinery. It occurs due to lack training or of precision instruments, as well as measurement misconceptions. Most organizations think they have achieved alignment just because an instrument showed so. They don’t take the stress and heating mechanisms into account which causes misalignment between the collinear wings of the shaft.
The second issue is the measurement in the base. The machinery installation should start with the removal of stress. The best place to start doing this is by making sure the base is level and flat. You can’t just use any off the shelf leveling tool for that. You need to stick to the height and level measurements from the surface. The third issue is soft-foot. It occurs when one foot of the machine is not in level with the other one. It can cause distortion in the machine casing. It also affects alignment measurements when you are checking for correctness.
Then comes the pipe strain that causes shaft deflection and case distortion that leads to pump failure. So, you need to avoid putting stress on the pipe. The next one on the list is offline to running. It occurs because of thermal growth in the machine. You can change operating temperature for reducing the initial start-up tork. But there will still be some amount of tork that can lead to this issue. The sixth issue is coupling run-out and machine looseness. It causes vibration in the machine just like misalignment. You can find it out using a dialer indicator. You should look for the run-out in coupling and also check the bearings.
The number seven is moving the machine. You need to have control when you are moving a machine to avoid sliding. You can use jacking-bolts for that but you need to check the integrity of the bolts as well. You can use the laser to fix this issue or by using graph paper to show how to optimize the machine movement. The next issue is hardware because it makes a lot of difference. Use of poor hardware like nuts, bolts, and key chains can cause machinery issues too. You also need to use proper tools while tightening the bolts and make sure they are calibrated right for the job.
All of this depends on the training because they need to be able to use all the necessary tools. They need to have the proper training. They should be able to do more than just pushing the right buttons. They need to be guided about the proper machinery installation. They should be trained at a standard level for this. The last but not the least thing is to have proper documentation of the quality measures that are taken because it helps you understand the operational phase of the machine.
Eruditio Links:
- Eruditio
- HP Reliability
- A Smarter Way of Preventative Maintenance Free eBook
- inspired Blended Learning (iBL®)
- James Kovacevic’s LinkedIn
John Lambert Links:
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