Monitor helps reduce plant maintenance costs

A Schaeffler (UK) product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Sep 12, 2006

A handheld vibration monitoring and operational balancing device has helped the Armstrong DLW Group to reduced maintenance time from an average of 4.5 hours down to 30 minutes.

FAG Detector III is an easy-to-use, handheld vibration monitoring and balancing device that is helping companies reduce their plant maintenance costs by preventing costly, unplanned stoppages to critical plant machinery and equipment.

By introducing an all-in-one, handheld vibration monitoring and operational balancing device to its maintenance technicians, the Armstrong DLW Group, one of Germany's largest manufacturers of floor coverings, has reduced maintenance time from an average of 4.5 hours down to 30 minutes.

At the Group's Delmenhorst factory in Germany, 500 staff produce linoleum from natural materials.

In the past, maintenance technicians conducted vibration measurements using measuring pins, which was time consuming and meant that data could not be stored and saved for future in-depth analyses.

Balancing tasks were manual and time consuming and relied almost entirely on the practical experience of the maintenance staff.

After a two-month period of trial testing of the FAG Detector III system, the plant's technicians now monitor vibration and perform operational balancing checks on a variety of machines, including ventilators and mills, using the FAG Detector III - a handheld vibration measuring device, data collection terminal and operational balancing system - all built into a single system.

Payback for the linoleum manufacturer has been fast.

Before purchasing the FAG Detector III, the company carried out balancing checks manually, which were taking, on average, around 4.5 hours to complete.

After using the FAG Detector III, this time has now been reduced by 88%.

Potential applications for the Detector III are enormous.

A high proportion of machine failures can be attributed to imbalances or faulty alignment of shafts and rotors.

These conditions can, in turn, lead to increased wear of machine components during operation, which over time, can lead to unplanned machine and plant stoppages, if they are not detected in time.

This can be a costly exercise for companies but can be prevented by investing in the appropriate detection systems.

The Detector III is the latest addition to Schaeffler (UK)'s Detector series of damage diagnosis systems.

The device is available with an optional, extended operational balancing function.

The customer can activate this function at a later stage after purchasing the basic unit.

The device can be used to balance rotors and shafts in both static and dynamic balancing applications.

The Detector III includes the full range of accessories required to carry out a balancing process, including sensors, trigger, magnetic holder and reflection marks.

There's also an integrated, step-by-step user dialogue, which allows inexperienced operators to record and analyse reliable, accurate balancing data.

The device can be operated with one hand using 21 keys and the keyboard itself is resistant to dust and spray water.

There's also a headset jack so that users can assess acoustic emissions from plant and machinery.

As well as retaining some of the familiar characteristics of the popular Detector series, the Detector III also has a number of new, improved features.

In addition to completely redeveloped, 16bit hardware, the new device has increased storage space, storage of up to 300 time signals and a new reporting function.

It also incorporates a second measurement channel for operational balancing, a new expanded keyboard and a viewer for displaying signals.

The built-in FAG Trendline software includes a database of more than 20,000 different bearing products from different suppliers, enabling the user to analyse measurement data recorded using the Detector III.

Used in combination with the data viewer, the bearing database is ideal for assessing a machine's condition.

For example, up to four different measurement values can be stored and displayed against one measurement point.

For example, several defect bearing frequencies can be checked efficiently using a single measurement point.

Users also get an expanded, configurable report generator, which can be used to prepare a wide range of reports.

Reports can be stored as templates and tailored for different customers.

All the information in the system can be used for the report, including time signals, trend curves and alarm data.

Find out more about this article. Request a brochure, download technical specifications and request samples here.
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