Top 10 Reasons Why a Strobe Light is an Analyst’s Best Friend: #8 – Rotational Direction

Have you ever been in a situation where something strange was happening operationally on a machine and you wanted to make sure it was running the right direction (wired properly) but you didn’t want to shut it down? A strobe light is an easy way to check rotation without shutting down.

By flashing the strobe light at slightly less than its running speed, the rotor will make slightly more than one rotation between flashes. That means your mark will progress in the direction the fan is actually running and allow you to determine whether the motor is wired properly or not.

 This tip is provided by Scott Dow, Senior Instructor of Mobius Institute.

Come back to our blog next week to read #7 in our Top 10 Reasons Why a Strobe Light is an Analyst's Best Friend. To learn more about IMVAC and the event nearest to you, visit vibrationconference.com.

Top 10 Reasons Why a Strobe Light is an Analyst’s Best Friend: #9 – Inspections

Strobes allow you to inspect a running machine in detail, also known as a “slow motion study”. The first step is tuning the strobe light to 1x, which should be at least roughly available. When you get there with the strobe, the shaft will appear to stop. If it is on a VFD, you can estimate the RPM use the following formula:        

RPM ~ VFD_OUTPUT x [2xLF_Hz  / # of Poles]

Once you know the speed, tune it slightly away from that frequency and components will appear to rotate in slow motion, allowing for inspection of couplings, belts, fan rotors, pulleys and much more. 

This tip is provided by Scott Dow, Senior Instructor of Mobius Institute.

Come back to our blog next week to read #8 in our Top 10 Reasons Why a Strobe Light is an Analyst's Best Friend. To learn more about IMVAC and the event nearest to you, visit vibrationconference.com.

Top 10 Reasons Why a Strobe Light is an Analyst’s Best Friend: #10 – Speed Checks

A strobe light is often an analyst’s best friend. Over the next few tips, we will go through a variety of useful functions.

First and foremost, a strobe light is a convenient way to get an accurate speed as you are collecting the data. The importance of an accurate speed cannot be overstated since the error is multiplied by orders. So recording an accurate speed allows you to confidently calculate forcing frequencies, both synchronous and non-synchronous.

Secondly, with VFDs becoming increasingly common, the strobe allows you to assess the consistency of the motor’s speed. Depending on system requirements, VFDs can change speeds incrementally in an instant, which causes peak-spreading and other issues.

This tip is provided by Scott Dow, Senior Instructor of Mobius Institute.

Come back to our blog next week to read #9 in our Top 10 Reasons Why a Strobe Light is an Analyst's Best Friend. To learn more about IMVAC and the event nearest to you, visit vibrationconference.com.

IMVAC Europe 2017 Kick-Off!

IMVAC Europe 2017 started today, June 6, 2017 with a keynote by Herman Baets, Company Manager/Independant Consultant, MRT on "Challenges for Maintenance in a Changing World."

The first day of the conference featured five workshops (half and full day) and was followed by a Networking and Welcome Reception.

We are looking forward to an excellent day two of IMVAC Europe - check back here and on social media for more updates this week!