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Online vibration monitoring meets on-the-ground insights

By:

SKYLER

The Challenge

A loose motor bearing was identified through online vibration monitoring on a power grinder at a meat processing facility. Field technicians conducted additional on-site tests to confirm the diagnosis. This helped avoid an unnecessary gearbox replacement.

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75 HP motor powering an industrial meat grinder through a reduction gearbox. First signs appeared around April 20: trend data showed increasing vibration, pointing to looseness at the motor’s NDE bearing.

The customer suspected the gearbox, since it had failed in the past. However, data clearly pointed to the motor’s NDE as the issue. To confirm, the belt was removed to decouple the motor and gearbox. Vibration remained on the uncoupled motor, confirming the diagnosis.

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Frequency Spectrum

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Mutiple motor shaft speed harmonics were visible in the spectrum a sign of rotating looseness.

The motor was replaced around May 20, with nearly a month of lead time for planned maintenance. A postmortem showed the bearing’s inner race had spun on the shaft, causing overheating and melting the motor fan cover.

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