I'm looking for some input as to what to put into a "Crash course" for vibration. I'm looking at a career change in the near future, provided I have no hidden health issues. I've been offered and accepted a position (job security reasons) with a coal fired power plant, as a mechanic for now. They talked in the interview about possibly starting an in house Pdm program. If this goes through I have 6 weeks to get three people on the Pdm "bandwagon", for lack of better words. Our program has never been "world class", not because I've not put my heart into it, but because reliability has been seriously under staffed (just little ole me) and ran in the find it fix it frame of mind. I've made some excellent calls, but have also missed some things that could have been prevented had we the man power. Any how any input would be appreciated. I have my own thoughts ie: going over data collector and software operation, basics of vibration, data analysis, etc., but would like to here from the members of this board as to resourses, suggestions, etc.. I'm sure formal training will come to these guys. Thanks to all who reply.

Roy,



For Training:

Try http://www.vibrationschool.com/

http://www.ilearninteractive.com/

http://www.update-intl.com/VibrationBook.htm

Be sure and get your free subscription to Uptime Magazine - a free monthly magazine for PdM (US gets print and Intl gets digital edition)

We are also hosting PdM-2006 The Predictive Maintenance Technology Conference, Sept 12-15, Chattanooga TN
http://www.maintenanceconference.com/pdm/

This is an event that is 100% focused on predictive maintenance and condition monitoring.

Good luck,
Terry O

Terry made good offerings and I'll also say this thread is excellent.

I hear "selling a program" to management. You need realistic figures and by figures I mean $igns. If a motor cost $500, how is your PdM analyses for three years going to be cheaper; It's not in all probability! So, what can planned scheduled maintence do: eliminate catastrophic failure, provide the cheapest rebuild, eliminate overtime and not interfer with operations (100% reliability and availability). A coal fired boiler operation depending on output can easily go to $40,000/hr. Now justify youself with real dollar amounts. If you can't cost justify it, then it will and rightfully should fall by the wayside.

Thanks for the replies.
Terry- I've already sent links to the individuals that I will be training for the sites you've mentioned. I've used all of them and thought they were excellent. We also have the Ilearnvibration CD, another good source. Only problem with that is the laptop we had it loaded on "grew legs" so I am in the process of getting the upgrade and a dongle so we can install it any where and access it using the dongle.
Sam,
Excellent comments. The guy that interviewed me seemed to already have a plan in place to get his program inhouse. They have a 2130 and software but according to him it just sets on a shelf collecting dust (my mixed emoticon). Any how to all that read this post keep em rolling in, comments that is
Kind regards,

Roy; send me you E-address - sampickens@sprintpcs.com and I'll provide you some help for crash course vibration your guys can profit from I believe. You can use it freely.

Given the situation and time frame you're in, you might want to consider doing the initial training yourself.
Focus initially on hands-on TRAINING (ie how to do the job you need them to do) rather than EDUCATION (ie understanding vibration theory, analysis, diagnostics etc.).
That way you'll increase the odds of them getting things done right, and decrease the odds of frustration / confusion / wrong calls based upon inexperience etc.
Also, you might want to start out by tackling some equipment / system that your guys, and management / supervision know to be a chronic issue. Thus, apply the new tools, under your direction, to solve known problem -that'll get you off to a good start.

Ron,
That is pretty much what I have in mind. Lots of hands on stuff. Walking routes with me, letting each of them get the feel of the data collector, showing them the do's and dont's with the software. We have a trainer that we built years ago that I am going to bring out of storage and also utilize.
Thanks for the reply,

Maybe I'm wrong but I would limit it to data collector and keep the software arena in your hands.

Sam,
I'll not show them too much, but have to get them acquainted with it in case I leave. I do, at least, have a software back-up person.

Dear Roy,

Ron Hartlen hit the nail on the head.

Trying to interpret the data acquisition your analyser will give you is the greatest difficulty.
However, there are some basic clues and avenues that you will soon be able to associate with the various signals your instrument will give you.

Time is the best teacher and you have to live thru it, I am afraid.

Looking at some vibration sprectrums from your machine will probably scare you to death at first. But, there are some basics and once you have mastered those, you're off to the races !

Good Luck,

MarkoLeo

In my working with one of the TLA (three letter acronym) companies, it seems to me that people need to be involved and have some ownership to make a program work.

Programs where people are expected only to take data, then turn the data collector over to somebody else for unloading/analysis usually don't fare so well. If the people taking the data don't have any ownership in it, they will tend not to be very concerned about it.

On the other hand, where people are more involved and actually analyze the data, they have more at stake in the process. They'll understand why proper data collection is important and take more pride in the process. If poor data will make their job more difficult, and if incorrect conclusions reflect on them, they'll do a beeter job.

I admit that programs where one guy is responsible for everything, supported by people whose only knowledge is how to make measurements, can work. Until that one guy retires, changes jobs or is hit by a bus and nobody else has a clue about anything.

Jon
Spintelligent Labs

Excellent comments Jon. That is exactly what my company faces now. That's why I'm trying to get resources to "crash train" these individuals. One good thing in this is that the people chosen for this training are highly motivated, curiosity seekers (if that makes sense). I found out that my fasciation with this trade fueled my thirst for knowledge. All that been said, the race is on, my last day here will be the 17th of Mar. so I have 5 weeks to get these folks up to snuff on the basics of our program.

Roy,
I have done exactly what you are about to do. I found the most important thing is to teach the guys about route based collection and how to properly collect data. Make sure the routes are easy to follow and everyone is taking the same data. One time I used paint markers to label the measurement locations. As long as I had good data coming in I could keep my head above water. Hopefully you’ll get a group of guys that have a sense of when some things not running right. They will be coming to you with the questions in short order. Getting them in the field is the first order of business. This way they are at least being put to work and being given a chance to bring valuable input (data) into the process. Teaching the fundamentals of vibration analysis can then become a less stressful process that develops as the individuals become familiar with the tools and equipment they will be working with. Personally I never initially got a chance to get formal training. I was given an analyzer and told to hit the road running. Fortunately I worked with some good old boys guys whom had been doing the job for several years. On the job training was much more practical than school. When I finally went to training I was able to get the most out of the class because I had already covered the basics. Personally I found teaching be a very rewarding experience and hope to do in again some day.
Good luck,
Waylon Maroney