Any good ideas for mounting a sensor to a pole for taking reading on hard to reach spots ?

I have been using a pole for collecting data on tall machines for some time. It is a fiberglass extention pole approx 12 ft. when extended. Has a swivel on top with a machined bracket to hold the accel.

I will try to find out some manufacture data for you.

swivel5.doc (2,396 Kb, 47 downloads)

If you have the budget, Jason's looks nice. I had a client who made a really nice one that was a permanent rig. He used coiled cables and ran them inside the pole so there wouldn't be any chance of catching a cord on anything but there was no way to release the accel. I wondered if there was any effect on the readings, but havn't talked to him since.

Here's the poor man's way.

Take a piece of 1" pvc conduit and cut off a piece about 8-10" long. Cut a slot of about 1/2" width the entire length of the short piece. Drill a hole through the longitudinal center of the short piece and through the end of both sides of the long piece. (clearance diameter for about a 1/4" bolt).

Bend a proper diameter flat washer to approximate the inner pipe radius and bolt the short piece to the long piece. Use a thumb screw or a spring to control tension/swivel or just a nylon locknut.

Costs about $5, takes about 1/2 hr to make so you can make them and leave them where you need them rather than tote it around with you.

I bought an extendable fiberglass painter's pole at Lowes for about 19 dollars and adapted the end to hold an accel. It's about 3 feet long when closed and extends in 6 inch increments to about 6 feet. I travel a lot and when closed it fits in a large suitcase.

This has been discussed here before. Try this link. Lots of pictures too.

http://maintenanceforums.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/3751089...631032311#8631032311