VibrAlign Fixturlaser Go Installation guide

Get Going!
TRAINING MANUAL
©2010 Vibralign, Inc.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction to Alignment............................................................................................................................1
Chapter 1 Prealignment Considerations........................................................................................................................3
Chapter 2 Using the GO...............................................................................................................................................6
Chapter 3 Assisted Practice ........................................................................................................................................ 14
Chapter 4 Student Practice-Aligning to 1800 rpm Tolerances...................................................................................... 15
Chapter 5 Student Practice-Aligning to 3600 rpm Tolerances ..................................................................................... 16
Chapter 6 What Are Tolerances? ................................................................................................................................ 17
Chapter 7 GO Settings ............................................................................................................................................... 19
Chapter 8 Student Practice-Checking for Softfoot Using the GO ................................................................................23
Chapter 9 Student Practice-Using Thermal Targets......................................................................................................28
Chapter 10 Student Practice-Using the Clock Method ..................................................................................................30

INTRODUCTION TO ALIGNMENT
ALIGNMENT BASICS
The machines we align:
Basic
The most basic machines to align consist of a driver and driven element.
The driven unit is usually considered to be stationary and the driver movable.
The movable unit is repositioned in relation to the stationary unit.
Machine Trains
Sometimes a machine train will include a driver, and more than one driven
element. When aligning a machine train, there is more than one alignment
to be made.
Typical Drivers: Electric Motor, Steam Turbine, Gas Turbine, Engine, Wind
Turbine, Hydraulic Motor
Typical Driven Elements: Pump, Fan, Generator
Intermediate Devices: Gearbox, Clutch, Fluid Coupling
Rotational axes
All shafts, straight or bent, rotate on an axis which forms a straight line.
Shaft Alignment Defined
Shaft alignment is the act of measuring the relative position of two machines
that are coupled and repositioning them so that the rotational axes of the
two shafts form a straight line (collinear) when the machines are at normal
operating temperatures.
Types of Misalignment
Offset Misalignment
Offset Misalignment is the actual radial position of the movable rotational
center relative to the stationary center. If the shafts are not parallel, the
offset misalignment is different at every axial position.
Offset misalignment is expressed in mils.
0.001" = 1 mil
Offset Misalignment VS Dial Readings
If a dial indicator measuring on the rim is set to zero and then rotated 180
degrees the dial reading (TIR) will be 2X the offset misalignment.
Offset misalignment = ½ TIR
Angular Misalignment
Angular Misalignment is the slope relationship of the two shafts. The slope
has a positive value if the offset values are more positive at the rear feet than
at the coupling.
Angular misalignment is expressed in mils per inch.
Stationary Movable
1

INTRODUCTION TO ALIGNMENT
Angular Misalignment VS Gap Difference
If you use calipers, inside micrometers, or a dial indicator to measure face to
face misalignment, the result you get is the gap difference top to bottom or
side to side in mils. Angles cannot be expressed as a distance alone. Divide the
gap difference by the diameter at which you measure the gap to express the
gap difference as angular misalignment.
Gap difference/diameter = angular misalignment
TOLERANCES
Angular Misalignment Offset Misalignment
Mils per inch Mils
.001/1" .0 01"
RPM Excellent Acceptable Excellent Acceptable
3600 0.3 /1" 0.5 /1" 1.0 2.0
1800 0.5/1" 0.7/1" 2.0 4.0
1200 0.7/ 1" 1. 0 /1" 3.0 6.0
900 1.0 /1" 1. 5/ 1" 4.0 8.0
MISALIGNMENT FORCES
Misalignment creates forces at the coupling which are exerted on the shafts.
This results in reduced bearing and seal life.
The force effects of misalignment can be simplified by considering the
misalignment as a simple lever. Misalignment at the coupling creates a
moment of force acting on an effort arm. This will create a first class or second
class lever with either the inboard or outboard bearing acting as a fulcrum.
The length of the motor shaft between its bearings is the resistance arm. The
objective of shaft alignment is to minimize coupling forces by making two
rotational axes form a single line while the machine operates.
About making precise alignments:
Fast and accurate alignment should be simple. In fact, most alignments can be
accomplished in one or two corrective moves.
It is helpful to understand some alignment basics.
Pre-alignment steps are mandatory.
You must know when you are finished.
Rigid couplings present unique challenges and final alignment must be
near perfect.
Alignment data can be obtained with the couplings assembled or
disassembled.
When it is humanly possible, both shafts should be rotated when
obtaining alignment data
2

CHAPTER 1
Pre-Alignment
Considerations
3

Pre-alignment checks and corrections are performed to either
improve machinery reliability or to facilitate the alignment
process. In either case, pre-alignment is a very important
phase of the alignment process.
The pre-alignment process could include all of the following
checks: (1) Clean up around and under machinery feet. (2)
Consolidation of small shims with fewer thicker pieces. (3)
Checking run out. (4) Checking pipe strain. (5) Performing a
lift check to check bearing clearances. (6) Rough alignment. (7)
Checking hub separation on spacer couplings. (8) Recording
and tightening bolts in a known sequence. (9) Checking final
soft foot.
We will limit the scope of this chapter to what we term “the pre-
alignment essentials.” You will demonstrate understanding of
the following terms and procedures: rough alignment, correct
obvious soft foot, tightening bolts in a known sequence, and
correcting final soft foot.
ROUGH ALIGNMENT
Rough alignment is performed to expedite the precision
alignment process. It is intended to quickly get the machines
“in the ball park.” On close-coupled machines (those with no
spacer coupling), rough alignment can be performed with a
scale or any straight edge to remove vertical and horizontal
offset misalignment. On machines with spacer couplings,
we recommend that you correct both the angular and offset
misalignment vertically and then the angular and offset
misalignment horizontally.
Using a scale or straight edge, correct rough vertical
misalignment by referencing the highest hub. Place scale
firmly on the highest hub and raise or lower the movable shaft
to within 20 mils (0.020") of the stationary hub.
Using a scale or straight edge, correct rough horizontal
misalignment by referencing the hub closest to you. Place
scale firmly on the hub and adjust the movable shaft to within
20 mils (0.020") of the stationary hub.
OBVIOUS SOFT FOOT
Soft foot occurs when the machine feet do not rest flatly on
the machine base. Soft foot is caused by deformed machine
base plates or by deformed machine feet. In either case, the
effect when tightening the bolts is that the bearings become
misaligned, bearing clearances change and the machine
PRE-ALIGNMENT CONSIDERATIONS
4

CHAPTER 1
rotational center is moved. Machinery performance is adversely
affected by a soft foot’s effect on bearings. Precision alignment
is nearly impossible to perform unless soft foot is corrected.
Correcting gross soft foot can be accomplished by loosening
all the mounting bolts and finding any obviously loose shim
packs. Add shims as needed to make a snug fit.
TIGHTENING SEQUENCE
You will find that specifying, recording and maintaining a
tightening sequence will result in a better and quicker alignment.
The fact is that the machine will move (both vertically and
horizontally) as we tighten down the bolts. This is true even
after we correct soft foot. If you follow a known sequence you
will minimize and make this movement predictable during the
alignment process.
Often when making vertical corrections, people will only
loosen two bolts at a time to try to hold horizontal position.
This practice is acceptable, but some horizontal movement
will likely occur anyway. Therefore, you should re-loosen all
bolts and retighten in the recorded sequence after all vertical
adjustments are complete.
In practice, make at least three passes around the bolts: Snug
on the first pass, ~50% on the second pass and completely
tight the third pass. Follow the same sequence throughout
the alignment.
FINAL SOFT FOOT
Soft foot issues account for most alignment repeatability
issues. For that reason, we address it twice. Now that the
obvious soft foot issues are resolved and all feet are tight,
we’ll make one final check on soft foot. Loosen one bolt at
a time and check with a 2 mil (0.002") shim or feeler gage
at that foot. Correct any foot with 2 mils or more softness.
Re-tighten the bolt and proceed to the next foot.
If the foot has an angular relationship to the base, you can
correct this by cutting a partial shim to make up the angular
correction. When cutting partial shims from pre-cut stock,
always leave the shim “tab” intact. The tab can be used to
make each shim pile organized and the partial shim will return
to the original position. Never “feather” or step shims out
to fix an angled foot. It is unlikely the angular correction will
be duplicated when the shim piles are changed during the
alignment.
5

CHAPTER TWO GOALS
At the conclusion of this chapter you will see how to:
Perform all prealignment steps
Setup GO lasers correctly
Enter dimensions correctly
Select tolerances for 1800 rpm
Measure misalignment
Correct vertical and horizontal misalignment with
compound move
Remeasure
Make corrections if necessary and remeasure
Save results
Unmount and stow laser in storage case
CHAPTER 2
Using the GO
6

1. SET UP THE FIXTURLASER GO
1.1 Mount the “S” sensor on the stationary shaft.
The sensors may be mounted on the shafts or on
the coupling hubs.
Place the bracket on the shaft and pull the chain
under the shaft and hook it over the pin.
Hand tighten the nut, then ½ turn more with the
wrench.
1.2 Mount the “M” sensor on the movable shaft.
Place the bracket on the shaft and pull the chain
under the shaft and hook it over the pin.
Hand tighten the nut.
Visually align the sensors (side to side), then
tighten the nut ½ turn more with the wrench.
1.3 Connect the cables into either connector on the
display unit.
1.4 Turn the unit on by pressing the RED button at the
center bottom of the display.
1.5 The Horizontal Shaft Alignment coupling icon will
be highlighted in black. Press the “OK” button on
the right hand key pad to enter the Horizontal Shaft
Alignment program.
Use the up/down & left/right arrow buttons
on the right hand key pad to move the black
highlight to the different icons as needed. Press
the “OK” button to select.
1.6 Rotate the sensors to 12:00.
1.7 Aim the lasers.
The sensors will be on different elevations.
Open the green latches on either sensor and
slide up or down to aim the laser into the light
grey band on the opposite sensor. Adjusting one
sensor will adjust both.
You should see both “S” and “M” values in the
boxes at the top of the display.
If you do not, then the lasers are not within the
sensors.
Lock the green latches.
2. ENTER DIMENSIONS
2.1 Measure the distance between the “S” and “M”
sensors to the nearest 1⁄8".
USING THE FIXTURLASER GO
7

Center of post to center of post.
2.2 Enter this dimension into the display unit.
Left most black highlighted box with ? mark.
Use left hand keypad to enter the value as a
decimal.
Use the “C” button on right-hand key pad to
clear errors.
2.3 Press the “OK” button on right-hand key pad to
accept the dimension.
Black highlight will move to the next box with ?
mark.
2.4 Measure the distance from the coupling center to
the “M” sensor to the nearest 1⁄8".
Center of coupling to center of “M” sensor post.
2.5 Enter this dimension into the display unit if different
from the value displayed.
Second black highlighted box.
2.6 Press the “OK” button on the right-hand key pad to
accept the value.
Black highlight will move to the next box with ?
mark.
2.7 Measure the distance from the “M” sensor to the
movable machine front foot to the nearest 1⁄8".
The line parallel to the shaft from the center of
the “M” sensor post to the center of the front
foot bolt.
USING THE FIXTURLASER GO
8

2.8 Enter this dimension into the display unit.
Third black highlighted box with ? mark.
2.9 Press the “OK” button on the right-hand key pad to
accept the value.
Black highlight will move to the next box with ?
mark.
2.10 Measure the distance from the movable front feet to
rear feet to the nearest 1⁄8".
Center of bolt to center of bolt.
2.11 Enter this dimension into the display unit.
Fourth black highlighted box with ? mark.
2.12 Press the “OK” button on the right-hand keypad to
accept the value.
Black highlight will move to the Measure icon in
the lower right corner of the display.
3. SET MACHINE RPM IN TOLERANCE
TABLE
3.1 Use the left arrow button on the right hand key pad
to move the black highlight to the Tools icon. Press
the “OK” button to select.
3.2. Use the up arrow button to move the black highlight
to the tolerance table. Press the “OK” button to select.
3.3. Select the machine RPM using up/down arrow
buttons to highlight the correct RPM. Press the
“OK” button to select.
Use next highest RPM setting if machine RPM is
in between values listed.
3.4 Use the down arrow button to move the black
CHAPTER 2
9

highlight to the Exit Door icon . Press the “OK”
button to select.
3.5 Use the right arrow button to move the black
highlight to the Measure icon.
4. MEASURE MISALIGNMENT
The sensors can be at ANY clock position to start.
The starting measurement is registered by pressing the
“OK” button.
The sensors are then rotated out of the black zone
from the starting point.
The “OK” button registers the second and third
measurements.
The system will give results for the both Vertical and
Horizontal misalignment.
After you get some experience you can try different
starting positions.
To begin, use the orientation shown below.
4.1 Rotate the sensors to 9:00.
Use the animated rotation guide on the display
unit screen.
You should see both “S” and “M” values in the
boxes at the top of the display.
If you do not, then the lasers are not within the
sensors.
4.2 Press the “OK” button to register the 1st
measurement.
The “S” and “M” values are zeroed.
The values are displayed in mils.
Do not rotate shafts while the Measuring icon is
displayed.
4.3 Rotate the sensors to approx. 12:00.
Use the animated rotation guide on the screen.
You should see both “S” and “M” values in the
boxes at the top of the display.
4.4 Press the “OK” button to register the 2nd
measurement.
The “S” and “M” values will not change.
Do not rotate shafts while the Measuring icon is
displayed.
4.5 Rotate the sensors to 3:00.
USING THE FIXTURLASER GO
10

Use the animated rotation guide on the screen.
You should see both “S” and “M” values in the
boxes at the top of the display.
4.6 Press the “OK” button to register the 3rd
measurement.
The “S” and “M” values will not change.
Do not rotate shafts while the Measuring icon is
displayed.
5. ALIGNMENT RESULTS
Both the vertical and horizontal misalignment values are
displayed.
Displayed values are not live.
The angle and offset values ONLY determine the
alignment condition.
Angular Misalignment Offset Misalignment
Mils per inch Mils
.001/1" .0 01"
RPM Excellent Acceptable Excellent Acceptable
3600 0.3 /1" 0.5 /1" 1.0 2.0
1800 0.5/1" 0.7/1" 2.0 4.0
1200 0.7/ 1" 1. 0 /1" 3.0 6.0
900 1.0 /1" 1. 5/ 1" 4.0 8.0
The three LED lights on the display unit indicate
whether the couplings are within tolerance (green
light), within twice the tolerance (orange light), or more
than twice the tolerance (red).
Displayed foot values are for making corrections.
6. CORRECTING VERTICAL MISALIGNMENT
6.1 Correct the vertical alignment from the results
screen.
6.2 Positive foot values: the movable is high, remove
shims.
6.3 Negative foot values: the movable is low, add shims.
6.4 Leave the bolts loose after adjusting shims.
7. CORRECTING HORIZONTAL
MISALIGNMENT
7.1 Using the right arrow button move the black
highlight to the Shim icon.
CHAPTER 2
11

7.2 Press the “OK” button to select.
The GO is now “live” and will display the values
in whatever orientation the sensors are pointing.
To correct horizontal misalignment be sure the
sensors are in the horizontal plane.
Use the on screen guidance to rotate sensors to
horizontal if needed.
7.3 Adjust the feet in the direction of the arrows.
The Angle and Offset values will change as the
feet are adjusted.
The LED will change from Red to Orange to
Green as the angular and offset values are
brought into tolerance.
Green LED indicates alignment in tolerance. It’s
not necessary to adjust the foot values to zero.
Tighten the bolts using torque pattern.
8. RE-MEASURE
8.1 Move the black highlight to the Re-measure icon if
needed.
8.2 Press the “OK” button to select.
Verify selection.
8.3 Rotate sensors back to the starting measuring
position and repeat the process.
9. VERIFY RESULTS & DOCUMENT FINAL
ALIGNMENT
Both the vertical and horizontal misalignment values are
displayed.
Verify the angle and offset values meet or are less than
the tolerances.
USING THE FIXTURLASER GO
12

Green LED should be on.
9.1 Use the left/right arrow buttons to move the black
highlight to the Save icon if needed.
9.2 Press the “OK” button to Select.
9.3 Enter the name of the saved alignment.
Use the left hand key pad to enter up to 17
alphanumeric characters.
Use the “C” button on the right hand key pad to
clear errors.
9.4 Press the “OK” button to save.
Orange & Green LEDs will flash as alignment is
saved.
Saved alignment will display for approximately
5 seconds.
10. EXIT THE PROGRAM AND TURN OFF
10.1 Move the black highlight to the Exit icon .
10.2 Press the “OK” button to select.
10.3 Verify selection and press the “OK” button.
10.4 Move the black highlight to the Off icon.
10.5 Press the “OK” button to select.
CHAPTER 2
13

CHAPTER THREE GOALS
At the conclusion of this chapter, with a little help, you will be able to:
Perform all prealignment steps
Setup GO lasers correctly
Enter dimensions correctly
Select tolerances for 1800 rpm
Measure misalignment
Correct vertical and horizontal misalignment with
compound move
Remeasure
Make corrections if necessary and remeasure
Save results
Unmount and stow laser in storage case
CHAPTER 3
Assisted Practice
14

CHAPTER FOUR GOALS
At the conclusion of this chapter, on your own, you will be able to:
Perform all prealignment steps
Setup GO lasers correctly
Enter dimensions correctly
Select tolerances for 1800 rpm
Measure misalignment
Correct vertical and horizontal misalignment with
compound move
Remeasure
Make corrections if necessary and remeasure
Save results
Unmount and stow laser in storage case
CHAPTER 4
Student Practice
Aligning to 1800 rpm Tolerances
15

CHAPTER FIVE GOALS
At the conclusion of this chapter you will be able to:
Perform all prealignment steps
Setup GO lasers correctly
Enter dimensions correctly
Select tolerances for 3600 rpm
Measure misalignment
Correct vertical and horizontal misalignment with
compound move
Remeasure
Make corrections if necessary and remeasure
Save results
Unmount and stow laser in storage case
CHAPTER 5
Student Practice
Aligning to 3600 rpm Tolerances
16

CHAPTER SIX GOALS
At the conclusion of this chapter, you will understand the:
Difference between targets and tolerances
Relationship of speed to tolerances
‘Zone of Good Alignment’
CHAPTER 6
What Are Tolerances?
17