In a past life (ok, “job position”) I was responsible for a large wind-tunnel facility that included two 150 hp motors and multiple shaft bearings. To complicate the maintenance issues, the motors drove large fans that pushed air heated to 400°F, so the stress and temperature of the bearings were a significant concern.
I wasn’t the only one with this concern.
Here is an interesting article: Eugene Matzan, “Detecting Premature Bearing Failure”. Machinery Lubrication Magazine. May 2007. This is a good overview of the importance of monitoring bearing health.
In the article “Bearing it all” provided by: Power Transmission Distributors Association, June/July 2004 issue of MRO Today magazine. Copyright 2004, They deal with the “Too Hot To Touch” question and put the temperature in perspective.
Just to give an international flavor, Machinery Vibration Consultants, Ltd from England, present an article titled: “PREVENTING THRUST BEARING FAILURES“, copyright 2006. Again, the discussion here is about temperature monitoring to prevent failures…
Burns Engineering’s family of bearing temperature monitoring sensors provide an effective method of Bearing health monitoring. They can be customized to meet a variety of installation approaches and carry the Burns quality you can depend on.
Have a bearing health-monitoring story to share? Click the comment button above and share it! It’s been a few years (ok, several years) since my days at the wind-tunnel facility, so I could sure benefit from an update about bearing maintenance issues!
Chuck