Bearing changed out too early

Bearing changed too early    

conveyor shutdown could have been avoided.





Client: Mineral refinery.

Tough Problem: Conveyor belt pulley bearing identified by operators as being noisy - decision was made by site personnel to stop the conveyor and change the bearing out.

Practical Solution: While the time wave form showed signs of impacting, there were no signs of any bearing defect frequencies in the spectra.

After careful examination of the bearing's service condition and in light of significant experiences with similar equipment (bearings on slow rotating shafts) SVT recommended taking no action and allowing time for the bearing to be run in. 

Site personnel decided to proceed with change out of the bearing and upon inspection it showed only minor signs of brinelling with no signs of imminent failure.

Bottom Line: Premature shutdown of the conveyor could have been avoided.