CASE STUDY Vibration Spike Flags Gearbox Issue, Protecting Glass Insulation Production
At a leading glass insulation manufacturing facility in Belgium, the ball mill plays a crucial role in grinding raw materials to the consistency required for high-quality insulation production. When Waites' sensors flagged a rapid increase in vibration on the gearbox’s input drive shaft, immediate attention was critical. Without swift intervention, the plant faced a potential shutdown lasting several days, risking missed deadlines, costly disruptions, and delays to customer orders.
Waites' analysts detected a sharp rise in vibration energy, with waveform data clearly showing periodic, uneven impacts indicative of mechanical looseness. The pattern suggested restricted movement in one direction, leading analysts to suspect an issue with the auxiliary motor. A visual inspection confirmed the diagnosis: a defective auxiliary motor was causing drivetrain instability.
Vibration levels on the input drive shaft spiked above the alarm threshold, with time waveforms showing periodic impacts and characteristics of mechanical looseness. Left unaddressed, this defect risked unplanned downtime and costly repairs.
Following removal of the defective help motor, vibration returned to stable baseline levels well below the alarm threshold, confirming the issue was resolved and preventing an estimated 48 hours of unplanned downtime.
Guided by Waites’ analysis, maintenance teams promptly removed the faulty auxiliary motor. Follow-up vibration measurements quickly returned to acceptable levels, confirming the root cause had been addressed. Waites analysts remotely verified the improvement, ensuring operational confidence.