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Fluke
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Shaft looseness can occur because of bearing wear.

Checking shaft looseness

The effects of vibration can be severe, and if left unchecked can accelerate rates of wear and lead to costly equipment failure and downtime. Vibration can be destructive if a motor drive shaft, for instance, has loose bearings or is loosely attached to its mounts.

Looseness occurs when there is excessive clearance between parts. Such looseness may or may not be caused by the underlying vibration. Whatever its cause, any amount of looseness allows tiny vibrations to cause damage, such as further bearing wear, wear and fatigue in equipment mounts as well as other components.

Looseness can occur in several places:

  • Rotating looseness is caused by excessive clearance between rotating and stationary elements of the machine, such as in a bearing.
  • Non-rotating looseness happens between two normally stationary parts, such as a foot and a foundation, or a bearing housing and a machine.

As with all other sources of vibration, it is important to know how to identify looseness and resolve the issue to avoid losing money from destroyed equipment or downtime. A vibration tester or analyzer can determine whether or not a rotating machine is suffering from looseness.

Indeed, a vibration tester such as the Fluke 810 Vibration Tester and Analyzer can be used in a preventive maintenance program as an indicator of machine condition that not only includes looseness but also unbalance, shaft misalignment and bearing failures.

©2019 Fluke Corporation. Specifications subject to change without notice. 6004773

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©1995 - 2019 Fluke Corporation
    • Products
      • Accessories
        • See all
      • Building infrastructure
        • HVAC tools
        • Indoor air quality testing
        • Laser distance meters
        • Laser levels
      • Calibration tools
        • Fluke Calibration
        • mA loop calibrators
        • Multifunction calibrators
        • Pressure calibrators
        • Temperature calibrators
      • Electrical testing
        • Basic testers
        • Battery analyzers
        • Clamp meters
        • Digital multimeters
        • Earth ground
        • Installation testers
        • Insulation testers
        • Portable appliance testers
        • Portable oscilloscopes
        • Power and energy loggers
        • Power quality analyzers
      • Fluke software
        • eMaint CMMS
        • Fluke Calibration software
        • Fluke SmartView
      • Industrial imaging
        • See all
      • Intrinsically safe
        • See all
      • Mechanical maintenance
        • Laser alignment
        • Vibration analysis
      • Temperature measurement
        • Contact thermometers
        • IR thermometers
      • Thermal imaging
        • Thermal cameras and gas detectors
        • IR windows
        • Visual IR thermometers
      • Awards
      • New Fluke Products
      • Catalogs
    • Learn
      • Best practices
        • Complete your toolbelt
        • Custody transfer
        • Electrical inspection
        • Equipment and production line testing
        • Fluid systems
        • Measurement basics
        • Motors and drives
        • Pressure calibration
        • Safety
        • Temperature calibration
        • Test tools basics
        • Why professionals choose Fluke
      • Blog
      • Fluke education partnership program
      • Library
      • Online courses
      • Seminars and training
      • Tradeshows
    • Support
      • About us
        • Careers
        • Companies
        • Contact us
        • Corporate profile
        • Integrity
      • Calibration Services
      • Manuals
      • Press releases
      • Product registration
      • Recycle program
      • Repair
      • Return materials authorization
      • Safety notices
      • Service center locations
      • Software downloads
      • Technical support
      • Warranties
    • Where to buy
      • Fluke Platinum Technical Distributors
      • Promotions and contests