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Shaft misalignment can lead to wear of components and premature failure.

Inspecting drive shaft alignment

Misalignment occurs when the motor drive shaft is not in correct alignment with the load, or the component that couples the motor to the load is misaligned. This misalignment may be caused during assembly or develop over time due to thermal expansion, components shifting or improper reassembly after maintenance. Unless corrected, misalignment leads to increasing wear in mechanical drive components and likely premature failures.

Many professionals believe that a flexible coupling eliminates and compensates for misalignment, but a flexible coupling only protects the coupling itself. Even with a flexible coupling, a misaligned shaft will transmit damaging cyclical forces along the shaft and into the motor, leading to excess wear on the motor and increasing the apparent mechanical load.

In addition, misalignment may feed vibration into both the load and the motor drive shaft. There are a few types of misalignment:

  • Angular misalignment: shaft centerlines intersect but are not parallel.
  • Parallel misalignment: shaft centerlines are parallel but not concentric,
  • Compound misalignment: a combination of parallel and angular misalignment. (Note: almost all misalignment is compound misalignment, but practitioners talk about misalignment as the two separate types because it is easier to correct a misalignment by addressing the angular and parallel components separately.)

A Fluke 830 Laser Shaft Alignment Tool can measure and diagnose misalignment issues as well as easily guide a technician to realign a shaft to its proper working order.

©2019 Fluke Corporation. Specifications subject to change without notice. 6004771

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    • Products
      • Accessories
        • See all
      • Building infrastructure
        • HVAC tools
        • Indoor air quality testing
        • Industrial Ethernet tools
        • Laser distance meters
        • Laser levels
        • Network cable testers
      • Calibration tools
        • Fluke Calibration
        • mA loop calibrators
        • Multifunction calibrators
        • Pressure calibrators
        • Temperature calibrators
      • Electrical tools
        • Basic electrical testers
        • Battery analyzers
        • Clamp meters
        • Digital multimeters
        • Earth ground
        • Installation testers
        • Insulation testers
        • Insulated tools
        • Portable appliance testers
        • Portable oscilloscopes
        • Power quality
      • Fluke software
        • Fluke Calibration software
        • Fluke Networks 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
        • IR windows
        • Thermal cameras
        • Visual IR thermometers
      • Awards
      • New Fluke products
      • Test tools catalog
    • Learn
      • Best practices
        • Custody transfer
        • Electrical inspection
        • Energy efficiency
        • Equipment and production line testing
        • Fluid systems
        • Measurement basics
        • Motors and drives
        • Pressure calibration
        • Preventive maintenance
        • Safety
        • Temperature calibration
        • Test tools basics
      • Blog
      • Fluke education partnership program
      • Leak detector
      • Library
      • Online courses
      • Tools and calculators
        • Air leakage calculator
        • FOV calculator
      • Tradeshows and seminars
      • Webinars
    • Fluke Customer Support
      • About us
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        • Contact us
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      • Calibration Services
      • Manuals
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    • Where to buy
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    • Other Fluke companies
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      • See more Fluke brands
        • Accelix
        • Amprobe
        • Beha-Amprobe
        • Comark
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        • Landauer
        • Pacific Laser Systems
        • Pomona
        • Pruftechnik
        • RaySafe
        • Schad