Infrared Inspections of Conveyor Bearings
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Tip written by: Infraspection Institute
If your facility utilizes conveyor systems for moving product, you may be able to use your thermal imager to locate defective bearings.
Many conveyor systems utilize a large number of rolling element bearings to support rollers or conveyor belting. Depending upon the size of the facility, a conveyor system may contain thousands of rolling element bearings. Due to the vast number of bearings, inspecting them can be an enormous and time consuming task.
Because bearing wear is usually accompanied by a rise in temperature prior to failure, infrared imaging can be used to detect overheating bearings. The infrared inspection is performed by comparing similar bearings under similar load. Bearings appearing inexplicably warm can be noted for further investigation.
When performing your infrared inspection, bearings should be operating at normal speed and you must have line-of-sight access to the subject bearings. Since the infrared inspection is performed from ground level without special preparation, the inspection can be performed quickly.
When performed by an experienced, certified thermographer, infrared inspections can provide a cost effective method for helping to eliminate unexpected failures and improving your production uptime.
Infrared inspection of bearings is one of the many topics covered in the Infraspection Institute Level I Certified Infrared Thermographer® training course. For more information or to register for a course, visit Infraspection Institute or call us at 609-239-4788.
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