M• AQ UI INC KT ET N ANCE MINDERS
I P S F O R B E T T E R M R O •
Quick Tips on Alignment
Alan Luedeking, Ludeca, Inc.
Q. Why is it necessary to look at alignment condition
results at the coupling? Why can't I just look at my
needed shim changes and moves at the feet to decide if
my alignment is good enough?
Because the numbers at the feet can be very deceiving.
Small corrections at the feet don’t necessarily mean your
alignment at the coupling is OK, and that’s where it is most
important to be aligned.
Q. Why?
If you have excessive offset at the coupling, or the
angularity between the shafts is too great, excessive vibra-
tion, premature wear and tear of bearings and seals,
increased power consumption and loss of efficiency will
result. Remember, it is at the coupling that the power and
torque are transmitted from the driving to the driven
machine. It is here where you must be as well-aligned as
possible.
Q. So how can small numbers at the feet be deceiving?
Let me draw you a little picture. Suppose that to align
the machines you only had to move the front and back feet
2 mils each, but in opposite directions. The distance from
the coupling to the front feet is 10-in. and so is the distance
from front to back feet. Your alignment at the coupling
would not look so good. See Figure 1:
Figure 1
This demonstrates the fallacy of judging the quality of
the alignment just by the numbers at the feet. Always look
60 MARCH 2006 www.pump-zone.com
at the numbers at the coupling. Alignment tolerances are
correctly expressed in terms of your allowable limits for off-
set at the coupling and angularity between the shafts, and
should never be expressed only in terms of foot corrections
or positions.
Q. But can you give me any guidelines or tips that I
could use when looking at just the position values for
the feet?
Yes. Suppose you are bolt-bound, or base-bound and
the “bad geometry” of the machine is hampering your abil-
ity to get to a perfect alignment. Here are some tips to make
sure the alignment ends up as good as possible:
Get the front feet position as close to the offset toler-
ance as possible. Finish the alignment by correcting the rear
feet.
The final feet position should make offset at the cou-
pling decrease. To achieve this, make sure the sign (plus or
minus) of the positions for the front and back feet are the
same, and make sure the front foot value is always less than
the back foot value.
Examples: Front foot positive? Then back feet more
positive. Front feet negative? Then back feet more negative.
See Figure 2:
Figure 2
Here we see that the feet positions are larger than they
were in Figure 1, yet the alignment is within tolerance.
These corrections do not need to be made! The back feet
position is larger than the front feet position, so the offset
gets better as you approach the coupling.
PUMPS & SYSTEMS
 It is bad to leave feet positions with opposite signs, even if the values are
very small. It is bad to leave the value of the front feet position higher than the
back feet position, even if they both have the same sign. All this applies equal-
ly to both the vertical and horizontal corrections.

Q. Any final thoughts on alignment tolerances?

Yes. It is not necessary to achieve perfect alignment. In fact, absolute per-
fection is impossible to achieve. It is only necessary to get the alignment good
enough. “Good enough” means as good as or better than the most misalign-
ment you can tolerate. The only way to define that tolerance is by defining the
limits of permissible offset at the coupling, as well as the permissible angulari-
ty between the shafts.
This simply cannot be done in terms of simple limits on foot corrections
without also specifying all the relevant distances, which is utterly impractical,
since this will vary from machine to machine. The only way to have a mean-
ingful and consistent alignment tolerance is at the coupling, related to speed of
rotation.
Therefore, the best laser alignment systems perform their automatic toler-
ance evaluation based on the measured numbers at the coupling, and relate
them to the RPM of the machines. The faster the shafts turn, the tighter the
alignment should be at the coupling.
P&S

Alan Luedeking is the manager of technical support and training for the
Alignment Division of Ludeca, Inc., 1425 NW 88th Avenue, Doral,
FL 33172, 305-591-8935, Fax: 305-591-1537, alan@ludeca.com,
www.ludeca.com.

ITT PRO SERVICES

Best Maintenance Tip of the Month
Have you developed a handy maintenance technique that’s helping
enter 126 at psfreeinfo.com for more info

you in your work? Describe it, in 100 or less of your own words,
then e-mail it to:
best-tips@pump-zone.com
Tell us who you are, what you do, where you work.
Each month, we’ll select one of the best and publish it in this space.
Published tips will win a Pumps & Systems baseball cap and
a great ITT PRO SERVICES GIFT for its author.

PUMPS & SYSTEMS www.pump-zone.com MARCH 2006 61