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  • 1.  PdM for Servo motors

    Posted 04-21-2026 06:09 PM
    Hi Everyone,
    Are your reliability teams currently using predictive maintenance for servo motors? I would appreciate hearing about any success with continuous vibration monitoring, infrared, acoustic/ultrasound, or other PdM technologies to monitor machine health and provide early warning of failures.
    I've seen an article on bench testing using a meter, but I'm specifically interested in real-world experience using predictive technologies in operation.

     

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    Ryan McBride
    Manufacturing Reliability Manager
    Schreiber Foods
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  • 2.  RE: PdM for Servo motors

    Posted 04-24-2026 03:06 PM

    In my experience, the limiting factor is cycle time of the motors. It is tricky to capture stable vibration data for an FFT on something running for less than a minute. With infrared, short cycles do not usually allow heat to build. You might have success tracking the overalls for vibration and ultrasonics, maybe even use a system with event capture.  If I recall correctly, most of the early failure modes were detected with motor current analysis done on a period cycle.

    Something else to consider is what types of failures has your system experienced historically. Applying PdM technology from an RCA basis can really leverage your efforts.



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    Christopher Olsen
    Sr. EMR Technician
    CHA Consulting, Inc
    Fence WI
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  • 3.  RE: PdM for Servo motors

    Posted 04-27-2026 11:14 AM
    I just worked on a similar problem for a client. We went with MCE using MOTORDOC to track the servo performance. You might want to reach out to Howard Penrose for a discussion.



    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: PdM for Servo motors

    Posted 04-27-2026 10:27 AM

    I performed an RCA on an "Amsul" container loading system driven by a bidirectional hydraulic servomotor. The belt conveyor advances into the container during loading and retracts upon reaching the set fill level.

    The analysis revealed installation errors and the use of non-compliant repair parts. After corrective actions were implemented, no further issues occurred.

    Reviewing failure history can support early detection and proactive maintenance planning.

    Servomotor testing requires a dedicated test bench. Vibration analysis is challenging due to the time needed to acquire reliable frequency spectrum data.



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    Nicolae Mihai
    Pitești
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