RTD Temperature Sensors can prevent complications that could otherwise lead to bearing failure. Maintaining proper temperatures, along with vibration monitoring and proper greasing, optimizes the longevity of your bearings so they reach their L10 potential.
RTDs are made of a fine copper, nickel or platinum wire wrapped around a core that is usually made of glass or ceramic, typically housed in protective probes. There are other kinds of temperature sensors, for example, thermocouples, however, RTDs have higher accuracy due to the materials used.
Preventing Bearing Failure Using RTD Temperature Sensors
Like vibration monitoring, placing your RTDs requires a process of drilling and tapping into the bearings. In this case, one sensor per bearing is sufficient. Next, you will need to create a connection for constant monitoring and alerts to warn you of trouble.
Control Room Connection
Once you have installed an RTD temperature sensor in each bearing, you’ll run a connection through the port back to the control room for constant monitoring of bearing temperature.
Setting Appropriate Alerts
To close the feedback loop, set an alarm trip point to warn you if your bearing exceeds the normal range for your particular application. To illustrate, let’s say “normal” is about 140 degrees Fahrenheit, but the grease you’re using can run up to as high as 225 degrees. You’ll want to pick a trip point somewhere in between, for example, 180 degrees. Setting the warning at this level gives you the early heads up that something’s going wrong so you can address it before it causes a painful and costly bearing failure.
Hear it from the Application Engineer
Senior Application Engineer Chet White demonstrates where to install your vibration sensors into your bearings for extended bearing life in this 1-minute video
When you’re ready to start your project, reach out and connect with one of our application engineers to discuss the details of your specification.
Related Content on Industrial Fan Applications
There are many factors to consider in every industrial fan application. We’ve seen it all. Here are related pages and posts that might be of interest as you think about your application:
- Fan Bearing Maintenance and L10 Life
- Extended Bearing Life with Vibration Monitoring
- Fan Maintenance
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