Condition Monitoring

As an enhancement to the Street CraneXpress service package our engineers can implement the latest condition monitoring and diagnostic techniques to build up a detailed picture of the health of your lifting equipment. This early diagnosis of potential component failures can prevent the majority of future breakdowns; a particularly valuable service on high duty cranes where any downtime can be significantly costly.

Through collaboration with Interface Condition Monitoring, various investigative methods are used to compile trend data unique to each crane. This data is then cross referenced against British Standards and historical or manufacturer data to assess the condition of critical components and establish if early intervention is necessary to prevent failure.

These techniques are able to quickly identify faults that would otherwise be impossible to detect with the human eye, but which could take the crane out of action for an entire day.

• Vibration monitoring evaluates the condition of rotating machinery. Wear or defects in a bearing surface can be identified through the unique vibration signature that is produced during operation.
   
• Acoustic monitoring is used for the inspection of partially rotating elements. A highly sophisticated listening device can identify any abnormal acoustic signatures such as clicks, creaks or unusual grinding noise, all of which can point to wear and tear.
   
• Thermal imaging can be used to identify areas of excessive friction or electrical resistance, through the heat that these faults will generate. Entire control panels which house dozens of connections,  or the alignment and condition of long travel wheel bearings can be surveyed in seconds, with defective parts being identified immediately, saving a great deal of time compared to conventional fault-finding techniques.

• Oil sampling and analysis can prevent excessive gear tooth wear and ultimately catastrophic component failure on gearboxes that are left to run – generally because inspection is invasive and time-consuming. A small sample of oil is taken and sent for analysis with the quantities of different elements held in the sample indicating where wear is occurring.