Mechanical vibration: Where do I start, and what is the benefit?

Vibration can identify problems before other symptoms—heat, sound, electrical consumption, lubricant impurities. Over half of unplanned downtime is attributed to mechanical failures. While many things can impact the life of a machine, once the first signs of failure appear a machine generally has a matter of months before failing completely. Vibration testing provides a way to determine where the machine is on the failure curve and react appropriately.