QM30VT3: Mounting Best Practices

This is a brief how to video that will cover some of the best practices for mounting the QM30VT3 vibration sensor from Banner Engineering.

The QM30VT3 provides three-axis vibration monitoring for a variety of mechanical assets, allowing you to diagnose potential issues before they result in costly downtime.

The third axis provides more mounting flexibility over two-access sensors, as it can be mounted in a wider variety of orientations.

When installing the sensor, it is important to ensure that one of the three axes is inline with the asset’s shaft.

The remaining two axes must therefore be oriented horizontally and vertically with respect to the shaft axis.

Regardless of the chosen orientation, if you are installing multiple sensors, the best practice is to ensure that the orientation of all sensors is the same.

This will ensure that all of the registers in each device pertain to the same scalar values.

While the cable does not need to be routed in any specific manner, it's important to properly secure it so that it's not pulling on the sensor itself, to avoid affecting the vibration measurements.

Banner provides multiple mounting options to best suit your application, and you can view all of these options in the manual.

Regardless of which mounting method you choose, there are a few things to keep in mind when installing the VT3.

First, you will need to select a location that will maximize the contact area between the sensor and the asset, with little to no open space between them.

It's important to minimize air gaps to avoid false readings or resonance.

If you have a curved surface, this may require an epoxy mounted bracket for curved surfaces, or using a curved magnetic bracket, depending on the asset’s housing characteristics.

You must also ensure that the sensor is not installed on any non-cast materials such as guards, covers, or thin metals to ensure that the sensor is adequately monitoring the internal mechanisms, and not the vibrations of the housing themselves.

That covers the basics of the mounting best practices for the QM30VT3.

For more information, visit bannerengineering.com.