Yup, I met Ray Garvey from CSI years ago. I know little about the finer end of this work. Vibration analysis is a great tool when the right training occurs and folks know what they are looking at and have good equipment and data.

You sound like you some experience I may be looking for down the line. let me know if you ever get discouraged at what you do.

Use Swepco.

CSI as in "Cutting Systems, Inc."?

LOL been at it for 25 years, discouraged daily but never given up. When I started we still used 1 channel osciliscopes with primitive accelerometers and reel to reel tape analog data storage or pen and scroll printers. The instruments nowadays have made it so much easier (and more expensive).
I just sumitted a requitition for 3 new CSI data collectors with full software licencing and support. $70k up front and $1k per month from then on for the support. What a racket.

Walter Nutt is my local rep for CSI (San Diego) but their headquarters in is Knoxville. Been there once, gonna try to get there again next spring for the level 2 certification test.
I guess they are part of Emerson now, just like IRD is owned by Rockwell now.
All the good small tech companies eventually get gobbled up and smothered until the really smart guys turn into mind-numbing robots.

CSI is Computational systems incorporated, now part of emerson. Started by a bunch of PHDs who had all the cool slide rules and pocket protectors and masking tape on the black-framed glasses. These guys made revenge of the nerd look like a bunch of jocks. Very, very smart guys maybe some of the smartest around. I've read some of their early papers and books, makes me feel very inadequate.

They decided they could tell what was going on on a machine (or anything else) by analyzing the noise it made. Noise turned into vibration, the techniques and equipment because more refined and specialized, and the original genious's are either retired or pushed out by computers. The government benefitted the most through the military and NASA. It is primarily because of these few men that they can now make a submarine run so quietly that it can pass undedected by even the most sensitive instruments.

IRD was bought up by entek and then rockwell automation, can't remember what IRD stood for. I'd be surprised if anyone still remembers.

I have worked with a guy that studied under Ray for 10+ years - he is now independent. These guys can look at a graph and tell you more about what is going on in the bearing house than anyone can imagine.

They read those charts like a cardio doc reads an EKG and I guess in many respects it is not that for off. In the next year or so I am going to assemble anithor team that services industry using this and a few other technques.

Very interesting Sammy, I've had an idea for my industry that requires the monitoring of harmonics/vibrations as the input stimuli for a specific cutting process for a couple years now. Atleast now I know who to see.

This where I would start. http://www.compsys.com/
Wild stuff, but like I said it aint cheap.

You can buy a unit and data base for 30 large. That also includes training. Often I thought that going independent and charging 2 large per visit (the going rate) could become a pretty cool business.

Maybe I don't need that, but 30k isn't the end of the world. I just need something to chart the harmonics so I can identify the sweet spot. From there I can automate a self regulating model.