The Bently Nevada Company is still the gold standard for industrial vibration monitoring, even after more than 50 years in the business. With over 50 years experience, Our Company continues to be the gold standard in industrial vibration monitoring.
Bently Nevada name is one of the most respected in the industrial automation industry. Their machinery protection and condition monitoring systems have proven to be the foundation of reliable operations across power plants, oil refineries, gas processing facilities and heavy manufacturing floors. If you operate a gas turbine, centrifugal compressor, or large rotating machine of any kind, there is a good chance that Bently Nevada equipment is already part of your critical infrastructure — and for good reason!
Every day we deal with maintenance engineers, plant managers, and procurement personnel who are depending on the availability of real spare parts to keep these systems running at optimum levels. At Evaflux, we encounter maintenance workers, plant managers, and procurement experts each day who depend on the availability of true spare parts for peak system performance. This blog aims to provide you with a solid, easy-to-understand understanding of the importance of this type of monitoring technology, the product landscape, and how to make informed sourcing decisions that will keep your assets and operations secure.
The Foundation: Why Is Vibration Monitoring So Important?
All rotating machines are a source of vibration. There is a natural amount of vibration that is perfectly acceptable — it’s simply mechanical vibration. However, when vibration levels change, when they increase at unusual vibration frequencies, and/or when they increase over time, then the change is nearly always an early warning sign of mechanical issues. All imbalances, misalignment, bearing wear, shaft cracking, and blade erosion leave unique vibration patterns in place before they lead to a catastrophic failure.
The problem of detecting those signatures in real time, reliably, on multiple machines, all at once, has always been the challenge for plant operators. The manual is too slow, too infrequent. Simple threshold alarms detect issues after it’s too late. What industrial operators really want is a system of continuous, intelligent monitoring that can take an eye on the complete vibrational profile of each machine, compare it to known baselines and give the engineers a heads-up when something starts to get out of whack.
Which is exactly what the Bently Nevada company was designed to overcome – hence the reason their systems have become so entrenched in critical industrial infrastructure worldwide.
Understanding the Core Product Lines
Evaflux carries parts from 2 of the most popular family of systems offered by Bently Nevada: the 3300 Series and the 3500 Series. Knowing how they operate will assist maintenance crews in deciding on upgrades, replacement and spare parts inventories.
The 3300 Series
With its excellent durability and capacity, the 3300 Series is one of the most durable and long-lived monitoring platforms ever. The systems were first installed decades ago, and many are still operating in thousands of facilities across the world. They are tough, which is a sign of the engineering that has gone into their construction, but that’s also making it more difficult to find original parts. Replacing a whole monitoring infrastructure is costly and disruptive, many plants have continued running 3300 Series systems, but still they are very reliable.
It is this widespread installed base which makes the ability to carry stock of genuine 3300 Series modules, transducers and connecting components so important to Evaflux. In a 3300 Series hardware environment there is no choice but to have a reliable parts source, as it is a maintenance requirement.
The 3500 Series
The current flagship platform is the 3500 Series, which provides modular rack-based architecture and enables each facility to design monitoring solutions to fit the type of machines and operations they are monitoring. Monitor modules for proximity probes, velocity sensors, accelerometers, dynamic pressure measurement and beyond can all fit on a single rack.
The distinguishing feature of the 3500 Series is its ability to be integrated. These systems can communicate without gaps with DCS platforms, SCADA systems, and historian software, providing condition data for the wider plant intelligence systems. The 3500 Series is a logical building block for facilities looking to adopt a predictive maintenance approach or Industry 4.0 roadmap.
Why Genuine Parts Are Non-Negotiable
This is particularly true for industrial safety monitoring, where the integrity of each part of the signal chain is essential. Each element needs to operate to specification from the machine’s transducer to the monitor module in the rack to the software interpreting the data. A poor proximitor, false signal conditioner, or out-of-tolerance power supply can result in errors which may obscure true issues or lead to false alarms — either situation has significant operational and financial implications.
As legacy systems age and original manufacturer supply channels become less accessible, there has been an increasing number of infiltrations into the market for industrial spare parts by counterfeit and non-OEM parts. Often the performance characteristics of these imitation parts are not what is specified and only could be found out with proper testing.
Evaflux maintains direct traceability of all our products. There’s no skirting the truth because your customers can’t afford to skimp on accuracy with their monitoring systems. During a full load run when a bearing is at the point of failure the accuracy of the vibration data is what makes the difference between a controlled shutdown and an uncontrolled catastrophic event.
Understanding the Sourcing Process: What Plant Managers Need to Know
When it comes to the use of condition monitoring systems, thinking beyond the repair is the key to efficient spare parts management. In order to help the facility managers and maintenance leads we work with, here are some of the practices that Evaflux recommends:
Keep a Strategic Spare Inventory
If you cannot afford to have your machine unexpectedly down for a critical monitor module, proximitor or transducer, it’s wise to have at least one spare on hand. Lead times from primary channels may be quite lengthy, particularly for the older product lines.
Maintain Accurate Documentation
With the specific model numbers, firmware versions, and configuration settings of all of your modules, procurement is quicker and you can be assured that the correct replacement will be ordered. This documentation also provides speedy aid during troubleshooting in case of any issues.
Work with Technically Knowledgeable Suppliers
A supplier that ships a part number is not the same as a supplier who knows what the part is, what it is compatible with, and what to look out for when installing the part. The team at Evaflux has experienced engineers who can assist you to ensure the part you are shipping is appropriate for your particular application, you can count on their hands-on knowledge of industrial automation.
Plan for Product Lifecycle Management
Older series are nearing end-of-manufacture, making it increasingly difficult to find real NOS parts. Those facilities that predict their future component requirements and order in advance are much better prepared than those that wait for a failure to come in before ordering parts.
How Evaflux Is Helping You Monitor Your Infrastructure
Evaflux was created with one simple idea in mind – industrial companies shouldn’t have to sacrifice the speed of delivery for the authenticity of the parts they require. The implications of having either of those incorrect are far too serious.
We carry every facet of Bently Nevada products, which includes rack frames, power supplies, individual monitor modules, interconnect cables, signal conditioners, and more. Shipments are available worldwide and are shipped in a manner that would be suitable for industrial components. Each order is checked before dispatch, and our technical support covers installation instructions and documentation support.
In addition to the Bently Nevada company product line, Evaflux carries a wide variety of components for GE Speedtronic and GE Excitation systems, Siemens PLCs, Rockwell Allen Bradley, Honeywell, ABB, Triconex, ICS Triplex and many other industrial automation and control systems platforms. From a single integrated DCS to a complex multi-vendor control system, Evaflux can provide a one-stop solution for your spare parts requirements.
Predictive Maintenance and Plant Reliability: The Bigger Picture
A significant transition in the industrial world is underway from time-based maintenance to condition-based and predictive maintenance. Past-thinking facilities schedule components for replacement, whereas proactive facilities only replace components when and where they are needed based on real-time condition data. This has a positive effect on unnecessary downtime, extends asset lifetime, and concentrates maintenance efforts on value-adding areas.
At the heart of this change is the vibration monitoring system. When properly analyzed, the information they generate can alert you months ahead of time that a particular bearing on a particular machine is on the verge of failure. That knowledge is transformative both operationally and economically only when the monitoring hardware is working properly – and producing accurate data.
This is why sourcing decisions that plant managers make are not merely procurement decisions. These are reliability decisions. They decide if the condition monitoring that the facility has invested in provides precise intelligence or if it is a false sense of security.
Conclusion
For decades, the Bently Nevada company has built its reputation on its engineering excellence and extensive application knowledge in rotating machinery protection. They safeguard some of the world’s most important industrial assets — and the integrity of the systems relies entirely on the integrity of the individual components in them.
When those components require replacement, Evaflux will be the supplier a facility can count on to deliver reliable parts, knowledge, timely delivery and customer service that is more than just a transaction, it’s a reliability decision.
For more information on our complete Bently Nevada components and other industrial automation spare parts, visit Evaflux.com or contact our technical team directly. We are on a 24/7 service to keep your operations running.
