Balanset-1A instruments: the kit, the OEM version, and how to order

Measurement

Running speed, amplitude and phase of vibration velocity. The software shows both the overall vibration and the 1x component separately. This is the first diagnostic question on site: if the overall level is several times higher than 1x, unbalance isn't what's driving most of the vibration, and it's too early to balance.

Balancing in 1 and 2 planes

The correction plane is the cross-section of the rotor where weight is added or removed. The influence-coefficient method: an initial run, a trial weight, a calculation, a check run. For two planes there are two trial runs. The instrument checks on its own whether the trial weight was well chosen — that is, whether the response changed enough for the calculation to be reliable.

Spectrum and time waveform

The FFT spectrum and the time waveform let you see what's happening besides the running-speed component: harmonics, blade-pass frequency, and outside sources. That's enough for a quick check before balancing.

Weights where you can actually fit them

Fixed-position mode outputs not an abstract angle but blade or hole numbers, with the mass split across the two nearest positions. There's a drilling-correction calculation for when metal is removed rather than added. No protractor, and no errors in which way the angle is measured.

Repeat jobs

Saved influence coefficients remove the trial runs on the next balancing job for the same machine. Trim balancing calculates a small top-up weight to add to what's already fitted, instead of redoing the job. Index balancing cancels out arbor eccentricity (runout) for rotors balanced on an arbor rather than on their own shaft journals.

Tolerances and recalculation

Calculates the permissible residual unbalance under the G grades, with the caveat that the applicable part and edition of ISO 21940-11 should be checked. Recalculates the computed masses for other correction planes from entered distances and radii, for when you physically can't reach the plane you need.

Polar plot

A vector picture instead of a column of numbers. You can see straight away where the vector moved after the trial weight, and whether the process is converging. One glance at the plot often catches an error in the angle direction.

Archive, reports, manual entry

Every job gets its own folder with a run log, charts and a report file. Manual entry of amplitudes and phases lets you recalculate the correction from data taken by another method.

Balanset-1A OEM: Measuring System for a Balancing Machine

Balanset-1A OEM costs 1735 EUR + VAT and differs from the full kit at 1975 EUR + VAT only in not including the case. The electronics, sensors, and software are the same: two accelerometers, a laser phase sensor, a two-channel USB module, and Windows software. The standard use case is as the measuring system of a soft-bearing (above-resonance) balancing machine — whether commercially built, home-built, or being retrofitted.

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On-site rotor balancing, in the machine's own bearing housings

On-site balancing means the rotor stays in the machine. We fit two accelerometers (vibration sensors) on the bearing housings, aim a laser phase sensor at a reflective marker, take the initial vibration reading, run one or two trials with a weight of known mass, calculate the correction mass and angle, fit the weights and measure again. You get a report with the figures before and after. A typical visit takes a working day; vibration diagnostics with a report costs 300 EUR per unit, balancing adds from 250 EUR, and the minimum invoice per visit is 500 EUR.

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Articles on balancing and vibration

Written by the people who do the work on site: how to measure, how to read the numbers, when balancing fixes it and when the problem is something else.

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