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

The Balanset-1A is a portable two-channel kit for balancing rotors in their own bearings — that is, right on the machine, without removing the rotor. Two-channel means the instrument measures vibration on two bearings at the same time. The complete version costs 1975 EUR + VAT, and the OEM version without the transport case is 1735 EUR + VAT. Below we go through what's in the case, what the software does, how OEM differs from the complete kit, and how to place an order. And upfront, we'll tell you when buying the instrument isn't worth it, and a site visit is the better deal.

Updated 27 August 2026 · by AXILINE · Vila Nova de Gaia

Your own instrument or a site visit: the choice, without the sales pitch

Let's start with an uncomfortable question, because it saves you money. The instrument is a one-time purchase, but the skill of telling unbalance apart from shaft misalignment and resonance only comes with practice. If you'll only balance twice a year, by the third time your fitter will have forgotten which way the angle is measured, and the first unusual rotor will turn into a round of trial and error with the weights.

Count the cost of the task, not the cost of the case. The complete kit costs roughly as much as three to four visits under package S (550 EUR per machine up to 15 kW or 50 kg, diagnostics included). If you have a dozen rotors like that a year and they're all similar, your own instrument pays for itself quickly and takes waiting for a contractor out of the repair schedule. If it's a single but critical machine, and the cause of the vibration still isn't understood, it's more sensible to start with a visit and diagnostics rather than a purchase.

We're the engineers who design and manufacture the Balanset instruments, and we balance with them on site ourselves, so there's no point for us selling an instrument that will end up sitting in a cupboard.

• One to three balancing jobs a year on non-critical machines: a visit is cheaper, and the skill won't build up regardless.
• The cause of the vibration hasn't been established: measurement and diagnostics first, a purchase decision second. Balancing doesn't cure shaft misalignment, loose fixings or support resonance.
• You need bearing-fault detection and high-frequency diagnostics: that's a job for a vibration analyser with an acceleration channel, not a balancing instrument.
• There's no one to take this on. The instrument doesn't solve a staffing problem.

• You balance regularly, not once a year, and there's a specific person on your shift who will pick up the case.
• The rotors are similar in type: fans, induced-draft fans, pump impellers, pulleys. Saved influence coefficients (the recorded response of a specific machine to a trial weight) cut repeat jobs down to a single run.
• You're a repair organisation and need your own reports and independence from someone else's schedule.
• Downtime on the machine costs more than the instrument, and responding within the hour matters more than the price of the kit.
• You don't need field work — you need a measurement core for a balancing machine or test rig.

A sensible middle path: buy the kit and order a visit for the first machine at the same time. Your fitter carries out the first balancing job with their own hands, alongside our engineer. By the end of the day you have a balanced machine, a trained person, and a sample report. We've put a detailed breakdown of the criteria for choosing an instrument in a separate article on how to choose a balancing instrument and vibrometer.

Sources: Balanset-1A manufacturer specification

What's included in the Balanset-1A kit

The kit is built around one task: arrive, mount the sensors on the bearing housings, measure the amplitude and phase of the running-speed component on both bearings at once, and calculate the correction masses. The running-speed component is the vibration at the rotor's rotational frequency — the exact thing unbalance creates. Phase is the angle that shows where the rotor's 'heavy spot' is. There's nothing extra in the case, and everything is powered from the laptop's USB port.

• Two vibration sensors (accelerometers). One for each bearing housing. Two channels aren't just for convenience: without measuring both bearings at the same time, you won't see the couple component of unbalance (where the 'heavy spots' at the two ends of the rotor are offset in opposite directions), and you won't get reliable influence coefficients.
• Laser phase sensor (tachometer). Works off a reflective marker on the shaft. This is what extracts the 1x component from the overall vibration and sets the reference point for the weight's installation angle.
• Two-channel USB module with preamplifiers, integrators and an ADC (analog-to-digital converter). Conditions the signal from the accelerometers, integrates acceleration into vibration velocity, and digitises both channels in sync. Needs no separate power supply.
• Windows software. Guides the operator through the runs, calculates the correction, keeps an archive, and prints reports.
• Transport case. Needed where the kit is carried around the site and driven from job to job. Not included in the OEM version.

The laptop isn't included in the kit. That's a deliberate choice: you install the software on the computer you already have, and don't pay for hardware you don't need.

Sources: Balanset-1A manufacturer specification · Balanset-1A operation manual

What the software does

The hardware in instruments of this class is broadly similar; the real difference in day-to-day use comes down to the software's functions. Each one either saves you a run or removes a source of operator error.

Sources: Balanset-1A operation manual · ISO 21940-11:2016

Balanset-1A OEM: how it differs and what it's for

OEM is the same measurement chain, supplied without the transport case, for 1735 EUR + VAT. The logic is simple: if the sensors sit permanently on the machine's supports and the computer lives in a cabinet, you don't need a case and there's no reason to pay for one.

This version has two standard applications. The first: building it into your own balancing machine or test rig as the measurement core. The second: retrofitting an existing soft-bearing (above-resonance) machine whose mechanics are still sound but whose electronics are outdated or dead.

There's a physical limitation here that's worth stating honestly before you buy. Accelerometers measure the movement of the support, not the force in a rigid connection. So the machine's supports need to visibly oscillate under the action of unbalance. For a soft-bearing (above-resonance) setup that's normal. For a hard-bearing machine with force transducers, this substitution isn't suitable.

If you're retrofitting an existing machine, see our separate breakdown on retrofitting balancing machines: it covers reworking the supports, sensor mounting spots, the drive, and metrological acceptance. If you don't have a machine yet, and you have a lot of similar rotors, read the article on building a balancing rig yourself, which covers the bed, the support suspension, and checking it against a reference rotor with a known trial unbalance.

• Batch balancing of similar rotors in a workshop: saved influence coefficients bring it down to one run per rotor.
• Electric motor repair and rewinding: balancing armatures and rotors after repair, on your own rig.
• Manufacturing impellers, fan wheels and pulleys: checking residual unbalance before shipping.
• Training and laboratory rigs, where you need a proper measurement section without the transport packaging.

Sources: Balanset-1A manufacturer specification · Balanset-1A operation manual

Complete kit versus OEM: comparison table

The price difference reflects the case being left out. If you need a non-standard configuration for a specific rig, send us the parameters: we'll agree the exact scope of supply before issuing an invoice.

Sources: Balanset-1A manufacturer specification

What you need to prepare on your end

The instrument isn't self-sufficient, and it's better to know that in advance, not in a boiler room on a Friday evening. The list is short and inexpensive, but without it, the work will stall.

• A Windows laptop with a free USB port. The module is powered over USB, so no separate outlet is needed. If the mains supply is poor quality, run from the laptop's battery.
• A reflective marker on the shaft for the laser phase sensor. The reflective tape is a consumable — keep a supply on hand and cut the marker to the same length from one machine to the next.
• Sensor mountings and spots for them. A magnet needs a clean, flat surface, free of paint build-up and rust. A threaded stud mount gives a more honest signal at high frequencies, but needs a hole in the bearing housing.
• Correction weights and a way to fix them: bolts, clamps, welding. Scales with a fine enough graduation to weigh your weights.
• The place and the authority to stop the machine. Balancing means several runs, and each one is coordinated with the operator.
• Safety measures: start-up lockout, guards, protection against a weight coming loose. Check the correction mass is secure before every run-up.
• Someone who's accountable for the result. The instrument calculates the correction, but the decision — balance now, or fix the mechanics first — is made by a specialist.

Sources: Balanset-1A operation manual

Training and support

The software is designed for an operator with no specialised vibration training: it guides you through the runs and works out the solution itself. The real difficulties don't start in the interface — they start in diagnosis. A classic case: the overall vibration is three times the running-speed component, the operator dutifully fits the weights, and nothing changes, because the cause is shaft misalignment or loose fixings.

That's why we offer advisory support based on your specific measurement picture. Send us the 1x values and phase on both bearings, the spectrum, and a description of the machine, and we'll work out whether it's unbalance or something else, and what to do next.

The fastest way to get the process up and running is to combine the purchase with a visit for your first machine. Our engineer works on your equipment, your person does everything by hand, and at the end you're left with a balanced machine and a sample report to model your own on going forward.

Sources: Balanset-1A manufacturer specification

How to buy: prices, payment and VAT

1. 01

   Tell us what you're balancing

   Machine type, rotor mass and size, running speed, whether it's overhung (the impeller sits outside the bearing span) or between bearings (mounted between the supports), access to the correction planes, and how many machines like this you have. For a rig, add the support layout and the drive. From this data we'll tell you whether the Balanset-1A fits your task, or whether a site visit makes more sense.

2. 02

   We'll help you pick a version

   The complete kit in a case for fieldwork and going from machine to machine. The OEM version without the case for building into a machine or rig. If you're unsure, describe the task, and we'll suggest an option with a reason behind it, not just the pricier pick.

3. 03

   Invoice and prices

   Balanset-1A 1975 EUR + VAT, Balanset-1A OEM 1735 EUR + VAT. All prices are shown + VAT. The payment terms are fixed in the invoice. Availability, delivery times and warranty terms are confirmed when you order — we won't promise them upfront.

4. 04

   Or order through eBay

   AXILINE has a shop on eBay. This is convenient if you'd rather buy through a marketplace with its own payment and buyer-protection rules. In that case, the terms and timelines are set by how the specific order is placed.

5. 05

   First run and support

   Install the software on your laptop, connect the module over USB, and prepare the marker and the mounting spots for the sensors. If something doesn't add up on your first machine, write to us — we'll work through your measurement picture.

All prices on this page are shown + VAT. Site-visit work is priced separately, by packages based on rotor size, with a minimum invoice per visit of 500 EUR and payment of 50% in advance.

What to send and how to reach us

So the conversation is specific rather than just 'how much does the instrument cost', send us a short set of data. That's usually enough for a substantive answer the same day.

We work out of Vila Nova de Gaia near Porto and travel across all of Portugal. If you're torn between buying and booking a visit, just say so — we'll work out both options using your own numbers.

• Type of equipment, and exactly what's rotating: impeller, fan wheel, drum, pulley, armature.
• Rotor mass and running speed. If there are several speeds, give the range.
• Rotor layout: overhung or between bearings, and whether both correction planes are accessible.
• How many machines like this you have, and how often you balance them.
• What's already been measured: vibration velocity values, the spectrum, photos of the machine and the bearing housings.
• For a rig: the support layout, the drive, the range of rotors, and the required G grade.

Phone and WhatsApp: +351 931 831 229. Email: axilinegeral@gmail.com. Instagram: @axiline.pt. Address: Rua das Colectividades 76 R/C ET, 4430-625 Vila Nova de Gaia. Write to us on WhatsApp with a photo of the machine — it's the fastest way to get a specific answer.

Frequently asked questions

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