Balancing Equipment

A balancing machine is a specialised piece of equipment used to balance rotating parts such as propellers, pumps, machined parts and even electric motors. There are mainly two types of balancing machines, hard bearing and soft bearing, both having their own particular applications. Basically the machine is separated into two parts, both being of rigid construction, the top part housing bearings and suspension with a mounting platform. The part to be tested is secured or bolted to the platform and rotated under power either by electric or air. It is during this rotation that vibration occurs and is monitored by the sensors and that information is relayed on to determine the amount the part or component is out of balance. The machine can then determine how much weight to add or remove and where to locate it. A hard bearing machine is thought however to be more versatile because it can cope with larger and heavier parts, whereas the soft bearing machine is less versatile, taking longer to set, but is more suited to precision balancing tasks and is favourable in a production environment.