Rion instruments are ideal if you are looking to collect data for condition monitoring but want to analyse and manage the data yourself rather than buying into a full condition monitoring package. At the most basic end of the scale, maintenance staff could be supplied with Rion’s simplest instruments which could be applied to specified measurement points on machinery and records kept of the weekly/monthly/quarterly levels recorded as a basic means of detecting changes and scheduling preventitative maintenance.
Condition monitoring becomes more powerful, however, when the frequency content of vibration is taken into account. Over time, the relationship between changes in vibration levels at different frequencies and failure or wear of specific components can become the basis of identifying the need for repairs and/or maintenance which can then be scheduled such that it minimises down-time and/or loss of production. A key element of this is comparison of the frequency content (or spectrum) of the measurement made on any given day against a reference spectrum (the frequency content measured at a time that the machinery was known to be 'healthy').
The VM-63A is a basic instrument which could be carried at all times in an engineer's pocket to quickly check vibration levels at measurement points either as part of a scheduled check or to investigate suspected unusual levels of vibration.
The VM-82 offers a greater degree of sophistication, accuracy and flexibility but is also an intuitive tool for measuring overall levels of machinery vibration. The separate sensor on an extendable practical curly cable enables measurements where it is unsafe or impractical for hold the sensor against the machinery part. The VM-82 is still small enough to fit in an overall or lab-coat pocket and its superb backlit display provides means you can get the answers there and then even in the less-than-ideal lighting conditions which often prevail where machinery measurements have to be made.
It is the VA-12, however, which is the most suitable Rion instrument to use for data collection for condition monitoring. The VA-12 can be used to measure a spectrum (in term of acceleration, velocity or displacement - whichever is best suited to the application or measurement position). It is very easy to transfer the data to a computer for analysis (it's stored as a comma delimited text file on an SD card so it can be opened directly into Excel via a card reader or via the instrument's USB interface). However, comparison to the reference spectrum is also possible within the VA-12 because you can simultaneously view a spectrum that you have just measured and a previously stored spectrum. The VA-12 therefore enables to see any significant deviations from the reference spectrum immediately after the measurement without having to download and analyse the data on a computer.
If you want to use a portable data collector to collect data from multiple positions simultaneously you may wish to consider the 4 channel DA-20 or the 8 channel DA-40.
If you want to collect data continuously on a computer, the UV-22 Interface Unit can be used to transmit data from up to sixteen UV-15 charge amplifiers via LAN or USB. This system has the advantage that you can get the charge amplifiers very close to the sensor and use network cables to get the charge amplifier output to the host computer via the UV-22 Interface Unit.