Mr. O welcomes your ideas

Most readers are familiar with our cartoon character, Mr. O, the Practical Problem Solver. He represents you, providing a function to present reader’s maintenance tips and suggestions in our magazine. Tipsters who are published receive a free Mr. O problem-solver t-shirt; we’ve given dozens of these exclusive shirts away to published tipsters over the past 22 years, since Machinery & Equipment MRO was launched.

Mr. O also presents practical tips from industry suppliers and other resources. In this issue, you’ll find regular tips on pages 9, 42 and 48.

Yet Mr. O’s section is not the only place to find practical tips within our pages. In every issue, gems are buried in various columns and feature stories. I’ve extracted a few examples from this issue, just to give you an idea of the kind of problem-solving information you can find in every single issue.

* A belt or belt set’s life expectancy should be about 25,000 hours and sheaves should be measured and considered for replacement after five sets of belts have been used (page 33).

* The installation of variable-speed drives for electric motor operation is an example of the cause of resonance problems in machines that were trouble-free prior to conversion (page 33).

* When using infrared thermography for condition monitoring, mechanical equipment should be inspected when it has warmed up and is running a normal load (page 25).

* With ultrasonic detectors, beware of the crafty marketing use of the word ‘digital’. To use a digital display is one thing; to process data to a digital format is completely something else (page 30).

* When changing belts, always replace the entire set and never use belt dressing to correct a slipping belt problem (page 33).

* If an ultrasound detection instrument is to be used to test both airborne and structure-borne emissions, frequency tuning can help make subtle sounds more apparent (page 28)

* The upfront costs of a wireless condition monitoring system are higher than for a handheld device but less than that for a wired continuous-monitoring system (page 32).

* Resonance is one of the most common problems associated with today’s industrial machinery (page 33).

* On V-belt drives, under no circumstances should you ever use belt dressings, as they can cause premature belt deterioration (page 22).

These are just a few ideas gleamed from this issue. As you read the articles, you’re sure to find nuggets that are especially important to you in your particular job.

Remember, if you have your own ideas, tips and suggestions — anything that has helped you in your work — let us know and Mr. O will share your knowledge with other readers. Yours is a profession where constant learning and new information are part of everyday life. Something you’ve known about or done for years may be a new concept to another, so I hope you’ll take the time to let others benefit from your personal expertise.