Balancing Without Phase

Often by necessity, sometimes by preference, it may become necessary to

balance a rotating machine or part under conditions where a phase
measurement is either impossible or unavailable. In this situation, a four-run
method can be used to arrive at an amount and position for a corrective
weight.

To perform a four-run balancing procedure, one only needs a means to

measure vibration amplitude and use polar graph paper.

1. With the machine in operation, locate and measure the point of highest
vibration on a bearing. Either attach the pickup to this position or accurately
mark its location so subsequent measurements may be taken from exactly the
same place.

2. Measure and record the vibration amplitude.

3. Place a trial weight at some location on the rotor, restart the machine, and
record vibration amplitude-T.

4. Stop the machine; rotate the trial weight 90 degrees to 120 degrees as
most convenient at a constant radius, restart the machine, and record
vibration amplitude-T2.

5. Stop the machine; rotate the trial weight another 90 degrees to 120 degrees
in the same direction at the same radius, restart the machine, and record
vibration amplitude-T .
3

6. From the foregoing data, the location and the amount of a corrective weight
maybe determined as will be illustrated below:

Original unbalance (O) = 10 mils; Trial weight, TW = 50 g

First trial, T, = 7.0 mils @ 0 degrees
Second trial, T2 = 12.0 mils @ 120 degrees
Third trial, T3 = 18.0 mils @ 240 degrees
Note: The angles refer to the trial weight positions on the rotor relative to an
arbitrary zero.

1. On the polar graph paper, draw a circle with a radius of 10 mils. On the
circumference of the circle, mark the trial weight positions. (for this example:
0, 120, and 240 degrees.)

2. Using the points marked on the circumference of the first circle as centers,
draw arcs with radii equal to the amplitude measured with the trial weight at
the location.

3. Draw a line from the origin of the original circle to the intersection of the
three trial-weight circle; this is the angular position of the corrective weight
relative to the trial weight positions (42 degrees in this example).

4. Measure the length of the line drawn in step 3, (F) (8.5 in this example).
The correct weight addition may now be calculated from the formula: TW x
(O)/(F) = 50 x 10/8.5 = 59.0 g.

Tip provided by Dennis Shreve, CMRP, Commtest, Inc.