Service detail
Shaft laser alignment.
On-site precision alignment of coupled shafts against the asset and the duty, not against a nameplate. Laser and dial-indicator readings, shim and soft-foot corrections locked in while the laser is on the machine, and a signed report that sits next to the alignment chart.
Misalignment is rarely the cause on its own — but it is the messenger. Coupling failures, premature bearing wear and 1× vibration complaints are almost always pointing at alignment before they point at the coupling.
What you get
A signed report. Not a number on a screen.
On-site, on the asset, against operating temperature. Director Les Horn scopes every engagement against the failure history before the laser comes off the truck.
When to engage
The symptom usually points at alignment first.
If the asset is reading as one of the four scenarios below, alignment is the lowest- cost verification before anything else gets pulled apart. Each one is a typical trigger we see on Bowen Basin fleets.
Coupling failures and element changes
Grid-aligned couplings burning out on schedules far tighter than the rated life are almost always a symptom of angular or parallel misalignment, not a coupling problem. The coupling is the messenger.
Premature bearing wear
Bearing housings running hot, with white-metal sheen on the raceways, are taking side-loads they were never designed for. The drive end of an induction motor is the most common offender.
Vibration complaints from production
Operators flagging 1× running-speed vibration, especially direction-sensitive, are usually seeing shaft misalignment rather than a balance problem. RPM tells the story before the data collector does.
Soft foot and baseplate drift
Frames that were grouted level have walked over time. A shim stack under one foot will pull the whole machine into parallel offset long before the coupling gives evidence.
On-site workflow
Four steps from pre-survey to signed report.
The same four-step rail on every alignment engagement — the rigour of the steps is what makes the report worth keeping, not the laser.
01
Pre-survey
We take the duty, the run hours, the RB log and the symptoms before mobilisation. The right tools — laser, dial indicator, reverse-foot jigs, soft-foot kit — go on the truck for that specific machine, not a generic kit.
02
Baseline measurement
Clockwise and counter-clockwise readings, dial indicator or laser, against the actual operating temperature of the machine. The cold alignment alone is never the final number on a coupled machine.
03
Laser correction
Shim stacks dialed in, soft-foot corrected at the baseplate, hold-down bolts re-torqued. The laser reads the position while the coupling is in the air, not after someone has bolted it up and walked away.
04
Verification report
Signed before/after report with the cold-alignment read, the thermal-growth allowance applied, the recommended re-check interval, and any soft-foot or baseplate findings that need ongoing attention.
Rotating equipment
The fleet we cover.
The bulk of laser-alignment engagements land on these six classes. Anything outside this list gets scoped the same way, against duty and failure history.
Equipment class
Induction motors and drives
Standard squirrel-cage motors on pump, fan and gearbox drives, including soft-start and VFD applications where thermal-growth allowances change between cold commissioning and operating temperature.
Equipment class
Gearbox inputs and outputs
Input couplings, intermediate shafts and output pinion alignments. Gearbox foundations have a habit of walking over time; we read the alignment before any gearbox internals get blamed.
Equipment class
Process pumps
Slurry pumps, water pumps, chemical dosing pumps and centrifugal pumps. Centrifugal pumps with short, stiff couplings are the easiest read in the fleet and the easiest one operators tolerate bad data on.
Equipment class
Industrial fans
Forced and induced-draft fans, primaryair fans and exhaust fans. Fan shafts are long, bearings run hot, and the operating temperature is rarely the same as the alignment reading room.
Equipment class
Conveyor drives
Head, tail and intermediate conveyor drives on overland and underground conveyors. Belt tension pulls the head pulley into the tail pulley over time; routine alignment is part of belt programme housekeeping.
Equipment class
Compressors and mills
Compressed-air reciprocating compressors, screw compressors, SAG and ball mills. Mill alignments are the harder reads in the fleet — baseplate condition is usually the binding constraint before the laser does.
Deliverable
Signed alignment report.
What we leave with the asset after the laser comes off. The report sits next to the alignment chart and the RB log, not in a binder somewhere.
What lands in your handover
Before, after, thermal-growth, re-check.
Signed and filed against the asset ID. Verified at operating temperature rather than alignment-shop temperature.
- Before
- Initial offset and angularity values read at operating temperature, taken clockwise and counter-clockwise.
- After
- Final corrected cold-alignment values, the shim and soft-foot record, the hold-down torque verification.
- Thermal-growth allowances
- Operating-temperature offsets applied to the machined targets on the coupling, so the cold alignment compensates for thermal expansion at full duty.
- Re-check interval
- Recommended verification cadence for this specific asset, against the duty and the surrounding fleet — usually tied to a planned maintenance window.
Questions
Common questions before the laser mobilises.
If the asset or the duty sits outside these answers, send the enquiry — we'll scope it before any kit comes off the truck.
Do you do the alignment, or just supervise?
PMA does the alignment end to end. We mobilise with the laser, the dial indicators and the soft-foot kit, take the readings, perform the corrections under the laser, and stay until the verification report is signed.
Can you align a machine while it is still warm?
Yes. The baseline read is taken at operating temperature wherever possible; the cold-alignment target we lock in is offset for thermal growth, not just whichever temperature the alignment was performed at.
What does the deliverable look like?
A signed before/after report with the cold-alignment values, the thermal-growth allowances, the recommended re-check interval, and any baseplate or soft-foot findings that need follow-up.
Book an alignment audit
Send the asset, the duty and the symptom.
Director Les Horn reviews every enquiry. Tell us which coupled machine is the problem, the duty cycle and the symptom — we'll come back with how we'd scope the alignment engagement against the surrounding fleet.