Electricity + Control November 2018

round up PLANT MAINTENANCE, TEST + MEASUREMENT

Electronic adjustable field background suppression sensor Banner Engineering’s newest addition to the popular QS18 Series product family is an elec- tronic adjustable field background suppression sensor with barrel mount. Electronic adjust- ment provides a more robust optical design by eliminating moving parts, such as lenses. The industry standard housing provides simple and consistent installation and bracket standardisa- tion. IO-Link compatible: IO-Link communication al- lows operators to remotely teach the set point and lock the potentiometer for added flexibility and ease of use. Two versions for best application perfor- mance: The sensors come in a 250 mm max- imum range model and a 120 mm maximum range model. • 250 mm is optimised for higher excess gain and long distances.

Key benefits include: Adjust background suppression limits electron- ically: The new QS18 uses a photodiode array that allows sensing ranges to be adjusted with a potentiometer or remotely via IO-Link. The array replaces traditional mechanical lenses for more robust sensing in high-vibration applications. Standard housing: The QS18 electronic ad- justable field sensor uses industry-standard bar- rel mount housing for easy installation into new or existing applications.

• 120 mm is optimised with a smaller, rectan- gular spot size for better performance on targets with many colour transitions. Applications The QS18 electronic adjustable field photoelec- tric sensor reliably detects packaging, labels, boxes, material handling applications, automo- tive applications, and more. Enquiries: BrandonTopham. Email brandon.topham@retautomation.com

Vibration pen measures three parameters

scheduled maintenance and work on predictive maintenance, many cost savings are there for the taking. To keep a check on the mechanical health of machines a sim- ple cost effective vibration pen is now available with selectable readings. This combined with manual data collection from a sim- ple Excel file can be the start of a successful predictive mainte- nance plan. The TV7126 vibration pen allows you to select the correct measurement parameter for your application. In the past the basic unit (still available) only measured the vibration velocity in mm/sec, but this new unit is switchable between veloci- ty, acceleration and displacement and is available off the shelf from R&C Instrumentation. Enquiries: R&C Instrumentation.Tel. +27 (0) 86 111 4217 or email info@randci.co.za

Vibration and temperature are the most common parameters measured on process plants to predict equipment failure or pro- cess problems. Reducing down-time and increasing machine productivity is no longer simply nice to have but essential in to- day’s industrial environment. The cost of equipment failure is tremendous; so is the loss in production due to shutdown, particularly unscheduled shut- down. It should also be remembered that equipment not running efficiently bears cost implications. On the other hand, if you can increase the time between

Electricity + Control

NOVEMBER 2018

35