Dynamic Balancing Made Easy: Wireless Precision Through Closed Doors

Country: United States
Industry: HVAC / Facilities Management

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A facility management team in the United States needed to perform dynamic balancing on fans inside an Air Handling Unit (AHU). However, the fans were operating without protective guards, meaning technicians would normally need to remain inside the unit while it was running. By using Acoem Wireless Ecosystem, the team was able to perform both vibration diagnostics, and dynamic balancing, placing the sensors on the machine while operating the system from the other side of the closed door. This wireless setup allowed the operator to work at a safe distance from rotating equipment, improving safety while maintaining accurate and reliable balancing measurements.

The Challenge

The customer needed to balance fans inside an AHU under constrained conditions. Traditionally, this task would require technicians to run multiple cables and stay inside the unit while the equipment was operating. Several challenges arose from this situation:

Safety risks: the fans had no protective guards, exposing operators to rotating equipment.
Confined space: working inside the unit made the balancing process more complex.
Cumbersome wiring: running multiple cables added setup time and created obstacles.
Diagnostic validation: Before diving into a balancing process, involving multiple start/stops of the machine, confirming that the root cause issue was indeed balancing was key in this process.

The customer needed a solution that would allow them to perform diagnostic and balancing safely and efficiently without compromising measurement accuracy.

The Solution

To address these constraints, the customer used Acoem’s wireless sensors to both confirm the diagnostic and balance the asset. This setup enabled technicians to:

Install sensors directly on the machine

Take measurements while the door remained closed both for vibration diagnostics powered by Acoem’s Accurex AI, and for dynamic balancing.

Operate the tablet and perform balancing adjustments from outside the unit

The wireless communication remained reliable even through the AHU enclosure, ensuring accurate data transmission and precise balancing calculations. By eliminating the need for long cables and allowing remote operation, the solution made the entire process safer and easier to perform.

The Results

Using the wireless setup, the customer successfully performed dynamic balancing without needing to remain inside the unit during operation. Key results included:

Improved operator safety, as technicians could stay away from rotating equipment
Easy diagnostic confirmation, taking vibration data wirelessly
Simplified Balancing setup, thanks to wireless sensors and reduced cabling
Faster operations, with fewer physical constraints
Accurate and reliable measurements, enabling confident adjustments

The vibration diagnostics made before / after, as well as motion amplification videos and balancing reports confirmed the effectiveness of the adjustments.

The Impact

This solution significantly improved the customer’s maintenance workflow. By enabling diagnostics and balancing operations from the other side of the door, the system reduced operator exposure to risk while maintaining high measurement accuracy. In the long term, the customer benefits from:

Safer maintenance procedures

Improved operational efficiency

More reliable preventive maintenance

This project also highlighted Acoem’s expertise in wireless condition monitoring and dynamic balancing, demonstrating how innovative combined and innovative tools coming from Acoem Wireless Ecosystem, can help maintenance teams work safer, faster, and more efficiently in real-world field conditions.