Machinery Reliability & Condition Monitoring Masterclass

Vibration spectra & fault frequencies, RCM & bad actor elimination, oil analysis, alignment & API 670 protection
What you'll learn

---

Read a vibration spectrum and identify unbalance, misalignment, looseness and bearing faults from the signature
Diagnose a machine failure from the failed component - bearing, seal, shaft and rotor evidence
Calculate and apply bearing fault frequencies, gear mesh and vane pass frequencies
Apply ISO 10816 and 20816 evaluation zones, and set alarms from statistical data rather than by default
Build a condition monitoring programme - criticality, route design, measurement points and cadence
Interpret oil analysis results and wear debris, and integrate them with vibration evidence
Apply RCM logic to select maintenance tasks and eliminate bad actors
Specify machinery protection to API 670, including trip philosophy, voting and bypass management
Witness and interpret mechanical running and performance tests, and capture the baseline data
Read a rotordynamic report - critical speeds, separation margin and torsional analysis
Use phase analysis and orbit plots to distinguish faults that look identical in the spectrum
Build a defensible diagnosis and recommend action with an urgency the evidence supports
Requirements

---

No prior condition monitoring or vibration experience is required - the fundamentals are built from first principles
Any engineering, maintenance or technical background is enough to follow the programme
Comfortable with basic arithmetic - the fault frequency calculations are worked step by step
No analyser, data collector or software needed to follow the course, though access to one is useful for practice
Helpful but not essential: familiarity with pumps, compressors or other rotating machinery
Suitable for both engineers and technicians; the programme deliberately serves both
Description

---

A pump fails. It gets replaced. Four months later the replacement fails the same way.
That sequence happens on every plant, constantly, and it happens because nobody established why the first one failed. The bearing was changed, the seal was changed, the machine was returned to service, and the condition that destroyed it was left exactly as it was.
This masterclass is about breaking that cycle - detecting degradation before failure, diagnosing it correctly when it happens, and eliminating the cause rather than the symptom.
THE DISTINCTION THAT MATTERS
There is a companion masterclass covering pumps, compressors and turbines from a specification standpoint - how to select them, size them and buy them. This is the other half of the discipline. It assumes the machine exists and asks how you keep it running.
Different question, different job title, different day. The engineer who specifies machinery and the engineer who owns its reliability are rarely the same person, and the second one is far less well served by available training.
WHAT IS INSIDE - TEN COMPLETE MODULES
Vibration Analysis & Condition Monitoring. Transducer selection and mounting, the frequency spectrum and what resolution buys you, unbalance, misalignment, looseness and bearing fault signatures, gear mesh and vane pass frequencies, electrical fault signatures, ISO 10816 and 20816 evaluation zones, alarm setting from statistical data, phase analysis and orbit plots, and the diagnosis that survives challenge.
Rotating Equipment Reliability & Maintenance. Reliability metrics that mean something, bad actor identification and elimination, maintenance strategy selection by criticality, spares and inventory decisions, planned versus reactive work and the cost of each, and building a reliability programme that survives its first year.
Rotating Equipment Failure Analysis. Bearing failure modes and their appearance, seal failure diagnosis from the failed component, shaft fatigue and fracture surfaces, impeller and rotor damage, lubrication-related failures, and the sequence from failed part to root cause to corrective action.
Lubrication Systems & Oil Analysis (API 614). Lubricant selection and its properties, lube oil console design and redundancy, contamination control and filtration, oil analysis parameters and what each indicates, wear debris analysis, and condition-based lubrication practice.
Machinery Protection Systems (API 670). Vibration and axial position monitoring, probe types and installation Requirements

---

, alarm and trip settings and their basis, temperature monitoring, voting and trip philosophy, and the testing and bypass management that keeps a protection system trustworthy.
Machinery Commissioning, Testing & Acceptance. Mechanical running tests and their acceptance criteria, performance testing to the relevant API and ASME codes, string testing, what to witness and what to accept on certificate, site acceptance, and the baseline data that every future diagnosis depends on.
Machinery Specification, Datasheets & Vendor Evaluation. The API datasheet process, technical bid evaluation and normalisation, lifecycle cost comparison, vendor document review, and how a machinery package is actually bought.
Rotordynamics & Machinery Analysis (API 684). Critical speeds and the campbell diagram, lateral analysis and separation margin, damping and stability, torsional analysis for the train, and what a rotordynamic report should actually tell you.
Positive Displacement Pumps. Reciprocating, metering and rotary pumps, pulsation and its control, valve and packing maintenance, capacity control methods, and the failure modes distinct from centrifugal machines.
Failure Analysis & Root Cause. The general investigation discipline - fractography basics, evidence preservation, the investigation process, and reaching a conclusion the evidence actually supports.
DIAGNOSIS RUNS THROUGH ALL OF IT
Every module is written from the position of an engineer with a machine that is behaving badly. The spectrum, the oil sample, the failed bearing, the trip record and the commissioning baseline are all evidence, and the skill being taught is reading them together.
That emphasis is deliberate. Across the catalogue, courses about what goes wrong consistently outperform courses about what gets specified, and reliability engineering is entirely about what goes wrong.
CMRP ADJACENCY
The programme covers subject matter within the SMRP Certified Maintenance and Reliability Professional body of knowledge, particularly the equipment reliability and manufacturing process reliability pillars.
TWO FULL MOCK EXAMINATIONS
Timed, scored and retakeable, covering vibration and diagnostics, reliability and maintenance strategy, and protection, testing and lubrication.
WHO THIS IS FOR
Reliability engineers who own machinery performance and bad actor programmes. Condition monitoring analysts and technicians building or running a monitoring route. Maintenance engineers and supervisors deciding what to do about repeat failures. Rotating equipment engineers extending from specification into reliability. Operations engineers who see the alarms and need to interpret them. And anyone preparing for CMRP or a vibration analyst certification.
WHAT YOU GET
Around 30 hours of structured video across 200 lessons and 50 sections, two full mock examinations, all presentations downloadable, lifetime access on mobile and TV and a certificate of completion.
No prior condition monitoring experience is required - vibration fundamentals are built from first principles. No analyser or software needed to follow the course.
STILL GROWING
This masterclass is actively extended. New modules are added at no extra cost to everyone already enrolled.
Built by a practising Chartered Engineer (CEng MIMechE) with over fifteen years delivering safety-critical projects across oil, gas and energy infrastructure.
Enrol now and stop replacing the same component twice a year.
Who this course is for

---

Reliability engineers who own machinery performance, MTBF and bad actor elimination
Condition monitoring analysts and technicians building or running a monitoring programme
Maintenance engineers and supervisors dealing with repeat failures and repair-versus-replace decisions
Rotating equipment engineers extending from specification into reliability and diagnosis
Operations engineers who receive machinery alarms and need to interpret them credibly
Machinery protection and controls engineers working to API 670
Candidates preparing for SMRP CMRP or a vibration analyst certification
Graduate and early-career engineers entering maintenance or reliability roles
Homepage

---