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newSchoolWorks.com › VoTechWorks › Manufacturing & Marine › Industrial Maintenance › Capstone Project: Integrated Industrial Maintenance System Build › Lesson 2
MFG-INDU16-08 · Lesson 2 · 72 clock hours · lab

System Assembly and Alignment

Objective. The student will assemble the complete capstone system—mounting bearings, coupling or drive components, pump, motor, and PLC panel wiring—achieving shaft alignment within the equipment manufacturer's tolerance and confirming correct electrical connections before any energization.

⚠ Pending professional review

This lesson, its worked examples and its practice questions has not yet been verified by a licensed engineer or certified journey-level tradesperson or by a certification or approval body. It is a study draft and may contain errors. Do not use it as instructions for work on a job site or on live equipment. Always follow your instructor, your supervising professional, and current official references and regulations.

VoTechWorks program approval and accreditation are still in progress. Credentials are issued only by the certifying bodies named in each program, after their own exams.

System Assembly and Alignment

Overview

This lab brings together every skill you have built over the past year. You will mount bearings, install a mechanical drive, connect a motor and pump, and wire a PLC control panel—then verify alignment and electrical integrity before a single circuit is energized. Work methodically and in order: mechanical assembly first, then electrical, then verification. Never skip a step to save time.

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Lockout/Tagout Before You Touch Anything

Before any mechanical or electrical work begins, apply your facility's lockout/tagout (LOTO) procedure. De-energize the circuit at the disconnect, apply your personal lock and tag, verify zero energy with a multimeter or test lamp, and release any stored energy (pressure, spring tension, gravity). LOTO is a hard pass/fail gate—no credit for the lab if this step is skipped or incomplete. Wear safety glasses and leather work gloves throughout mechanical assembly. When later verifying a live circuit, switch to CAT III-rated insulating gloves.

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Bearing Installation

Anti-friction bearings (ball or roller) are precision components. The single most common cause of premature bearing failure is improper installation—specifically, driving force through the rolling elements instead of the ring being pressed.

Rule: Force is always applied to the ring that is being fitted. Use a bearing installation tool (sleeve or driver set) sized to contact only the inner ring when pressing onto a shaft, or only the outer ring when pressing into a housing. Never strike a bearing race directly with a hammer. Direct impact dents the raceway, and a dented raceway will fail within hours under load.

Installation sequence:

1. Clean the shaft journal and housing bore; inspect for burrs.

2. Select the correct driver sleeve—it must seat fully on the ring face.

3. Press or drive the bearing squarely until it seats against the shoulder. A sharp metallic click or a change in resistance indicates seating.

4. Torque housing bolts to the manufacturer's specification with a calibrated torque wrench. Confirm the wrench's calibration date on the tag before use.

5. Pack the housing with the correct grease type and quantity per the lubrication schedule you drafted in Lesson 1, or confirm a pre-lubricated sealed bearing is undamaged. Too much grease causes heat buildup; too little causes wear.

6. Call the instructor to witness before installing the shaft.

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Mechanical Drive Installation and Alignment

Your station is assigned either a V-belt drive or a roller-chain drive. The steps differ slightly, but the principles are the same: the driver and driven elements must be co-planar and co-aligned, and the drive element must be at the correct tension.

Sheave/Sprocket Alignment

Lay a straightedge across the faces of both sheaves (or sprockets). The straightedge must contact all four corners—two on each sheave—without rocking or showing a gap. A gap at one corner reveals angular or parallel offset. Adjust the motor position on its base until the straightedge sits flat.

Belt Tension (V-belt)

Use the deflection method or a belt tension gauge per the drive manufacturer's data sheet. For the deflection method, apply a perpendicular force at the midpoint of the span and measure deflection. Compare the measured deflection force to the manufacturer's specification for that belt cross-section and span length. Record both the applied force and the measured deflection on the drive installation record form.

Chain Tension (Roller Chain)

Measure sag at the midpoint of the slack side. Typical allowable sag is specified by the manufacturer; a common rule of thumb is approximately 2–3% of the center-to-center distance, but always follow the manufacturer's data sheet for your specific drive. Record the measured value.

Install drive guards before requesting any power-on.

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PLC Panel Wiring

Work from your I/O list and ladder logic printout. Every conductor must be:

Point-to-Point Continuity Check

With the circuit still de-energized and locked out, use your CAT III multimeter in continuity or resistance mode. Check every field device circuit: confirm continuity on closed circuits and open on open circuits. Check that ground conductors are landed and show continuity to the panel ground bus. Document every point on the continuity check sheet. Only after this sheet is complete and signed may you request instructor energization authorization.

First Power-On (Supervised)

The instructor will remove the LOTO, energize the panel, and stand by. Force each input through its field device and confirm the corresponding I/O indicator on the PLC lights. Command each output from the ladder logic and confirm the field device responds. Any unexpected behavior—module fault light, unexpected contactor closure, no response—is cause to immediately de-energize and investigate before continuing.

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Quality and Documentation

Industrial maintenance is only as reliable as its records. Every measured value—torque, belt tension, alignment reading, continuity check—must be written on the appropriate form before you move to the next step. Undocumented work is treated as work not done, both in this lab and in industry.

Key terms10

Anti-friction bearingA bearing that uses rolling elements (balls or rollers) between the inner and outer rings to reduce friction and support radial or axial loads.
Bearing installation toolA sleeve or driver set sized to contact only the correct bearing ring during installation, preventing force from passing through the rolling elements.
Calibrated torque wrenchA torque wrench that has been tested and certified to apply a known torque value within a specified accuracy; the calibration date must be current before use.
Deflection methodA belt tension measurement technique in which a perpendicular force is applied at the midpoint of the belt span and the resulting deflection is compared to the manufacturer's specification.
Wire ferruleA small metal sleeve crimped onto the end of a stranded conductor to consolidate the strands and provide a secure, corrosion-resistant termination in a screw-cage terminal block.
I/O listA document that maps every PLC input and output module address to its corresponding field device, wire number, and signal type; used as the master reference for panel wiring.
Point-to-point continuity checkA pre-energization test in which a multimeter is used to verify that every conductor in a wired panel is connected to the correct terminal at both ends with no reversed polarity or missing ground.
Lockout/Tagout (LOTO)An OSHA-required energy-control procedure in which hazardous energy sources are isolated, a personal lock and tag are applied, and zero energy is verified before any maintenance work begins.
Sheave alignmentThe adjustment of V-belt pulley positions so their grooves lie in the same plane, confirmed by a straightedge contacting both sheave faces without gaps or rocking.
CAT III ratingAn IEC measurement category for electrical test equipment indicating it is designed to withstand transient overvoltages found in fixed electrical installations such as distribution panels and motor starters.

Worked examples4

1. A V-belt drive has a center-to-center distance of 24 inches. The manufacturer's data sheet specifies a deflection of 1/64 inch per inch of span under a perpendicular force of 5.5 lbf for the belt cross-section installed. What total deflection should you measure when you apply 5.5 lbf at the midspan?
  1. Step 1 — Identify the formula: Required deflection = (deflection per inch of span) × (span length in inches). The span equals the center-to-center distance for this calculation.
  2. Step 2 — Substitute values: Required deflection = (1/64 in per in) × 24 in.
  3. Step 3 — Multiply: 1/64 × 24 = 24/64 = 3/8 inch.
  4. Step 4 — Record on the drive installation form: apply 5.5 lbf perpendicular to the belt at the midpoint of the 24-inch span; acceptable deflection is 3/8 inch (0.375 in).
Answer: The correct midspan deflection is 3/8 inch (0.375 in) when a perpendicular force of 5.5 lbf is applied.
2. A roller-chain drive has a center-to-center sprocket distance of 30 inches. The manufacturer specifies allowable slack-side sag of 2% of center-to-center distance. What is the maximum allowable sag in inches?
  1. Step 1 — Convert percentage to decimal: 2% = 0.02.
  2. Step 2 — Multiply by center-to-center distance: Maximum sag = 0.02 × 30 in = 0.60 in.
  3. Step 3 — Measure sag at the midpoint of the slack side with a straightedge and ruler.
  4. Step 4 — If measured sag exceeds 0.60 in, tighten the drive per the manufacturer's adjustment procedure and re-measure.
Answer: Maximum allowable sag is 0.60 inch. Any sag greater than this requires adjustment.
3. During the point-to-point continuity check, your multimeter reads 2.8 ohms between a 24 VDC common wire and the panel ground bus. A direct copper conductor of the same gauge and length in this panel should read less than 0.5 ohms. What should you do, and why does this matter?
  1. Step 1 — Recognize the reading: 2.8 Ω is significantly higher than the expected less than 0.5 Ω for a properly landed copper ground conductor, indicating a high-resistance connection.
  2. Step 2 — Do not energize. A high-resistance ground path can result in dangerous touch voltages on equipment chassis if a fault occurs, and can cause nuisance trips or control errors on 24 VDC circuits.
  3. Step 3 — Inspect both ends of the conductor for a loose ferrule, under-crimped terminal, or wire strand not fully inserted into the terminal.
  4. Step 4 — Re-terminate the conductor, re-crimp if needed, and re-test. Record the corrected resistance reading on the continuity check sheet before requesting energization authorization.
Answer: Do not energize. Inspect and re-terminate the ground conductor, confirm the corrected reading is below 0.5 Ω, and document the new value before proceeding.
4. A housing bolt specification calls for 35 ft-lbf of torque. Your torque wrench has a rated accuracy of ±4%. What is the acceptable torque range in ft-lbf that confirms a properly torqued bolt?
  1. Step 1 — Calculate the tolerance: 4% of 35 ft-lbf = 0.04 × 35 = 1.4 ft-lbf.
  2. Step 2 — Lower limit: 35 − 1.4 = 33.6 ft-lbf.
  3. Step 3 — Upper limit: 35 + 1.4 = 36.4 ft-lbf.
  4. Step 4 — Any click or reading between 33.6 and 36.4 ft-lbf is acceptable. Record the target value and the wrench calibration tag number on the installation form.
Answer: The acceptable torque range is 33.6 to 36.4 ft-lbf.

The math in this lesson2

Learners compute belt deflection at 1/64 inch per inch of span, chain sag at 2 percent, and ±4 percent torque range.
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Brush up in the math halls at newSchoolWorks.com:
In class: Students mount anti-friction bearing housings and install bearings using a bearing installation tool (never a hammer directly on the race), torque housing bolts to specification using a calibrated torque wrench, and pack or confirm pre-lubrication according to the lubrication schedule they drafted in Lesson 1; instructor witnesses each bearing installation step before the shaft is installed. · Students install the V-belt or chain drive between motor and pump (assignment varies by station), set belt tension using a tension gauge or deflection method per the drive manufacturer's data sheet, align sheaves or sprockets with a straightedge, and document measured alignment values and final tension readings on a drive installation record form. · Students wire the PLC control panel using their I/O list and ladder logic printout—terminating conductors with proper wire ferrules or ring terminals, labeling each wire with sleeve markers, and performing a point-to-point continuity check with a multimeter before requesting instructor energization authorization; after authorization, they perform a supervised first-power-on and confirm all I/O indicators respond correctly.
Materials: Anti-friction bearing sets, bearing installation tool kit, calibrated torque wrench set, V-belt or roller chain and matched sprockets/sheaves, belt tension gauge, straightedge, wire ferrule crimper, ring terminal crimper, wire marker sleeves, multimeter (CAT III rated), PLC trainer panel with 24 VDC I/O modules, motor starter, three-phase motor, centrifugal pump, coupling or drive guard, drive installation record form, safety glasses, leather work gloves, electrical insulating gloves (when checking energized circuits), NCCER Mechanical Drives and Bearings module references
Check: Instructor uses a performance checklist: bearing installation technique (no direct race impact, correct lubrication), drive alignment within manufacturer tolerance (measured and recorded), belt/chain tension within specification, wiring matches I/O list with no reversed polarity or grounding errors, and continuity check documented. All safety steps (LOTO verified before any mechanical work; energization only after instructor authorization) are a hard pass/fail gate. Student must score 80% or higher on the checklist with zero critical safety violations.

Practice check8

Answer each question, then check it. Nothing is recorded; this is your own practice.

NCCER Industrial Maintenance – Bearings and Mechanical Drives
1. When pressing an anti-friction bearing onto a shaft, force should be applied to which part of the bearing?
NCCER Industrial Maintenance – Tools and Precision Measurement
2. A calibrated torque wrench should be checked for what before use on bearing housing bolts?
NCCER Industrial Maintenance – Mechanical Drives
3. During sheave alignment with a straightedge, you notice the straightedge touches both faces of the driver sheave but shows a gap at one face of the driven sheave. This indicates:
NCCER Industrial Maintenance – Mechanical Drives
4. A V-belt's midspan deflection method result shows less deflection than specified when the required force is applied. What does this indicate about belt tension?
MSSC CPT – Quality Practices and Measurement / Electrical Safety
5. Before crimping a wire ferrule onto a stranded conductor that will terminate in a PLC I/O module terminal block, which action is required?
NCCER Industrial Maintenance – Electrical and PLC; MSSC CPT – Safety
6. After wiring the PLC control panel and before requesting energization authorization, the required verification step is:
MSSC CPT – Safety; NCCER Industrial Maintenance – Electrical Safety
7. Which personal protective equipment (PPE) is required when verifying a live 24 VDC circuit in the PLC panel during the supervised first power-on?
NCCER Industrial Maintenance – Safety; MSSC CPT – Safety
8. A student completes all wiring but does not document the point-to-point continuity check before asking the instructor to authorize energization. According to the lab's performance checklist, what happens?
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