A Commercial Vibration Training Machine Owner’s Checklist
With more companies starting to understand the importance of building larger more commercial machines for gym and studio use, a new problem will emerge.
People will be buying and operating, what most engineers would consider heavy machinery, with no knowledge of the basics. Its all very well to concentrate on the customers, but to ignore the machinery side of the business would be foolish or lazy.
Despite companies efforts to make units that don’t require maintenance and even sending trainers with the machines to help set them up and train staff etc., this in no way takes away the responsibility of the owner to at least try and understand what they are operating on a daily basis. Remember, you are about to rely on these machines to support your business, so the least you should do is spend some time getting to know the machine you are about to trust with such an important task and how these machines respond in the environment they are in.
When a unit first arrives get an idea of its physical presence by using all your senses one at a time and take down notes of everything listed below.
LOOK
Before you turn the machine on, take a good look at it from every angle.
- Does it have bolts or screws you can see? Are they all tight? (get tools that fit them if you have none)
- How many isolators does it have? When someone of average weight gets on, how much do they compress?
- Can you see the motors? How many are there? Were are they? How are they attached?
- Are there any extra switches, plugs, or cables that aren’t obvious?
- Find the fuse box and the fuse it belongs to.
FEEL
When you turn the machine on…
- Feel the entire surface of the machine with your eyes closed. Is the vibration perfectly even over the entire surface? If there are stronger or weaker points make a little map. I know this sounds daft, but trust me its not.
- Again with your eyes closed and the machine running on high, feel the ground next to the machine, then feel the base plate (lowest part on the machine), and then the hull (where the motors are situated). Work backwards with a rough estimate of how the machine isolates the vibrations from the floor. 100% would be at the hull. What % is being transferred into the base? How much is going into the floor?
- Find the electronics, how much vibration is making its way into them? Again, write down a % value.
- Feel the walls, are they vibrating?
- If you have more than one machine, do this separately then all together and maybe on different settings. This is all very important, so take your time.
- Can the machine be tipped over easily in any way?
- Are there any sharp edges or cables that customers need to be kept away from?
LISTEN
All machines will make some sort of noise, score them out of 10 (i.e. 2/10 being pretty quiet) Do it up close, standing in different places in the room, and in other parts of the building.
- Any light rattling?
- Any droning? In waves or flat pitch?
- Any loud banging? (hopefully not)
- Again, if you have more than one machine, do it separately then all together and on different settings.
When you have done all of this, put the results away somewhere. They will come in handy if you ever suspect any profound changes have occurred and you have to describe the problem to someone over the phone. You will be surprised what can be deducted by a good vibration training engineer just from a precise description and a small clue.
But just as, and if not more important, you have just started to understand the basic physical engineering nature of the vibration training industry. This will help you form a more educated, overall picture and bring you that much closer to becoming a true professional.
Important note: You don’t have to be an engineer to do these tests, just a brain, hands, eyes, ears, and motivation will do. If you can get other people to do their own tests along with you, but on a separate piece of paper, it will be helpful to have other people’s input. The best trainer I have had at getting to grips with the engineering aspect was a girl, so no excuses ladies.
November 24th, 2008
Important Note:
Could all owners of machines or studios , no matter what systems you have or how long you have been running for , be it 2 weeks or 2 years , take the time to do this checklist.
As the industry grows and we are more spread out this will save everybody alot of confusion and headaches.