Condition monitoring systems and services for rotating machinery

What is a condition monitoring system?

A condition monitoring system, often shortened to a CM system, tracks the health of machinery while it operates. Using measured data rather than fixed service intervals to determine when maintenance is needed. Instead of reacting to breakdowns or replacing parts that still have life in them, your maintenance team acts on the actual condition of each asset.

Faraday Predictive’s systems are built on Model-Based Voltage and Current (MBVI) technology, which uses the motor itself as the sensor. Because the monitoring equipment connects at the switchroom rather than on the machine, installation is straightforward, requires no production stoppage, and works even for assets that are inaccessible, submerged or in hazardous areas.

The anatomy of a complete condition monitoring system

A complete condition monitoring system is more than a box of electronics. It combines four elements, and Faraday Predictive supplies all of them:

1. Data capture without sensors. Where conventional systems rely on accelerometers and thermal cameras fitted to each machine, our MBVI technology captures everything from the motor’s voltage and current at the switchgear. The motor is the sensor.
2. Analysis software. The system builds a model of how each machine should behave and automatically flags deviations, identifying not just that a fault exists but what it is and how fast it is developing.
3. A monitoring platform. Dashboards, trends and alerts, accessible remotely by your whole team, on site or off.
4. Expert service. Faraday Predictive engineers interpret the data, verify diagnoses and give prioritised, plain-English recommendations, so your team acts on conclusions, not raw signals.

This is why our customers treat condition monitoring as the foundation of their predictive maintenance programme: it converts machine data into maintenance decisions.

Condition monitoring techniques: how faults are found

Traditional condition monitoring relies on a toolkit of established techniques. Vibration analysis detects imbalance, misalignment and bearing wear in rotating machinery. Thermography picks up abnormal heat patterns. Oil analysis reveals wear particles and contamination in lubricants, and ultrasound catches leaks and early bearing defects in noisy environments. Each works well, but each needs sensors, survey routes or samples taken at the machine.

Faraday Predictive takes a different route. Our electrical signature analysis (ESA), delivered through Model-Based Voltage and Current (MBVI) technology, detects the same mechanical and electrical faults from the switchgear, using the motor itself as the sensor. There is no equipment fitted to the machine, which makes motor condition monitoring practical for submerged, hazardous and hard-to-reach assets, and continuous rather than periodic.

Each traditional technique has its place, and reliability centred maintenance helps determine where. But for motor-driven rotating machinery, MBVI covers the widest range of faults with the least intrusion.

Want the detail? Read our guides to condition-based monitoring techniques and electrical signature analysis

Remote condition monitoring, from anywhere

Remote monitoring systems remove the need to be on site to know how your machinery is performing. Faraday Predictive’s remote condition monitoring connects your assets to a secure online platform, so equipment health, alerts and trends are available to your team wherever they are, whether that is the control room, head office or a phone at 2am.

Because our equipment mounts in the switchroom and uses the motor itself as the sensor, remote monitoring can be extended to assets that other systems cannot reach: submerged pumps, machinery in hazardous areas, and equipment on unmanned or difficult-to-access sites.

Our remote monitoring solutions are particularly valuable for:

1. Unmanned and satellite sites. Water utility assets, pumping stations and remote installations can be monitored centrally without routine site visits.
2. Multi-site operations. One dashboard covering rotating machinery across every plant, with consistent alerting and reporting.
3. Hazardous and inaccessible equipment. Continuous insight into assets that are dangerous, disruptive or simply impractical to inspect manually.
4. Stretched maintenance teams. Automatic alerts mean engineers investigate machines that need attention, rather than walking routes past healthy ones.

When a developing fault is detected, the system flags it with a clear diagnosis, giving your team time to plan the repair rather than react to a failure.

Industries we monitor

Faraday Predictive systems are monitoring rotating machinery across the UK’s most demanding sectors, from offshore platforms to pharmaceutical cleanrooms. Because our equipment installs at the switchgear rather than on the machine, it suits environments where fitting sensors is difficult, disruptive or dangerous.

Explore how condition monitoring works in your sector: