Before committing to a full lifecycle audit or installing strain gauges, most facility managers want to know how much downtime is involved, whether the modal frequency analysis can be done during a single shift, and what happens if a threshold is exceeded during monitoring. This post walks through the three most common questions we hear and explains what each answer means for your schedule and budget.
Before your first call with our engineering team, gather the crane’s model plate data, last inspection report, and a log of any unusual vibrations or noises. We will ask about average load cycles per shift and whether the crane has ever been modified. Having these details ready cuts the initial assessment time in half and lets us focus on the structural history that matters most for fatigue life estimation.
Not every facility needs continuous strain monitoring. If your crane operates fewer than 200 hours per month, a quarterly modal frequency check combined with a visual weld inspection may be sufficient. For high-cycle environments—over 800 hours monthly—the same crane will benefit from a full lifecycle audit plus wireless strain gauges on the bridge girder and end trucks. We help you match the service scope to actual duty class, not a generic package.
Clients often ask whether strain gauge installation requires crane downtime. The answer depends on access: gauges on the main girder can be bonded during a scheduled lunch break, while trolley-mounted sensors may need a two-hour window. Another common question is how we distinguish between a one-time overload event and progressive creep. Our cloud platform flags both, but the alert thresholds are set differently—overload triggers an immediate call, creep generates a weekly trend report.