Tag Archives: background

bellows seal, mechanical seal

Using Your Cell Phone Camera

A cartridge seal.

Your cell phone can be useful when documenting equipment failures, repairs, etc.  In fact, most readers have probably already used their cell phones to do so.  With the cell phone, you can dictate notes, record video or take still photographs.  This post is about improving those still photographs.

The advantages of using your cell phone camera to record damaged part information are

  • Always with you
  • More than adequate quality
  • Easy to use
  • Easy to send images to others.

I’m currently using an iPhone 7+ and really appreciate the quality and new features of its camera.  I especially like the telephoto (2x) lens.  Learn to use the features of your cell phone camera.   Here are some tips for getting good images from a cell phone camera without using additional auxiliary equipment:

  • Set focus point yourself, don’t rely on the camera autofocus
  • Zoom in (use 2x dual lens if available)
  • White Balance (color balance for the light source)
  • Adjust exposure manually, don’t rely on camera to set exposure
  • 2 second delay will help to avoid camera movement.

For more detailed information, especially with the iPhone, check out https://iphonephotographyschool.com/iphone-camera-controls/.

Remember that pictures you take will be used to tell the story of the failure or repair.  Be sure to establish the scene with the “big picture”.  Include some shots of components or areas before going too far with extreme close-ups or macros.  For example, in the report, you’ll want to be able to write things like:

  • Here’s the complete cartridge seal when first removed from the pump (the big picture)
  • Here’s the retainer (a component)
  • Notice the fretting inside the retainer (close-up of damage).

Clean up the background.

Remember the saying “90% of photography is moving furniture!” and apply this thought to removing the junk and clutter from the background of your photo.  Use cardboard, shop rags or copy paper for a background or to hide the clutter.

Fill the Frame

Move the camera in close and/or use the dual lens so that the screen is filled with the subject image.  This will save editing/cropping time and also produce a better image.  By filling the frame, you also allow for extracting a “macro” during editing.

Macros

Although macro lenses are available for cell phone cameras, those will be discussed in the next blog.  Most of the necessary documentation photos will not be macros or even close-ups but the camera can be moved very close to the subject to record details.   In post processing (editing) you can crop and zoom in for a “macro” image of details.

Don’t use the flash

The cell phone flash will produce hot spots on the image; turn the flash off and try to find good lighting.   Indirect light near a door or window can be very helpful.  If possible, move the parts outdoors on a cloudy day.

Select the best images

Get many pictures from different angles and distances, then select and use only the best ones.

Coming up

So far, the discussion has not included auxiliary equipment such as tripods, lenses and lighting.  Auxiliary equipment will be discussed in the next blog.

 

 

Uncategorized

The Background of SealFAQs

Shortly after learning what a mechanical seal was, and as I learned more, I began to think about writing a book on mechanical seals. At the time (early 1970s) there just didn’t seem to be much information available on the engineering aspects of mechanical seals.  I collected what information I could and, over the years, began to organize my book.  Over those same years, more and more information about mechanical seals became available – plus I found many books and articles that had been previously overlooked.

By the time I retired from John Crane Inc. at the end of 2014, there almost didn’t appear to be a need for my book on mechanical seals.  In particular, Dr. A. O. Lebeck’s book, Principles and Design of Mechanical Face Seals, is so comprehensive that there was little need for my own thoughts on mechanical seal theory.  Still, I reviewed my past publications and paper files and made plans for my own book.  It was a daunting task.  Who would publish my book?  Who would buy it?

I considered self-publishing. I had some experience with Blurb (shameless plug here for my dad’s memoirs and my own book of photographs) but then remembered that I had never received even one single dollar from Blurb.  Making money from my book on seals was not my primary objective but would have been nice.  I also considered Amazon self-publishing for a digital version of my seals book.  An Amazon ebook had considerable appeal but as I learned more, this publishing format seemed limiting, especially considering the many equations, graphs and illustrations that my book would have.  I became frustrated with the whole idea.

My frustration (and realization that there was no money to be made) inspired me to consider making a website about mechanical seals. After all, some of my friends and co-workers have been telling me for years that mechanical seals were actually a hobby for me.  I began to consider my options for making a website.  Actually, I already had a blog about my Buck family genealogy so I knew a little about making a site.  After a little research, I decided to use WordPress to develop my site and BlueHost to host the site.  I came up with the name “SealFAQs” as meaningful and unclaimed.  I outlined my site and jumped right into developing it.

My first efforts with SealFAQs were so frustrating and the results so bad that I temporarily gave up. Instead, I started a simple blog in order to learn and practice WordPress.  After a few months, I returned to working on SealFAQs in 2017.

SealFAQs is far from complete but I’ve decided to “launch” it now and continue to develop it. As a result, some (not too many though) of the site pages are blank – just a place marker.  However, these pages will be filled out in the coming months.  Also, other pages might look a bit rough but are useable and will be tidied up eventually.

Fortunately, I’ve already published so much about mechanical seals that there is a wealth of material already in the public domain from which to draw. I hope that SealFAQs will be a useful site and that you will visit it frequently.