Condition monitoring 路 Free
Vibration Analysis Training
Condition monitoring for rotating machines, worked the way a route is actually walked: units and running speed, analyser setup and averaging, then reading the spectrum, the time waveform, the orbit and the shaft centreline, and separating unbalance, misalignment, looseness, resonance, bearing faults and sidebands. It ends where the job ends, with ISO 10816 limits, ISO 1940 balance grades, a field balance and a findings note.
Inside the course
From the lessons
Condition monitoring and the case for vibration
Mega Technical Hub
From time waveform to spectrum
Turbo mass
Routes, baselines and trending
ADASH
Unbalance
Mega Technical Hub
Resonance, natural frequency and critical speed
Mega Technical Hub
Modulation and sidebands
Turbo mass
Lesson frames belong to the creators named in the Credits below and are shown from YouTube.
What you will learn
Set Fmax, lines of resolution and averages for a machine at a known running speed; read a spectrum peak by peak and name each one as 1x, a harmonic, sub-synchronous or non-synchronous; read a time waveform for impacting and truncation; separate unbalance, misalignment, looseness and resonance using 2x, axial amplitude and phase; place a rolling element bearing in one of the four failure stages and read its sidebands; apply ISO 10816 zones and ISO 1940 balance quality grades; run a single plane trial weight balance; and write the findings note a plant manager will act on.
- Set Fmax, lines of resolution and averages for a machine at a known running speed
- Read a spectrum peak by peak and name each one as 1x, a harmonic, sub-synchronous or non-synchronous
- Separate unbalance, misalignment and looseness using 1x, 2x, axial amplitude and phase readings
- Place a rolling element bearing in one of the four failure stages and say how much warning is left
- Apply ISO 10816 zones and ISO 1940 balance grades to call a machine acceptable, watch or stop
- Run a single plane field balance and write the findings note that gets the work approved
For you
Taking Vibration Analysis Training from the United States
- Free in the United States, as everywhere, and self-paced: lessons, notes and the final assessment are open at any hour, so your time zone and shift pattern do not matter.
- The optional certificate for learners in the United States is a one-off US$28.99. What you get for it
- Plants across the Americas most often run Allen-Bradley, Siemens and Inductive Automation; each has its own free course to take next.
- See automation and engineering jobs in the United States, and what the industry looks like in Houston, Detroit and Chicago.
- EDWartens also has a regional site for the United States, for classroom training and local support: edwartens.com/us.
The course project 路 about 14 hours
Twenty critical machines: criticality ranking, vibration route and first survey at a cement plant
Design the vibration-monitoring programme for the twenty most critical rotating machines of a cement plant: rank the assets with a scoring you can defend, build the route with measurement points, directions, mountings and ISO 10816 alarm limits, write the FMEA that says which fault each measurement is looking for, and then diagnose the first survey from the numbers in the spectra. You deliver your own criticality register, route, procedure and survey report. The sample pack shows what a condition-monitoring contractor hands over.
Sample document pack, 8 documents, filled in for the scenario
- PlanCondition Monitoring Programme Plan: Rotating Machinery, Westfield Cement Works
- RegisterAsset Criticality Register: Rotating Machines on the Programme
- RegisterVibration Route Register: Measurement Points and Alarm Limits
- FMEAFMEA: Failure Modes Detectable by the Vibration Route, by Machine Class
- ProcedureProcedure: Route Data Collection with the Adash A4400 VA4 Pro
- ReportFirst Survey Report: Baseline Readings and Findings, May 2026
- Calibration recordSensor and Collector Verification Record: Accelerometers AC150-1A on Portable Shaker
- Training recordTraining Record: Route Technicians and Planner
Read inside the course and download as a workbook. The project is optional practice, marked when you submit it; the certificate needs only the modules and the final assessment.
Course content
14 modules 路 33 lessons 路 11h 6m
In order, at whatever pace suits you. Each module ends with a practice task that builds on the last.
- 01Condition monitoring and the case for vibration3 lessons35m
- 02Vibration fundamentals: motion, frequency and amplitude3 lessons47m
- 03From time waveform to spectrum3 lessons50m
- 04Taking the measurement: sensor, mounting and technique4 lessons1h 37m
- 05Routes, baselines and trending2 lessons19m
- 06Reading the displays: spectrum and time waveform2 lessons50m
- 07Unbalance2 lessons33m
- 08Misalignment, looseness and phase2 lessons32m
Requirements
- Who it is for
- Intermediate. Suits maintenance and plant technicians who already do rounds, and mechanical, electrical and instrumentation graduates. No prior vibration training is needed, but you should be comfortable with RPM, Hz and a machine layout.
- Software
- None required. Any spectrum plot from your own plant reports is enough for the practice tasks.
- Hardware
- None. An accelerometer, tachometer and data collector are discussed and are not needed to finish the course.
Software you need
Nothing to install
Any spectrum plot from your own plant reports is enough for the practice tasks.
Vibration Analysis Training at a glance
Vibration Analysis Training is a free, self-paced online course from EDWartens for maintenance and reliability engineers and technicians. It has 14 modules and 11h 6m of video lessons by Mobius Institute, Mega Technical Hub, ADASH and others, with written notes and worked problems, a practical project with a document pack and a 15-question final assessment (pass mark 60%). Learning is free with an account; an optional certificate with a public verification code is issued when you pass. Last updated 27 September 2026.
All course factsHide course facts
- Price
- Free, for good. No trial, no card. The only paid item is the optional certificate, a small one-off fee.
- Who it is for
- Maintenance and reliability engineers and technicians
- Format
- 14 self-paced modules, 11h 6m of video, written notes, a practice task per module and one final assessment.
- Level
- Intermediate. Intermediate. Suits maintenance and plant technicians who already do rounds, and mechanical, electrical and instrumentation graduates. No prior vibration training is needed, but you should be comfortable with RPM, Hz and a machine layout.
- Brand
- Vendor-neutral
- Software
- None required. Any spectrum plot from your own plant reports is enough for the practice tasks.
- Hardware
- None. An accelerometer, tachometer and data collector are discussed and are not needed to finish the course.
- Certificate
- Optional EDWartens Certificate of Completion, verifiable by code. Not a vendor credential.
- Video lessons by
- Mobius Institute, Mega Technical Hub, ADASH, Turbo mass (independent creators, credited below)
- Language
- English
- Last updated
- 27 September 2026
A shareable EDWartens certificate
Finish every module and pass the final assessment, and the optional EDWartens certificate is yours. It carries a unique verification code on a public page anyone can check, so it stands up when a recruiter looks it up. See it below.
The course itself stays free whether or not you ever buy one.
Stuck? Ask a practising engineer
A free course usually means a comment section and hope. This one does not. Every module has an Ask-your-trainer panel that reaches the same engineers who teach our paid programme: people who commission panels for a living, not moderators.
Pairs well with
PLC programming 路 FreeSiemens TIA PortalFrom zero electrical knowledge to a working, simulated S7-1200 program, for nothing.
PLC programming 路 FreeSiemens TIA Portal in Three HoursThe first three hours of the Siemens TIA Portal course, cut to end on a win: what a PLC is, how it is wired, a project configured in TIA Portal, and your first ladder program running in simulation. Finish it in an evening or two, earn a certificate, and carry straight on into the full course.
PLC programming 路 FreeTIA Portal: Build a MachineOne machine, start to finish. Take a bottle filling line from a written specification and an I/O list to a structured S7-1200 program with a fill station, a capper, a reject sorter and an operator screen with alarms, then test it against a written record and archive it for hand-over. The lessons are the reference; the machine is yours, and it is what you submit.
Instrumentation 路 FreeInstrumentation for PLC EngineersThe half of the loop that is not code. Follow one measurement from the transmitter in the field, down the 4-20 mA loop, into the analog card, through NORM_X and SCALE_X into engineering units, out again to a valve, and back to the control room when the reading is wrong.More free courses: Free maintenance and reliability courses
Learner reviews
No reviews yet
Reviews here are written only by learners who have finished every module of Vibration Analysis Training, and they are published exactly as written. Finish the course and yours will be the first.
Common questions
Who is the Vibration Analysis Training course for?
Maintenance and plant technicians who already take readings but cannot yet read a spectrum, and mechanical, electrical and instrumentation graduates heading for a condition monitoring cell in cement, steel, power, refinery, paper, sugar or textile plants.
Do I need an analyser, a sensor or any software?
No. Nothing is bought and nothing is installed. The practice tasks are done on paper and on spectra you can get from your own plant reports or from printed examples, so the course works whether or not you have access to a data collector.
Is this the same as ISO 18436-2 Category I or II certification?
No, and it is never described as one. ISO 18436-2 categories are awarded by certification bodies after their own examination and a logged period of field experience. This course is preparation: it covers much of the same ground so that a body's syllabus and a real route make sense, and you still sit their examination separately.
Is the Vibration Analysis Training course really free?
Yes. Every module, practice task, practice question and the final assessment. You create an account so your progress is saved and the papers can be marked. The certificate is the only paid item, and only if you want it.
What certificate does the Vibration Analysis Training course give?
An EDWartens Certificate of Completion, issued when you have finished every module and passed the final at 60 percent, with a verification code anyone can check. It is not a vendor credential and not an accreditation, and it is never described as either.
Who made the video lessons in the Vibration Analysis Training course?
Mobius Institute, Mega Technical Hub and ADASH, on their own YouTube channels, and they are credited at the foot of the course page. EDWartens did not make the videos and the creators are not affiliated with EDWartens. What EDWartens wrote is the study plan, the module notes, the practice tasks and the assessments.
How much maths does it need?
School arithmetic. You divide RPM by 60 for Hz, divide Fmax by lines for resolution, and multiply a balance grade by a rotor mass. Bearing fault frequencies are looked up or calculated for you.
Can I do it if I have never worked in a plant?
Yes, though it is written for someone who can walk up to a machine. If you cannot, use the printed spectra and job cards in the practice tasks; the diagnosis work is the same, and the reasoning is what an interview asks about.
What you walk away with
Your certificate for Vibration Analysis Training
Finish the course, pass the final, and this is the document with your name on it.
Verifiable by anyone
Adds to LinkedIn in one click
QR code on the certificate
Names what you can do
A permanent link
Earned, not attended
Learning is free. The certificate is optional.
Add it now and pay only when you have finished the course, or come back for it later. One-off, US$28.99, with a receipt.
Issued by EDWartens, the training division of Wartens, as a Certificate of Completion for this self-paced course. Sold by Wartens Ltd (England and Wales). It is not a vendor certification, a university award or a CPD-accredited activity, and it does not certify competence on live equipment. Delivered electronically; see the refund policy.
Credits
Who made the video lessons
The video lessons in this course were created by the people below, not by EDWartens. Every lesson streams from its creator's own YouTube channel; EDWartens neither hosts nor sells that footage, and the creators are not affiliated with EDWartens and do not endorse this course. What EDWartens wrote is the study plan, the notes, the practice tasks and the assessments.
- Mobius Institutethe animated introduction and its Q&A, analyser settings, resolution and filters, the averaging clips, time waveform analysis, orbit and centreline plots, modulation, and the rolling element bearing failure stages
- Mega Technical Hubmaintenance strategies and the P-F curve, vibration fundamentals and amplitude units, spectrum reading, unbalance types, misalignment, phase analysis, resonance and the bump test, ISO 10816 limits and ISO 1940 balance grades
- ADASHthe Secrets of imbalance series on heavy spot, phase and the rules that make a balance hold, together with the on-site balancing guide
- Turbo mass7 lessons in "From time waveform to spectrum", "Taking the measurement: sensor, mounting and technique", "Reading the displays: spectrum and time waveform", "Rolling element bearing faults" and "Modulation and sidebands"
If you are one of these creators and would like a lesson removed or credited differently, write to info@wartens.com.