On a scale of one to ten, with ten being the most rare, vertical motor face alignment occupies a position of about 9.9999 on the scale. While a rather loose fitting boss fit will occasionally necessitate the rim alignment of a vertically mounted motor, face alignment is almost universally considered to be unnecessary due to the assumption that the machined surfaces of the pump base and the motor casing will automatically achieve acceptable face alignment when bolted together.

What is even more rare than vertical motor (face) alignment problems are mechanics who can, with confidence , accurately calculate shim packages for the four or eight or thirty or more hold down bolt positions around the base of a vertically mounted motor. While this may seem very complex, once the necessary measurements of the bolt centerline dimensions are established (with regard to two North and East base lines) the rest of the procedure is really quite simple. Of course, the more bolts in the circle, the more calculations have to be made. However, with the efficiency of an ordinary four function calculator, the whole process becomes a simple chore of punching the right buttons and keeping an accurate log of how much shim goes where.

For the following procedures and calculations to achieve true alignment, the entire length of the pump shaft, each of its supporting bearings, and (if applicable) the stuffing box and the pump shaft coupling must be confirmed to share a common concentric centerline. These conditions must be...