ESA & Vibration Monitoring
Not a replacement.
An extension.
Vibration monitoring requires a sensor on the machine. ESA doesn't. It reads the electrical signature at the MCC, which means it covers every connected AC motor regardless of location. Sometimes they work together. Sometimes apart. Having access to both means more choice — and better coverage.
Side by side
What each method covers and where it stops
The difference between ESA and vibration isn't which is better. It's where the sensor sits, what it can reach, and what it costs to deploy across a fleet.
| Criteria | ESA (SAM4) | Vibration monitoring |
|---|---|---|
| Sensor location | Motor control cabinet (MCC) | On or near the asset |
| Physical access to asset | Not required | Required |
| Installation time | <30 minutes per machine | Hours to days (varies by access) |
| Production shutdown | None | Often required for mounting |
| Monitoring mode | Continuous (24/7) | Continuous or periodic (route-based) |
| Submerged assets | ✓ Monitored from MCC | ✗ Cannot mount sensor |
| ATEX / hazardous zones | ✓ No ATEX cert needed | Requires ATEX-rated equipment |
| Enclosed / sealed assets | ✓ No disassembly needed | ✗ Requires access to housing |
| Bearing fault detection | ✓ Detected | ✓ High resolution |
| Misalignment / imbalance | ✓ Detected | ✓ High resolution |
| Electrical faults | ✓ Primary strength | ✗ Not detectable |
| Process deviations | ✓ Cavitation, clogging, efficiency | Limited (indirect indicators) |
| Mechanical fault resolution | Good — AI-enhanced detection | ✓ Excellent on accessible assets |
| Cost per monitoring point | Lower (MCC install) | Higher for hard-to-reach assets |
| Fleet scalability | ✓ Rapid deployment (1,000+ assets) | Slower — per-asset installation |
Beyond vibration's reach
The assets vibration can't reach
ESA's defining advantage is reach. These are the scenarios where it adds coverage that vibration can't.
Submerged and enclosed assets
Submersible pumps, wet-well pumps, sealed blowers, and enclosed drives. These assets have no accessible mounting point for a vibration sensor. ESA monitors them from the cabinet — continuously, without site visits.
Hazardous and regulated zones
ATEX-classified areas, confined spaces, and high-temperature environments. ESA installation happens at the MCC, in a safe zone. No explosion-proof certification, no confined space entry, no hot work permits.
Remote and unmanned sites
Water pumping stations, pipeline compressors, and rural substations that are visited quarterly at best. ESA provides continuous 24/7 monitoring with cellular connectivity — no site visit needed to check asset health.
Electrical fault detection
Stator winding degradation, rotor bar defects, power supply asymmetry, and insulation breakdown. These faults are invisible to vibration sensors but show clearly in the electrical signature.
Between vibration rounds
Many facilities run vibration routes monthly or quarterly. ESA fills the gap with continuous monitoring, catching faults that develop between scheduled rounds — before the next walk-around arrives too late.
Fleet-scale deployment speed
Deploying vibration sensors across 1,000 assets takes months. SAM4 installation at the MCC takes less than 30 minutes per machine. Yorkshire Water deployed across 1,300 assets in a fraction of the time traditional monitoring would have required.
Vibration's strengths
We're not going to pretend otherwise
Vibration monitoring has 100+ years of field validation. For certain faults on accessible assets, it provides resolution and detail that ESA doesn't match.
High-resolution mechanical diagnostics
For specific bearing defect frequencies, gear mesh patterns, and resonance analysis on accessible assets, vibration sensors mounted directly on the machine provide higher spectral resolution. If the asset is accessible and the fault is purely mechanical, vibration gives you more diagnostic detail.
Established practice and standards
ISO 10816/20816 defines vibration severity thresholds that reliability teams have used for decades. The knowledge base, training programmes, and industry standards for vibration analysis are deeply established. Your team likely already knows how to interpret vibration data.
These advantages apply to accessible assets. For the 30–40% of your fleet that sits beyond physical reach, vibration isn’t an option — which is where ESA takes over.
ESA detection constraints
ESA detection depends on drive topology, sampling rate, load variation, and fault class. Some purely mechanical faults may not be observable electrically until they progress enough to affect the motor’s current or voltage signature. Detection lead time varies by fault type and operating conditions. We state these constraints because they matter when you’re designing a monitoring programme — not to undersell the technology.
Better together
100% of your fleet. Not 60–70%.
Vibration provides depth on accessible assets. ESA extends coverage to everything else. Combined, they close more of the monitoring gap than either method alone.
Vibration
Deep diagnostics on accessible, high-value assets where your team can mount and maintain sensors.
60–70% of your fleet (accessible)ESA (SAM4)
Continuous monitoring from the MCC for every asset your vibration programme can't reach.
30–40% of your fleet (previously invisible)Your vibration analysts bring years of spectral analysis experience. Our diagnosticians bring years of electrical signature expertise. When both signal types feed into the same reliability programme, your team makes better decisions — with more data, more fault coverage, and earlier detection. SAM4 doesn't replace that expertise. It gives it a wider reach.
Schiphol Airport: ESA caught what vibration missed
At Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, SAM4 detected bearing damage in a baggage handling motor that was also covered by vibration monitoring. The vibration system had not flagged the fault. SAM4 caught it through electrical signature anomalies weeks before the bearing would have failed — achieving a 100% detection rate across all 9 faults identified during the pilot.
“You don't know what you don't know. If you're not looking continuously, you're exposed.”
Frequently asked
Common questions from reliability teams
Does SAM4 replace my vibration sensors?
No. SAM4 extends your monitoring programme to assets that vibration sensors can't reach — submerged pumps, sealed blowers, ATEX zones, and remote sites. Where vibration is already installed and delivering value, keep it. SAM4 covers the 30–40% of your fleet that currently has zero visibility.
Many customers run both side by side. Vibration gives depth on accessible assets. ESA gives breadth across the fleet. Together they close more of the monitoring gap than either method alone.
Can ESA detect everything vibration detects?
Not everything. For high-resolution mechanical diagnostics on accessible assets — specific bearing defect frequencies, gear mesh patterns, resonance analysis — vibration sensors mounted on the machine provide finer spectral detail. ESA detects the same fault categories (bearings, misalignment, imbalance) but through electrical signatures rather than mechanical vibration. Where ESA adds capability is electrical faults (stator winding, rotor bar, insulation) and process deviations (cavitation, clogging, efficiency loss) that vibration doesn't see.
What if I already have a mature vibration programme?
Good — that means 60–70% of your fleet is covered. SAM4 targets the remaining 30–40% your vibration programme physically can't reach. It also adds continuous monitoring between vibration routes on accessible assets, catching faults that develop between scheduled rounds. Your vibration analysts keep doing what they do best. SAM4 fills the gap in their coverage map — and gives them a second signal type to cross-reference when both methods cover the same asset.
How does SAM4 handle false positives?
Every alert is reviewed by a Samotics reliability engineer before it reaches your team. The AI flags anomalies; a human validates the fault type, assesses severity, and writes a specific recommended action. Your maintenance team gets expert-validated insights, not raw alerts to triage. This is a core part of the service model — not an optional add-on.
See what ESA detects on your assets
A live demo shows SAM4 running on real industrial assets — the same faults, the same diagnostics, the same dashboard your team would use. No slides. Real data.