NVH - Noise Vibration Harshness problems

NVH problems

The root of all NVH problems is a vibration. In some cases, these are unwanted or unexpected vibrations, and in other cases, they are normal and always present (e.g. engine combustion), but they are noticeably disturbing when transmitted to the passenger compartment. 

Sound is simply a vibration that is transmitted through the air (or another medium) and is heard when it reaches a person's ear. Although the perfect hearing range is 20 Hz to 20 kHz, most of us are more like 100 Hz to 15 kHz at best. Vibrations are usually felt at frequencies below 200 Hz, and in the overlapping frequency, range vibrations can be both felt and heard.

In order to deal with this frequency range effectively, our PicoDiagnostics NVH kits contain both microphones (for sound), and accelerometers (for vibrations). 

Traditionally, NVH problems have been viewed as difficult to solve, with NVH complaints being subjective as people have different levels of NVH acceptance or feeling. A technician needs the right tools and procedures to be able to tackle these issues effectively, to diagnose complaints in an objective, repeatable and easy manner. The PicoDiagnostics NVH kits do this, while also generating customer reports to show that an improvement has been made against the customer’s complaint.

Setup wizard and software help

The Pico NVH test has a set of wizards to guide you through the necessary connections and the vehicle data that will generate information and results in a format that is easy to understand.

The system detects vibrations (and sounds) that change (wheel, engine, propshaft etc.) but also fixed frequency vibrations (e.g. electric cooling fan). Results are displayed in a report that is easy to understand and can be viewed in a way that suits you.

Comprehensive help files explain likely causes and solutions, and the functions provided by the software make it easy to diagnose the problems in a logical way to reveal the root cause. The same system will also give you the ability to measure the
effectiveness of any repairs or modifications and demonstrate the
results to the customer. 

Licensing

Each NVH kit requires a software license to allow the use of the PicoDiagnostics NVH application with a single PicoScope oscilloscope. 

Unless the PicoScope is already licensed, the first time you attempt to run the PicoDiagnostics NVH application you will be asked for a license code.  To obtain your license code please contact Pico at support@picoauto.com and include both the serial number of your PicoScope and of your NVH interface. Once we have received this information we will be able to supply you with an unlock code.

Once unlocked the license code will be stored on the scope hardware so that in the future you can access the PicoDiagnostics NVH application with that scope as required.

Note: Only one free license key is given with each NVH kit to unlock only one scope. Once this free key is used up, additional keys can be purchased for additional scopes through Pico Technology and your local distributor. Keys are NOT transferable. Please contact Technical Support for further information.