Update: the $50 bluetooth vibration sensor on my tower crane was a waste

Bought one of those wireless vibe monitors to track the crane's swing and bounce last month, thinking it would catch issues before the inspector did. Stuck it on the mast near the motor, paired it with my phone, and for two weeks it gave me readings that seemed fine, then the damn thing threw a false alarm during a pour and the crew downed tools for an hour waiting for my call. Cost me $50 plus the time lost, and the real problem turned out to be a sheave bearing my ear noticed during a slow pass, not any sensor data. The app kept dropping connection every time the crane swung past the steel columns, so I basically got a paperweight that eats batteries. I get the idea of remote monitoring, but for a single crane on a small site, your foreman's ears and a grease gun still beat this tech. Has anyone else tried these cheap sensors on older equipment and got worse results than just walking the machine? I'm thinking of going back to the old clipboard checklist for good.

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