I used to work at Nordson Corp., and it was there that I ran into two Sherlock-worthy problems:
First, the company had hot-melt glue applicators ranging from units with small tanks (that glue was added to as small pellets or chips), up to a 55-gallon drum in heated-platen units. One of the 55-gallon drum units had an overheating problem.
When the line started, the LED indicators flashed, showing the heating cycle. The temperature display showed the temperature was rising. As the temperature neared the set point, the PID (proportional integral derivative) compensation was supposed to reduce the heat, and the LED flash rate slowed to mimic the change. But the temperature kept increasing until the over-heat tripped.
When this happened, the unit had to be allowed to cool before any testing could be done. The heating was controlled by a triac (triode for alternating current). When the unit cooled, I monitored the triac control voltage and output voltage. Even when the triac control was not on, it was heating, so the triac was shorted.
When I explained to the manager that I would need to replace the triac, he said that there wasn’t a replacement in stock. I checked stock myself, and found a replacement that would work. The triac for the 55-gallon unit was the same triac as was used on the tank-style unit. The two had different Nordson part numbers, but they were the same triac. After I replaced the triac, the over-heat problem was fixed.
Next, I experienced another line snafu. Our company had sealant dispensing units at the General Motors Oshawa Car Plant. There were two units on one line, and one wasn’t working properly. The plant was still in start-up, so the problem was not urgent. Another technician had been working on the unit, but had not been able to fix the problem. I was asked to look into the situation. I asked the technician for the details of all the testing he had done.
He narrowed the problem to a ribbon cable, but when he replaced the cable, it didn’t fix the problem. When I got to the plant, I asked if it would be a problem to shut down the other, working unit. We shut the working unit down, pulled the ribbon cable, and installed it on the non-working unit. That unit powered-up and worked. We then installed the suspect cable in the first unit. That proved the cable was the problem. The replacement cable also happened to be faulty. When available, swap-tronics can be a big help.
This entry was submitted by Glenn Aitchison and edited by Rob Spiegel.
Glenn Aitchison’s first field service job was in 1987. Since then he has worked in robotics, automotive, as well as industrial automation and machinery. He received his Certificates of Qualification as an Industrial Electrician and as an Industrial Mechanic (Millwright).
Tell us your experience in solving a knotty engineering problem. Send stories to Rob Spiegel for Sherlock Ohms.
Glenn, that was good work. I always found that there are often several different failure modes and it is important to isolate them. The problem with the second cable is a difficult one. I wonder if that cable was considered "new" or if it was a spare from another unit.
Good point Naperlou. Glenn will likely weigh in on this. If the cable was new but defective, you would get a powerful bias that the cable wasn't the problem.
I agree, Rob - since part swapping is usually a quick way to verify if a part is operating correctly. I would also have been tempted to call the cable good and look further for a different problem. I have done it in the past (just grabbing another part out of a parts bin) and after wasting time verifying everything else was okay, I would return to the part I had called "good" and finally figure out that while it was not the obvious answer, the replacement was also bad. Glenn did a great job going to a KNOWN good cable to make his call - a great tip for anyone involved in troubleshooting!
naperlou; The cable was new from stock. It had never been installed into a machine before. Fortunately I had a known-good cable in the working unit to use for troubleshooting. But 'swap-tronics' only works when you have multiple identical units to swap parts between.
It is tempting to assume that because something is "new" that it is good...we forget that manufacturing processes can shift and sometimes entire lots of "new" stuff with a defect escape QC before it is detected and wind up for sale. Kind of the same idea - I remember one time I bought several red LEDS for a project I was building, from the same place I usually bought my parts from. My project was a wind rose being controlled by an 8751 and different color LEDs would light in response to changes in wind strength and direction. After I soldered in the LEDS into my homemade PC board, I was amazed that my "red" LEDS were both "orange" red and "red" red. I just couldn't understand how I could buy something new and have that much variance in the same product. I went back to the electronics store I had bought the LEDs at and because I wanted my LEDs to match in color, I powered them up before I bought them (with the store manager's permission) so that I could get matching colors. That went a long way in teaching me not to assume that what I purchased would meet my expectations, regardless of how well prior purchases had worked in the past.
That's a good story, Nancy. With counterfeit parts, it can be really bad. The parts often come back to the distributor or supplier in its own packaging. They look and act right -- the first layer or the first part of the roll. After that, it's garbage. In the independent distributor market, their association offers classes and certification on how to identify counterfeit parts.
That reminds me of what Mitt Romney said during one of the debates, Rob. The topic was about trade with China and Romney was talking about some type of valve that came back to the manufacturer as defective, so the company replaced it. But the company noticed something was wrong when they got several additional defective valves returned - all sporting the same serial number!
Yes, I remember that comment during the debate. And that's how a lot of it works. I remember a story about a plant in a small town in China that was producing counterfeit components. Officials were apparently well aware of what the plant was doing. When an Chinese official was asked why the government didn't shut down the plant, he replied, "This plant employees 2,000 people. It's the biggest employer in town by far."
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