Kara-Moon Forum
March 29, 2024, 08:33:20 AM *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News: You can go back to the main site here: Kara-Moon site
 
   Home   Help Search Login Register  
Pages: 1 ... 35 36 [37] 38 39 ... 41
  Print  
Author Topic: Beer & Nuts....  (Read 336281 times)
folderol
Kara-Moon Master
****
Posts: 5296

Who? Me?


WWW
« Reply #540 on: September 13, 2009, 01:25:42 PM »

Oh happy, happy me Smiley

Friday, about 4:30pm (at work) saw the final resolution of a problem bit of kit that has taken over 6 months to fix.

The machine would fail to start every Monday morning until it had been swithced off and on several time and generally bashed and sworn at by the operators. After that it would be fine for the entire week.

This is just about the worst kind of intermittent fault. It took us several month tracking it down to one control module, after eliminating all the usual relays, switches etc. Also, the machine is an early 1980s build, which was very much a 'transition' period and means it has just about every kind of electrical and electonic system in it Sad

Once narrowed down to this module, all the other engineers gleefully washed their hands of it. "Transistors and chips mate - that means you." was their happy cry. To make matters worse, the production manager wanted the machine back in operation (such as it was) at least 3 days a week, so no pressure then!

The thing was so critical, that even the act of unbolting it from it's mountings would clear the fault. From experience I knew that just had to be a hairline fracture somewhere, so I'd spend a day pooring over it with a very bright light and high power magnifier, which is a hell of a strain on these old eyes.

The main circuit board was actually in remarkable good condtion for its age, and having resoldered a number of possibly suspect joints. I'd take it back, and wait for the inevitable "Nope. Still the same"..

Finally I had the bright idea of creating a sort of protective plastic bag cocoon in the machine with the offending unit mounted as usual but without any of the casing. Monday came and I was waiting for it. The operators were told not to touch it at all, and I was the one who switched it on, just once. The fault was there and I could extremely carefully poke around the board. After a couple of hours of this (in an extremely cramped place under the machine) I finally spotted a dead internal power line. Bridging across it sparked the machine into life, and, of course cleared the fault.

It wasn't till Thursday I could take the board off the machine to try to find the exact cause, and then, even knowing what the problem was didn't tell me where it was! By the end of friday I was getting deperate. Every part of that line that I could see was in perfect condition. I'm ashamed to admit it took one of the office girls to nudge me in the right direction. "Maybe it's a bit you can't see".

Removing a couple of large components reavealed it. Indeed a hairline fracture caused by years of tiny micro-movements of one of the components that had been glued to the board in manufacture, only the glue missed its target and hit this bit of trackwork. instead.

The thing with hairlines is that, left switched off, a film of oxide builds up breaking the connection, but the most minute movement rubs this off, and a sudden electical charge can also perfom a temporary 'micro-weld'.
Logged

If you have a poem, I have a tune, and we exchange these, we can both have a poem, a tune, and a song.
- Will
Fred S
Moderators Views
Hero Member
********
Posts: 689



« Reply #541 on: September 13, 2009, 11:55:29 PM »

Not even waiting till Monday to declare victory? Roll Eyes Cheesy
Logged

kara
Kara-Moon, a site built by and for musicians
Global Moderator
Kara-Moon Master
*****
Posts: 4907


Music is my middle name


WWW
« Reply #542 on: September 14, 2009, 11:33:50 AM »

Interesting story Will

Quote
I'm ashamed to admit it took one of the office girls to nudge me in the right direction. "Maybe it's a bit you can't see".

 Evil Grin

k
Logged

_____oOo______ http://www.myspace.com/kaazduo

www.kara-moon.com, a site built by and for musicians
Support us at : http://www.mymajorcompany.com/Artistes/kaaz/
folderol
Kara-Moon Master
****
Posts: 5296

Who? Me?


WWW
« Reply #543 on: September 14, 2009, 04:57:50 PM »

Not even waiting till Monday to declare victory? Roll Eyes Cheesy
Occasionally you just know you've got it. Aparently the operator was just about to switch off again from habbit, when he realised it had started first time Grin
Logged

If you have a poem, I have a tune, and we exchange these, we can both have a poem, a tune, and a song.
- Will
folderol
Kara-Moon Master
****
Posts: 5296

Who? Me?


WWW
« Reply #544 on: October 18, 2009, 10:29:38 PM »

It seems we have a new F1 world champion. Brazil does seem to be the decider in recent years. This race was anything but predictable!
Logged

If you have a poem, I have a tune, and we exchange these, we can both have a poem, a tune, and a song.
- Will
kara
Kara-Moon, a site built by and for musicians
Global Moderator
Kara-Moon Master
*****
Posts: 4907


Music is my middle name


WWW
« Reply #545 on: October 19, 2009, 11:51:10 AM »

True, an interesting race

k
Logged

_____oOo______ http://www.myspace.com/kaazduo

www.kara-moon.com, a site built by and for musicians
Support us at : http://www.mymajorcompany.com/Artistes/kaaz/
impablomations
Full Member
***
Posts: 214



« Reply #546 on: October 19, 2009, 12:15:04 PM »

Events like this are one of the few times I miss my TV.  Grand Prix was one of the few things I used to watch before I ditched my TV. Congrats to Jenson Button 
Logged

I have the world's largest collection of seashells. I keep it on all the beaches of the world... perhaps you've seen it. - Steven Wright

Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything. - Plato
folderol
Kara-Moon Master
****
Posts: 5296

Who? Me?


WWW
« Reply #547 on: October 19, 2009, 06:24:09 PM »

What you need to do is find a nice local pub with a TV Smiley
Logged

If you have a poem, I have a tune, and we exchange these, we can both have a poem, a tune, and a song.
- Will
folderol
Kara-Moon Master
****
Posts: 5296

Who? Me?


WWW
« Reply #548 on: December 22, 2009, 11:49:48 PM »

Wow! Almost down to page three Shocked

We nearly lost this one guys Tongue
Logged

If you have a poem, I have a tune, and we exchange these, we can both have a poem, a tune, and a song.
- Will
kara
Kara-Moon, a site built by and for musicians
Global Moderator
Kara-Moon Master
*****
Posts: 4907


Music is my middle name


WWW
« Reply #549 on: December 24, 2009, 08:43:44 PM »

Well, we'll see Shumacher back in F1 this time on Mercedes...
I find this extremely interesting, for me it will show if the magic was Ferari or the driver.

Looking forward to this

k
Logged

_____oOo______ http://www.myspace.com/kaazduo

www.kara-moon.com, a site built by and for musicians
Support us at : http://www.mymajorcompany.com/Artistes/kaaz/
folderol
Kara-Moon Master
****
Posts: 5296

Who? Me?


WWW
« Reply #550 on: January 30, 2010, 11:21:53 AM »

clump
Clump
CLumP
CLUMP
shuffle
sniff
"Hellooooooo"
shuffle
shuffle
CLUMP
CLumP
Clump
clump
Logged

If you have a poem, I have a tune, and we exchange these, we can both have a poem, a tune, and a song.
- Will
Oren
Moderator
Kara-Moon Master
*****
Posts: 5444


...just looking for clues...


« Reply #551 on: January 30, 2010, 11:34:00 AM »

clump
Clump
CLumP
CLUMP
shuffle
sniff
"Hellooooooo"
shuffle
shuffle
CLUMP
CLumP
Clump
clump

I'm here, Will...
............................now, will you please stop that incessant sniffing...? Cheesy
Logged

folderol
Kara-Moon Master
****
Posts: 5296

Who? Me?


WWW
« Reply #552 on: February 27, 2010, 12:46:12 PM »

clump
Clump
CLumP
CLUMP
shuffle
sniff
"Hellooooooo"
shuffle
shuffle
CLUMP
CLumP
Clump
clump

I'm here, Will...
............................now, will you please stop that incessant sniffing...? Cheesy
{SNIFFFFFF}
Logged

If you have a poem, I have a tune, and we exchange these, we can both have a poem, a tune, and a song.
- Will
Oren
Moderator
Kara-Moon Master
*****
Posts: 5444


...just looking for clues...


« Reply #553 on: March 05, 2010, 10:22:39 AM »


{SNIFFFFFF}


Well, it ain't formula one racing, but the Canadians beat the whole world at hockey - again.
(perhaps this post should have been made under "Beer and Doughnuts"... Wink)
Logged

Fred S
Moderators Views
Hero Member
********
Posts: 689



« Reply #554 on: March 05, 2010, 08:19:37 PM »

Big deal Tongue Roll Eyes
Logged

Pages: 1 ... 35 36 [37] 38 39 ... 41
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.21 | SMF © 2015, Simple Machines Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
Page created in 0.062 seconds with 20 queries.