by Staff Writer | May 3, 2013 | CSI, Municipal Water, Wiring and Electricity
THE MYSTERY There was a power outage at a municipal waste water collection system, which left a lift station dead in the water. The station wouldn’t run on generator power, and once regular power resumed the station wouldn’t come to life in auto or bypass mode either,...
by Staff Writer | Feb 8, 2013 | Control Systems, CSI, Wiring and Electricity, Yaskawa VFDs
THE MYSTERY A packaging manufacturing company called ACES as one of their paper machines had broken two felts in short order. The felt is a strip that carries the paper pulp, threading it through a long and complex series of rollers to squeeze out the water. The...
by Staff | May 13, 2011 | Control Systems, CSI, Motion Control, Programming
THE MYSTERY The ACES CSI was called to the scene of a factory that manufactured cardboard boxes. Two of 24 drives controlling a folding and gluing machine were down and there was an error code on the front of the amplifier that indicated “the operating parameters were...
by Staff | Apr 22, 2011 | Control Systems, CSI, Motion Control, Programming
THE MYSTERY An ACES Control Systems Engineer was called to the scene of a violent crime: A forklift had rammed a control cabinet, which pushed the side of the cabinet into the terminals of a DC drive. The power arced to the cabinet wall and grounded, causing the...
by Staff Writer | Mar 29, 2010 | Aircraft, Control Systems, CSI, Yaskawa VFDs
THE MYSTERY A Yaskawa 515 variable frequency drive at a local aerospace company wasn’t starting. The VFD had been working correctly until suddenly stalling in its tracks. THE CLUES Upon arriving on the scene the CSI immediately recognized that the VFD run light was...