by Staff | Sep 29, 2011 | Aircraft, Control Systems, CSI, Furnaces and Ovens
THE MYSTERY An ACES customer producing carbon fiber molding for the aircraft industry had a large oven (18′ x 10′ x 10′), which they thought was working just fine — however, they had an opportunity to land a new contract if they could prove their...
by Staff | Sep 1, 2011 | Aircraft, Control Systems, CSI, Oil and Gas
THE MYSTERY A local aircraft manufacturer has a fuel farm of ten large tanks, each storing 30,000 gallons of Jet A fuel. A valve on each tank opens to allow fuel to flow in and out to tank trucks or other tanks. When one of these valves failed, the customer called in...
by Staff | May 26, 2011 | Control Systems, CSI, Measurement
THE MYSTERY One of ACES’ clients does metal fabrication and manufacturing for the government, which has exacting standards. In this case the client needed to report and display the rotational speed of a spin lathe shaft. In some applications it might be possible to...
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 | Mar 18, 2011 | Aircraft, Control Systems, CSI, Furnaces and Ovens
THE MYSTERY ACES performs the annual gas train safety checks on the ovens and autoclaves for an aerospace parts provider. One of steps of the safety checks is the combustion blower airflow or pressure-proving switch. When the ACES Control System Investigator was...
by Staff Writer | Mar 7, 2011 | Control Systems, CSI, Motion Control, Yaskawa VFDs
THE MYSTERY The depalitizing elevator of a local bottling plant stopped working, bringing production to a halt. The case of the non-lifting hoist. THE CLUES Upon examination the ACES Control Systems Investigator found that the depalitizer hoist which lifts the bottles...
by Staff | Feb 18, 2011 | Control Systems, CSI, Steam Generators
THE MYSTERY An ACES Control Systems Investigator was called to the scene of an oil-heating steam generator platform, in a processing plant for natural gas liquids (NGLs). The CSI had been called for routine biennial emissions testing, but he noticed the trend lines...
by Staff | Jul 30, 2010 | Control Systems, CSI, Furnaces and Ovens
THE MYSTERY A manufacturer of large metal extrusions for the aircraft industry called ACES to the scene of a 40’ drop bottom furnace. The furnace had failed its most recent NADCAP audit because the hot junctions of the thermocouples recording the high and low limits...
by Staff | Jul 16, 2010 | Aircraft, Control Systems, CSI, Furnaces and Ovens
THE MYSTERY The temperature controller of a 20-year-old vacuum furnace had gone completely dark. This furnace was a critical piece of equipment for the owner, a local aircraft plant. The original manufacturer of the controller no longer supported it — but they would...
