Work Lately

Buffalo21

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H-M Supporter Gold Member
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Work lately has been brutal, we got the contract to install a digital control system on a series of boilers in a hospital management group. We started the first of 3 units in one of the satellite facilities. I had to strip out and Allen-Bradley based PLC control, that has never worked correctly in its 12-13 year existence. The problem for them is two-fold, first its far too complicated for the actual need and is way over the heads of the facilities’ maintenance personnel, secondly, the system is rated for a max temperature of the equipment of 120F and the temperature at the control cabinet was about 118F over the last 2 weeks.

I had to remove the A-B PLC, and about 75% of the wiring to get down to the bare necessities, where we could start the new install. So after 2 weeks, roughly 1700 feet of wire, the new control parts, the new ABB VFD and numerous brackets. The new control system is up and running. I had to install a small control cabinet A/C system, that keeps all the contents of the control cabinet at a approximate 90F temperature.

This week is the run/teething phase of the job, the unit needs to run properly before we can start the second unit, planned for a Monday 8/24/20 start.

While this is a much smaller boiler, this job is going to be much more complicated, the first unit had the highly complex control system, but had a very accurate wiring diagram, the other two identical units, also have a complex control system, but of a different manufacture, that is no longer supported by the manufacturer/seller and there is no known wiring diagram, as the seller (no longer in business) refuse to supply one, saying it way too complicated and they would not understand the wiring diagram, so your not getting one.

I made a wiring diagram for the first boiler, that now is in the hands of the drafting department and should be rendered for final approval sometime next week.

Because of the heat in the boiler room, in the last 3 weeks, since we started this job, I probably have not consumed as much water in such a short time, in my whole life. I have been averaging about 3 bottles of water an hour, or about a case a day and not surprisingly bathroom breaks have been few and far between. I’ve also probably not sweated and much as I have during this period of time. The current heat wave seems to have broken, the forecast for next week is for more usual daytime temperature, roughly 10-15 degrees cooler than it has been.
 
i just came out of a period of masochism that reads a lot like your story.

i have had nothing but strange service calls lately.
none of them have been problems i have seen in my career.
this is kinda neat for me, because i thought i saw everything already !
these instances have been with network communications with satellite price weighing scale systems.
the systems are well antiquated .
the supermarkets are not willing to upgrade because i'm so proficient at making things work again, with next to nothing.
it creates a win/lose situation for me
i win because i collect money from them for repairing obsolete essential equipment
i lose, because they don't call anybody else but me , and there is only 1 of me to make the sniffly nose go away
 
the forecast for next week is for more usual daytime temperature, roughly 10-15 degrees cooler than it has been.

Jack, I hope that's true for you!
-brino
 
I just finished up a brutal week of (7) 12s, the job is going like crap, so far 2 out of the 3 servos were not accepting a control signal, even from a 4-20 ma power source, the VFD had major wiring issues, the by-pass function was wired wrong. The parts guy sent me 14ga solid wire twice, instead of the required stranded, the motorized feedwater valve came without the 120 vac to 24 vac transformer and the control cabinet came without the back plate.

The servos have been replaced, the by-pass function is now working, I now have the correct wire (2-3 spools are in the boiler) and the correct feed water valve motors will be here on 9/1/20. Five hours after the parts delivery, the parts moron, returned with the backing plates for the control cabinets, they were in the van and he forgot where he put them.

I was working on an as-built wiring diagram, that about 10 am, disappeared, we looked everywhere, at about 1:30 pm the facilities electrician returned the drawings, he took them to peruse the wiring scheme. I was very curt with him, saying the least he could have done is say something before he took it, he gave me some smart-a$$ response, I called his boss and said if he came back into the boiler room, again while I was working, I was going home instantly and would never return. After we talked for a few moments, he called HR and he was later told to stay away from me and the boiler rooom and if he touched anything of mine again, he would be terminated.

Other than that, except for temperatures in the boiler room never below 105 F, the week went as well as can be expected. We start another cycle on Monday and will be there until the unit is running. That hopefully should be somewhere around Wednesday or Thursday.

I love my job, my job loves me..........................
 
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