JRM
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This was all caused by the missing flapper? Yikes!
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I feel the same way, but I'm a dinosaur too. The world is progressing toward operators of equipment not needing to know anything about how the equipment works. Modern cars are a good example. This makes it easy to find an operator, since he doesn't need any significant training, but it also means when something goes wrong, all the operator knows how to do is pay someone who does know how it works to fix it. I can't count the number of times I've made roadside repairs and been back on my way in a short time, rather than have to call a tow truck, wait for a repair shop to be open, and then pay big money for the repair. I suspect there are a lot of guys like us on this board.Maybe I am just too much the dinosaur. But KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid, works for me. Just my view of the subject.
.. The much vaunted PATRIOT missile system is a fine example. When the radar is not properly functioning, you do a self check. The computer gives you a "brew list" of chassis's or boxes to change, that MIGHT have something to do with the problem. You simply replace them all, and if its fixed, ship the swapped out chassis's to Mother Raytheon, who runs them on a tester, (to fix what was bad and certify the ones still good) that the army did not buy, and sends them back to the army. But not cost free. They charge the army for them every time they send them back.
I totally agree with you on this one. That's why I got out of medical xray. You can't really test or fix anything on the new stuff. You just throw parts at it and those parts are very expensive. Even if you do put the part in a known good machine for test, sometimes the issues are intermittent and you can't tell for sure if its good or bad. In earlier days if I left a customer site, I knew I fixed the problem and the customer was happy, now with a lot of the newer stuff you really never know. It sure takes the power from a good engineer/technician. Even after everything went to black box, I was better and troubleshooting and diagnosing than the younger guys because I'd seen the old stuff work and could visualize virtually how the new stuff worked. I would not want to go back and try to get a handle on the new stuff in the field.A very senior TACOM, (Tank and Automotive Command) rep I know, shares the same problem I have with the AMMPS generators. You used to be able to fix a gen set with a general mechanic's tool box, and a very simple multimeter. You can't anymore. Everything is inclosed in a box, with some kind of goop filling it in, so you can't test or repair anything. And the boxes are big time expensive. Almost every troubleshooting procedure in the TM's, takes you to a large circuit card, or to the Backplane, (the computer/brain) or the display, (Looks like a computer monitor but is packed with another computer) on the MEP-805B and MEP-806B gen set. No real way to test them, "pluck and chuck". I don't know what these things cost now, but in 2010 or 2011, all of them were well over 1500 dollars. No, I lied. You could test them by doing a "system check". Putting them in a known good gen set and seeing if they work. The display was easy to remove, but the circuit board and Backplane was something else.
The AMMPS is suposed to be similar complicated. Also harder to work on, do to the very crowded layout of the set. I haven't worked on one, but that's what I heard.
Automatic paralleling and synchronizing, (the same thing) is just something else to go wrong. Since time began, the old way, hook up the gen sets. Start one, put on line. Start the second one, flip both sets paralleling switches up. Watch the paralleling lights on the second set. Adjust the synchronization, by increasing or decreasing the engine speed,(hertz) throw the second set on line when the lights go out. Done. Easy. Maybe I am just too much the dinosaur. But KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid, works for me. Just my view of the subject.
I did make it to Erlangen for a training course at Siemens AG in 1994. We visited a few cities such as Kronach and Forcheim. I was just starting to enjoy it when it was time to come home.You never made it to germany? Miesau? We did the DS/GS back up for HAWK and PATRIOT. I met lots of good folks there.
I lived through the migration to black box while working in the medical X-Ray diagnostic field. The private companies thought it was a good idea to drive it to a black box method of maintenance because they intended to dumb down the job to the point any delivery guy with no training or experience could do my job and save money. I was an experienced electronics engineer. Siemens upper management actually believed they could execute this plan. There was a rumor of "monkey cam". We thought it was a joke. Basically they had an idea that they could come up with a helmet with a camera attached where a remote tech support guy (such as me) would monitor and direct up to 16 different video feeds and delivery people in how to change out parts in X-Ray machines. One day while in a training class we were joking about it and a senior manager stepped in and in a very serious tone asked, how we found out about "Monkey Cam". I was in shock that they were actually serious this brain phart. I had just made a comment about how we worked with high voltage and there was danger in the job. I made a comment that the first time, you hear a support guy yell, no, no not that one! and then you hears ZZZZSSSSSTTT!!! and the video goes blank, that will be the end of Monkey Cam. After this guy overheard my comment about the risks of Monkey Cam, we never heard about Monkey Cam again.Guy, I only worked for Raytheon in Massachusetts. Did 35 years there doing design, development and field support until I retired last year.
No offense taken.
Just wanted to give a little perspective from the supplier side.
Years back when we were all kids, we (foolishly) played on trains; moving trains. One of our "group" (we all played ice hockey together in the winters), learned a horrible lesson about those overhead power lines in tunnels.I totally agree with you guys about the dangers of high voltage. We had the first hybrid bus in public transit. It was the Breda bus . Made by Breda in Italy. It ran on diesel until it went into the tunnels, then it switched to 700 volts DC on the overhead power lines. One of the regular maintenance jobs was cleaning the switch-over contacts..
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