The Politics of Apprentice Abuse

Working on the -80C freezer again

Mechanic 1: Measure the amperage of the high side compressor, I want to know if its turning off
Me: Start circuit or run circuit?
Mech 1: Just tell me if its turning off or not
Me: Cant you hear it?
Mech 1: Do you know what you're doing?
Me: *sigh* Fine. *Places clamp-on ammeter on 20A internal freezer circuit breaker*
Mech 1: Whats it pulling? Is it on?
Me: Fifty-two amps. There, now it's off
Mech 1: Check the voltage this time. Turn it off and restart it.
Me: ...wtf? Okay. 
Mech 1: What are you reading?
Me: Sixteen volts
Mech 1: Someting wrong with your meter? We should be getting 110
Me: Reading EMF induced into the start circuit by the run circuit. That's how the potential relay works, it reads EMF, and w-
Mech 1: Dont you have a gauge that will read it?
Me: Gauge?
Mech 1: Yeah, a gauge...(blank stare) ...
Me: A voltmeter? Every voltmeter in the world would read that
Mech 1: No filter or anything? None in the world? What about an analog voltmeter?
Me: ...
Me: When the windings are energized, it creates a magnetic field. Both the start and run circuits are generating a field, but the run becomes much stronger, inducing a counter-emf and a voltage over 300 volts depending on load, and--
Journeyman 1: (Walking over to us, not knowing what I'm doing is because Mechanic 1 asked me to. I refuse to make an enemy out of this guy; he has too many already and thats the last thing I need now) Hey! Why are you doing that? You need to find out if the control board is CALLING for the compressor to be on! *frustrated at me*
Me: I'm explaining to him why we're reading weird voltages at the Potential Relay, and--[He interrupts, acting like he is frustrated as if I have no diagnostic skills]
Journeyman 1: *Points to crude stick-drawing of circuit*
Mech 1: Lets check the compressor, each lead to ground
Me: (How can we check the compressor AT the compressor by checking each wire to ground? WTF?) *says nothing* *removes common, run circuit wires*
Journeyman 1: Dont take them off. You dont need to take them off to check if its grounded. None of them should be grounded.
Me: I have you telling me to do one thing, him telling me something else. 
Me: (Tests each compressor terminal to ground, 6500 ohms. Was actually reading the coil on the Potential relay)
Mech 1: The compressor's shot!
Journeyman 1: The compressor's shot!
Me: Uh...(knowing this reading is as unlikely as winning the Powerball without a ticket)...
Journeyman walks away to get his Megger 
Mech 1: Well no wonder! You have a wire still connected!
Me: Yeah, I know. He told me not to disconnect anything.
Mech 1 and Mech 2 leave for lunch
Journeyman 1: Hook this up to ground, ok, now put this on one of the terminals
Me: Okay, on the common (reads 58megaohms. Thats good)
Journeyman 1: (Takes lead off compressor, puts on bolt holding down compressor, then another bolt) Thats good. (Wraps up cords on megger, not testing the other terminal points to ground nor each other)
Me: *sigh* Okay.
Journeyman: Time for lunch
(We're actually 15 minutes in to lunch)
I work through lunch, unpaid as usual (if I take a "late" lunch, some individual  says I was taking a "long" lunch, so I just skip it. How do I prove I DIDNT do something? You cant prove a negative), so I'd thought...
Drawing 53 amps. Must be low supply voltage. Measure 117V at receptacle, and at breaker in freezer. Turn freezer on, high stage compressor turns on, 53 amp draw, voltage at 90V at receptacle.

Push freezer to another receptacle, a GFI fed by the same panel.
Plug in, turn on. 117V and 14 Amps continuous, main breaker didnt trip, freezer 20A breaker didnt trip, and the overcurrent/overtemp combo switch on the compressor didnt trip. 

This was verified by what I'd said back in March, and doubly verified by an email I'd received from the helpful folks at So-Low Freezer company, that if the voltage does *NOT* drop below 108V *AND* the compressor(s) are drawing 40+ amps, the compressors are defective. 

So, for now it's back in the mechanics hands. There must be a certain way of charging or turning up this system from a shut-down (as I'd said the first DAY I looked at this freezer...as it didnt fail at all, only turned off for a couple hours in order to get the frost build-up out), but the "manual" we have for this unit is pretty generic. 

I still stand by my guns with my theory "If you dont know how it is supposed to operate, how can you possibly troubleshoot it?". I want to take FIVE MINUTES at least and learn how it works, so I can fix it. My Journeyman is a smart guy, but I'm not going to argue. Often times he gets frustrated (like the first day we'd looked at this freezer. He's treating it like a PLC or sometrhing). He writes reviews for me, which always get interpreted by The Find Faults No Matter What Apprenticeship Committee as "Oh, your review is pretty bad. We were expecting it to say 'perfect', it only says you're doing a 'fantastic' job. Fantastic is a window cleaner. Do you want to clean windows? All your marks are 5-stars, so there is no room for improvement. Dont you want to improve?" Maybe not in these exact words, but that's pretty much the political shit I deal with. The Committee doesnt like me, I have no effing idea why. At the last meeting, I was accused of "working all the overtime [I] can so [I] can go to some porn convention in Las Vegas", right in front of my bosses and everyone in the room (not true by the way, I went to DEFCON 20, my first vacation in over ... wow... 21 years? Since Jamaica in 1991?!). I was so shocked, I didn't know WHAT to say. WTF?! The other individual accused me of starting a rumor about his performance and knowledge, which I'd never heard until he accused me, so maybe thats it. Turns out when I'd asked people about this rumor, they all laughed as if it were entirely accurate. Is it? I dont know, I dont really work with him until he needs a voltpack cleaned and checked. Well, bullies can only be bullies as long as they have power. He wont have any over the apprentices any more by the end of the year.

On a good note, I was given a great project to do, and access to a bit of a budget if I need. I get to re-engineer a control/monitoring/alarm/feedback/input-output system for the casting area, in the same room my fail-safe idiot-proof nitrogen freezer lock and ventilation  system is. The one the operator keeps bypassing with a screwdriver on the tamper-proof key (looks like a pit bull has chewed it up). I've already emailed EHS about it, nobody seems to care.


It's Friday, I'm going home. I'd like to SAY "I dont care either", but I do, and I'll fret all weekend that nobody wants to fix a real safety concern...because I had built that system, and it operates PERFECTLY, except when someone overrides it because they are too lazy to wait the required 10 minutes for venting so they can open the freezer.


I have a lot of pictures and fun stuff to post. It was a great week. It really was, despite a discouraging finish.

Land Jewell...not a shiny gem.

...or maybe it is.

I'll summarize with my e-mail I'd sent.



Hello,


The correct thermocouple extension wire for S6 was ordered this morning on #xxxxxxxxx,
Any extra can (and this type should) be used for S7 and S8.


If you enjoy details, read on;


I'd received a response from CM Furnace today, they recommended using "B" Thermocouple wire for our part number and temperature run. My original assumption was correct, but that was luck. I'd never heard of a "Land-Jewell" thermocouple before, nor had Paul, Pat, Scott, Dave... It doesn't show on any T/C charts or from Grainger, Newark, Omega.


I'd thought it was the manufacturer name. I Googled it and an engineering book came up, explaining the properties and applications of the "Land-Jewell". Paul had checked the platinum-rhodium ratio on the thermocouples he was working on, they didn't match any "letter" code for thermocouples, but they were the same in that engineering book I'd found (Pt60% Rd40%, and Pt80 Rd20%). The Land-Jewell T/C type is recommended for hi-temp and maintaining that temperature for extended periods, more durable than other ranges. "B" was the suitable extension wire CM Furnace said to use, which is Cu/Cu, the same as what the engineering book had recommended. So, Sinter 7 and 8 must be using this as well.


More info on the Land Jewell:


http://books.google.com/books?id=-375rPRjeGkC&pg=PA39&lpg=PA39&dq=land+jewell+thermocouple&source=bl&ots=9yZ8GtbkRG&sig=9jnr7523-eK0KgbClV_sXejG0Ek&hl=en&sa=X&ei=_1KET76FFIKa2gXj0KCdCQ&ved=0CJABEOgBMAU#v=onepage&q=land%20jewell%20thermocouple&f=false
Pages 39 to 45


The Land-Jewell is listed on the CM Furnace brochure, but no detailed explanation.


Regards,



I really hate mystery movies (they are always about some snooty know-it-all solving a crazy conspiracy-type murder), but this was a hell of a lot of fun...mainly because I'd learned something and shared the info with my peers. The job is getting done, and ahead of time (if we get the parts in soon). I guess this was more of a puzzle that nobody could help you with, you're pressed for time, and you start with a misconception of sorts.

Feels damned good to make progress.