OIL MONITORING ANALYST 2006 Training Dates and Locations
* OMA I, II CLS & CMFS, English

Montreal, QC-Canada (in French)
Nov. 8-9
Nov. 10: Exams

Miami, FL
Dec. 5-6
Dec. 7: Exams

Red Deer, AB-Canada
Dec. 12-13
Dec. 14: Exams

To learn more please call CMI at (678) 942-3582 or…

Learn more about OIL MONITORING ANALYST Training

When starting a new oil analysis program the test results can reveal an overwhelming number of problems with the lubricants in your machinery. One key to making progress in correcting your lubrication troubles is to prioritize your remediation efforts.

Start slow and localize your early efforts to one area of your plant. If sample ports, breathers, filtering connections, and sight glass modifications are planned get those started before your sampling program begins and build your routes as the equipment is retrofit.

If nearly all of your equipment seems to be in a critical state according to your sample results prioritize your remediation efforts also. Consider focusing on Chemistry and Wear problems first. Your first work orders are written to change out the sour oil, oil with water contamination and filtering to reduce or eliminate wear debris before filtering just for contamination. Trend wear debris, with other technologies (vibration, ultrasound, and thermography data) to determine which equipment needs inspection repair or replacement

Build your program in stages starting in your highest priority area and systematically work you way through. Early success builds confidence and enthusiasm.

Tip submitted by Clyde Hughes, CMRP, MLT II, MLA II
Allied Reliability, Inc.

Sign up for Allied Reliability’s FREE 7 Part e-course for PdM

Now you can receive infrared training wherever and whenever it’s convenient for you.

Infraspection Institutes broad range of Distance Learning Courses includes Certification Prep, Applications, and Industry-Specific courses. All courses are taught by expert Level 3 instructors utilizing dynamic, multi-media resources.

Become an Infraspection Institute Certified Infrared Thermographer. Complete 32 hours of Distance Learning and take your certification exam at one of our convenient locations.

Use this link for more info

The Woodhouse Partnership PAS 55 Assessment & Certification service enables organizations to test and demonstrate to regulator/stakeholders that their assets are being properly managed for optimum performance, longevity and value for money.

TWPL contributes a unique perspective: all the assessors are themselves experienced asset managers

Learn more about PAS 55 Assessment & Certification services

ELECTRICAL CONTROL PANELS TIP(S):
(Loose Neutrals and Removing ECP Covers)

A few articles have recently been published about the need to take off the covers in order to effectively shoot control panels for potential hot spots. At Johns Manville, McPherson we took this advice to heart and began implementing ECP’s into our infrared program. It wasn’t long before we got our first payback and avoided some serious downtime.

It started, innocently enough, when we found a hot spot surrounding a GFCI receptacle that was under no load. We replaced the damaged receptacle and expected the hot spot to go away. When we shot the new receptacle we found our hot spot immediately returned. We investigated further and traced our GFCI circuit back to the Electrical Control Panel that fed it.

What we found surprised us!

We removed the Electrical Control Panel cover and shot the contents with our infrared camera. It was then our camera found the source of our GFCI receptacle problem. The main neutral feeder to the ECP was glowing red! We ended up shutting the panel down, locking it out, and replacing the neutral wire (which we found had only 3 tiny copper strands still under the lug). The entire load of the panel was just over 8 amps.

The point of this story is that although we weren’t out there shooting Electrical Control Panels when we stumbled on this, it made us awfully glad that we had started shooting them.

So, the Infrared tip is (actually there are two tips):

(1) Don’t forget the neutrals.
Loose neutrals can be a source for (serious) hot spots.

(2)Take the advice of articles that tell you to shoot ECP’s and remove their covers when doing so.

Most hot spots will escape you if you don’t take the covers off. It doesn’t take many amps to create a serious problem. In our case, it only took 8 amps on the neutral of a 120 volt circuit.

Reader tip submitted by Nick Bohonik, Reliability and Thermographer Level 1, Johns Manville, McPherson Kansas USA

Thanks Nick - and congratulations on winning Uptime Magazines Infrared Program of the Year Award! We hope to read more about your best practices in future issues of Uptime! Your Maintenance-Tip hat is on the way.

Read more about the Johns Manville Award Winning Infrared Program

An iPresentation Tutorial by Andy Page, Allied Reliability

Predictive Maintenance (PdM) Secrets Revealed is an informative 7 part series of short presentations designed to supply you with specific information about world class PdM programs. This presentation will answer many of the questions you have with regard to the reliability journey such as:
• What is the overall mission of PdM?
• How does PdM help you plan maintenance better?
• How do you use PdM to enable the Proactive Workflow Model?
• Is there data to prove shifting work from Preventive Maintenance (PM) to PdM is beneficial?
• How much PdM should you be doing?

Please join Andy Page for a 10 minute overview of the business reasons for a predictive maintenance program.

Start your iPresentation tutorial now

Level 1 Planning and Scheduling
(the basics)
Planner to Craft Ratio – 0:0

Level 1 Planning and Scheduling involves maintenance personnel planning & scheduling their own work. Modest gains are possible, but in general will be small when compared to gains achievable with a Level 2 approach. Sub-optimization is almost assured in Level 1 and communication problems can be exacerbated. After saying all of this can it work? Only if the basic principles of planning and scheduling are followed.

Planning Basic Principle #1: The delays that are ultimately prevented must account for more time saved than it took to plan the work.

While this principle is obvious, it is a particularly difficult hurdle to overcome in Level 1 planning if job complexity and skill level are not considered while developing an explicit guide on the types of jobs this Planning Level is adequate for. This level of planning is not an effective means to eliminate the Planner position, but it can be appropriate for simple jobs that do not involve more than one craft. As a general rule the more complex the job is (time required, multiple parts, multiple steps, skill level, multiple crafts required, special procedures involved, etc.) the more likely it will be that Level 1 planning will not result in a net gain in effectiveness. By the same token, some jobs are just too simple and straight forward for a dedicated Planner (Level 2) to spend his time on. In these situations, Level 1 planning can achieve savings that are not possible in Level 2.

Planning Basic Principle #2: A job to be planned must be predictable.
If the skills required, the parts needed, and the tools/equipment and information required aren’t reliably identifiable prior to job execution time, then the ability to eliminate delays via planning diminishes progressively. The less predictable a job is, the more likely a candidate it is for Level 1 planning and the less suitable it is for Level 2 planning. In Level 1 planning the few things that are predictable can be quickly identified yielding some savings, whereas a similar job routed through a Level 2 process may not end up with positive benefits.

Scheduling Basic Principle #1: The schedule of the physical assets and those of the resources (labor) must be coordinated in a manner to maximize opportunities and minimize delays.

Level 1 scheduling to be most effective must be on jobs where minimal equipment preparation will be required, no secondary crafts will be required, and no production interruption will result. Otherwise, communication problems will be exceedingly difficult when so many craft people are trying to develop a common schedule.

Join me at IMC-2006 for a great session: “Making Planning and Scheduling Simple.” Jerry Wilson
December 5-8, 2006
Daytona Beach Florida

Register for Early Bird Savings at IMC-2006 today!

Six misconceptions about PM

1. PM is only a way of trying to determine when and what will break or wear out so you can replace it before it does.

PM is much bigger then that. It is an integrated approach to budgeting, failure analysis, and eliminates excessive resource use and permanent correction of problem areas. PM can actually be seen as a way of life!

2. PM systems are all the same. You can just copy the system from the manual or from your old job and it will work.

PM systems must be designed for the actual equipment as set-up, age of the equipment, product, type of service, hours of operation, skill of operators and many other factors.

3. PM is extra work on top of existing workloads and it costs more money.

PM increases uptime, reduced energy usage, reduces unplanned events, reduces airfreight bills, etc. There are hundreds of ways PM saves the organization resources. The only time it is in addition to the existing workload is at the startup when you put a PM system into place. You will have to spend extra to fund monies not invested into the equipment in the past (pay for past sins).

4. With good forms and descriptions unskilled people can do PM tasks.

Unskilled (in maintenance) people can do some of the PM tasks successfully with good training and clear forms. For greatest return on investment skilled people must be in the loop. TLC activities (such as lubrication, cleaning or tightening bolts) can certainly be done by a trained but not maintenance employees. Generally inspection benefits greatly from experienced eyes and hands.

5. PM is a series of task lists and inspection forms to be applied at specific intervals (and is obsolete).

All proactive maintenance activity is part of PM. That includes the most modern approaches including vibration routes, Infrared surveys, or condition based maintenance checks. Newest PM strategies initiate activity on some condition (such as initiate task list when temperature gauge reads 220°).

6. PM will eliminate breakdown

In the words of a PM class “PM can’t put iron into a machine.” In other words the equipment must be able to do the job. PM cannot make a 5 hp motor do the work of a 10 hp motor. Even with the most advanced PM there will still be breakdowns from abuse, misapplication or accident. Some failure modes do not currently lend themselves to PM approaches (such as electronics failures).

Tip provided by Joel Levitt, Author of Lean Maintenance in a Nutshell

Lean Maintenance in a Nutshell

Date: Friday October 20, 2006
When: 11am - 12 noon EST (GMT - 5)
Cost: $0 - FREE

Part 1 - 6 Steps to an Effective Infrared Testing Program by James Taylor

and

Part 2 Introduction to Infrared by Greg Stockton

Each workshop will feature two presentations - one covering management aspects and one covering technical aspects. Each presentation will be followed by a Q & A session, and you can choose to continue the discussion with other participants via the web for days, weeks or months. Our goal is to create a community of shared knowledge that will lead maintenance & reliability professionals to a better understanding of reliability principles.

Space is limited so please use this link to enroll in this FREE workshop today!

Know your coolant’s boil point

The point at which coolant boils is determined by operating temperature, pressure and elevation. When coolant boils, it not only degrades prematurely but can pit liners, radiators and oil coolers and cause water pump failure. When calculating a coolant’s boil point, consider the following: 2.7°F is gained per 1lb. of pressure and 3°F is lost for every 1000 feet elevation beyond 5000 feet above sea level. Be sure your coolant formulations contain correct glycol concentrations to keep them from boiling at their highest operating elevation.

Tip provided by Polaris Laboratories

Learn more about basic and advanced coolant testing for optimal system performance or sign up for cooling system maintenance training