[QUOTE=tengineer1;156975]Carbon pile? damn you are old if you even remember that [I do]
It is true that the technology is advancing but it is also true the guys don’t either have the background or the training to advance with it. Sadly, when they budget for all the new technology to cut labor they do not budget for the training to maintain it.[/QUOTE]
The first vessels I worked on had Sperry Mk 14 gyros with carbon pile regulators.
The sad part is most of the entry level jobs have been eliminated. I never attended any schools but I was fortunate to work for some very good engineers.
[QUOTE=cmakin;156984]Yes, getting to know the system is invaluable. When Crowley bought the Robin tugs in the mid 80s, I spent quite a bit of time in the yard with them and also with the guys who were installing the new alarm system. I not only learned the alarm settings, but also the code to access and change them. Flash forward a few years and I was back on one of them on the West Coast. I was getting a nagging alarm (forget which one now), but was able to enter the system, saw what was setting the alarm off, changed the alarm points and logged it. Got into port and had everything fixed.[/QUOTE]
The 3600/c280 Cats have the MMS panel with user access.(code) The sensors for the MMS are independent of the ECM. You have to have a Cat program and interface to access the ECM.
[QUOTE=injunear;157020]The 3600/c280 Cats have the MMS panel with user access.(code) The sensors for the MMS are independent of the ECM. You have to have a Cat program and interface to access the ECM.[/QUOTE]
I went through all the DNV tests with Cat reps from Lithuania and got a kick out their LO temp test’ A guy brought a spare
sensor and put a lighter to it while ( the spare was hooked up but our sensor was still in the engine disconnected) . I had to do all (other engine and main engine) sensor temp alarm and shutdowns with a calibrated heat pot for the USCG and DNV but they let these guys from cat use a bic lighter to do the high LO temp alarm. We didn’t have the cat software to do overspeed test so we had these guys come in.
My electricity instructor at Maine simplified electricity down to 3 problems. A short circuit, an open circuit, or a ground. The worse problem is an intermittent open which you can get from poor stakon connections or partially burned or cracked wires. A buddy of mine was chief on a LASH ship and I was 1st. Our crane broke down in Saudi Arabia in August and after 12 hours of troubleshooting and many calls to Hanlin Electric in NOLA we found a wire with a burned spot in the middle but it conducted when wiggled and opened when wiggled. We rang out the wire with a 10 foot jumper wire and a simpson meter. Lash cranes rolled down tracks like a 1000 ton train (500 ton crane and 500 ton barge) and they bounced around a lot on track slice joints. I replaced a lot of railroad track to smooth out the ride.
[QUOTE=injunear;157020]The 3600/c280 Cats have the MMS panel with user access.(code) The sensors for the MMS are independent of the ECM. You have to have a Cat program and interface to access the ECM.[/QUOTE]
This was the system put in for the ALCOs back in 83. . or was it 84?
I worked with the first run of c280s. For a while we went through a shit load of injectors. Never did hear if it was faulty injectors or software. The Cat techs couldn’t keep up so we were issued Cat laptops.
In the '70s, I sailed a couple of years on seismic vessels. There were continuous additions of electrical equipment every time we hit the dock. Between the shock and vibration, they were an electrician’s nightmare.
I don’t have a whole lot of Cat experience other than the Invader (and Sea Swift) Class boats and their generators. I also spent six months sailing for Belcher and they had Cat generators, too.