An aerospace customer had recently moved one of their composite ovens which they used for curing aircraft parts. When they hooked it back up again they ran into a couple of problems: First, the machine wasn’t warming up fast enough. Second, once it finally…
Staff Writer
The Case of the Howling Burner
One of ACES’ aerospace customers had an atmosphere oven which they used for heat treating parts. It was down for an overhaul, and they asked ACES to remove the eight burners and burner tubes and clean and inspect them. When the ACES Control Systems…
The Case of the Homeless Glass Cutting Machine
A major glass manufacturer called ACES with a conundrum: One of their large glass cutting tables was acting erratically. This piece of equipment is used to trim 10′ x 10′ sheets of glass down into smaller pieces for use in the automotive and construction…
The Case of the Green Parts
One of ACES’ customers called with a curious issue: They were an aerospace company using an older vacuum furnace to anneal stainless steel parts, making them shiny and silver — but now the parts were coming out green. A Control Systems Inspector (CSI) was…
The Case of the Granddaddy Cotton Gin
For several years ACES has serviced a 80s-era cotton gin with functional mechanical parts, but a legacy control system dating back to the 1990s. One day a Control Systems Inspector (CSI) was called to the scene when a relay output card failed on the bale…
Framing the Future
Ribs of massive metal beams cast shadows over a slab of newly poured concrete behind ACES’ current shop. By the summer of 2017 this space will house a new machine shop for metal fabrication of large-scale…
The Case of the New Paint Drying Conveyor Oven
An aerospace manufacturer contacted ACES with concerns about a 45′ conveyor oven used to heat-treat primer on aircraft parts. The oven was brand new from the manufacturer, purchased as an improvement over a defunct oven with unusual sensors: the operators…
Beating the Heat
ACES partnered with Bogh Industries, experts in burners, ovens, heat-treat and mechanical engineering, on major design revisions to an oven in Chandler, AZ. This machine is part of a production facility which…
The Case of the Shy Burner
A VFD swap caused an oven’s burner to stop lighting. Control Systems Inspector traced the wiring and found something unexpected. One of ACES’ clients called with an oven that suddenly wouldn’t light. This is a mission-critical industrial oven in a food…
The Case of the Cold Oven
One of ACES customers is a fine food producer with 20 facilities across the US and Mexico. One of the ovens they used for final processing had always been finicky and difficult to start, with a startup routine of 12 seconds, so they asked ACES to modify…
