THE MYSTERY An aircraft manufacturer has been using a system-wide data acquisition system (DAQ) designed by ACES about three years ago. Part of the protocol involves measuring metal heat treat batches that sometimes run around the clock. The customer called ACES...
THE MYSTERY The ACES CSI (Control System Investigator) was just finishing up a service call at a wastewater plant. He was testing the work he’d done on a controller, which runs a coagulation unit removing heavy metals from water. This is a high-current, low-voltage…
THE MYSTERY A corrections facility in the area called ACES because one of their industrial washing machines (100 lb. capacity) was down. They called an electrician in to look at it, but he was unable to find the problem. THE CLUES ACES sent a Control Scene…
THE MYSTERY A manufacturer of aircraft parts was having mystifying issues with their Turco tank. Sometimes the customer could turn on the machine and the burner with no problem — but then 10 minutes later it would randomly shut down and sound an alarm. At other times…
THE MYSTERY A manufacturer of specialized motors had an oven that was way out of calibration. The mid-sized electric oven, used to cure epoxy for motor windings, was 30º out of range, a huge discrepancy for an oven that’s rated ±2½ºF. THE CLUES The first thing the…
THE MYSTERY An ACES customer producing carbon fiber molding for the aircraft industry had a large oven (18′ x 10′ x 10′), which they thought was working just fine — however, they had an opportunity to land a new contract if they could prove their…
THE MYSTERY A local aircraft manufacturer has a fuel farm of ten large tanks, each storing 30,000 gallons of Jet A fuel. A valve on each tank opens to allow fuel to flow in and out to tank trucks or other tanks. When one of these valves failed, the customer called in...
THE MYSTERY One of ACES’ clients does metal fabrication and manufacturing for the government, which has exacting standards. In this case the client needed to report and display the rotational speed of a spin lathe shaft. In some applications it might be possible to...
THE MYSTERY The ACES CSI was called to the scene of a factory that manufactured cardboard boxes. Two of 24 drives controlling a folding and gluing machine were down and there was an error code on the front of the amplifier that indicated “the operating parameters were...
THE MYSTERY An ACES Control Systems Engineer was called to the scene of a violent crime: A forklift had rammed a control cabinet, which pushed the side of the cabinet into the terminals of a DC drive. The power arced to the cabinet wall and grounded, causing the...
