ACES routinely maintains a legacy oven at an aircraft plant that is used to cure composite parts for long periods at relatively low temperatures. Recently the customer had been having issues with identifying serial numbers for aircraft parts, which were…
THE MYSTERY A customer called ACES to the scene of a drop bottom furnace, which was used to fabricate aircraft detail parts and components. Like all drop bottom furnaces this one was equipped with a parts basket that was lowered from the underside of the furnace into…
An aircraft parts manufacturer had an aluminum heat treat oven that wasn’t meeting its surveys. The customer surmised that what the oven needed was more airflow, and they called ACES to make the adjustment.THE CLUES The fan was running 500 rpm, and being…
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 ACES performs the annual gas train safety checks on the ovens and autoclaves for an aerospace parts provider. One of steps of the safety checks is the combustion blower airflow or pressure-proving switch. When the ACES Control System Investigator was...
THE MYSTERY A manufacturer of large metal extrusions for the aircraft industry called ACES to the scene of a 40’ drop bottom furnace. The furnace had failed its most recent NADCAP audit because the hot junctions of the thermocouples recording the high and low limits...
THE MYSTERY The temperature controller of a 20-year-old vacuum furnace had gone completely dark. This furnace was a critical piece of equipment for the owner, a local aircraft plant. The original manufacturer of the controller no longer supported it — but they would…
THE MYSTERY An aircraft company purchased a large used oven and had it moved to their location. They set up the oven and lit it, but it would not stay lit. The customer removed duct work and replaced the burner, but the oven still refused to stay lit. THE CLUES…
THE MYSTERY A local company had a power failure during the night. They have a large salt bath with two burners. One burner relit automatically but the second would not relight — and upon manual relighting would not stay lit.
