Industrial Electronic Repair

The Sweet Smell of Success

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 17:27:00 GMT

Sweet! The smell of economic improvement is in the air! AP reports today that industrial production rose in December 2010 by the largest amount in five months which is a great surge of momentum to start 2011.

Activity at factories, mines and utilities increased 0.8 percent last month reports the Federal Reserve. Overall industrial activity has risen 11 percent since bottoming out in June 2009.

The biggest indicator of industrial output is factory production which rose 0.4 percent, the sixth straight monthly increase.

Although auto production dipped, computers, electronic productions, clothing, leather, chemicals and other products all made substantial gains.

One secret our customers know well is that getting their industrial electronics repaired versus always buying new is the way to go. Electronic repairs are a good way to keep production equipment expenses down so profits can keep growing.

Need drive repairs, power supply repairs, motor repairs? Let us help you keep the money where it belongs - at the bottom line!

2011 Electronic Gadgets Revealed!

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 19:33:00 GMT

Gadget guys rejoice! I have it on good authority that the electronic gadgets revealed this year at the annual International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas had more hits than misses. More cool toys for you and I to play with in 2011!

This is the largest trade show in the Americas folks. That’s a lot of gadgets and a lot of people. The good news for the economy in general is that more people attended this year’s convention than in the two previous years.

The 2011 mega-hit gadget developments included:

Tablets These are the touch-screen tablet computers designed to compete with Apple’s iPad and there were lots of competitors. To stand out from the iPad, there were hardware offerings that included front-and rear facing cameras for video chatting, high def videos, and 4G.

Verizon’s 4 G devices Verizon Wireless unleashed its 4G network in December with amazing data speeds. For now, only plug-in laptop modems can take advantage of this service.

Windows running on cell phone chips What this means simply is that laptops and tablet computers will have longer battery lives and give Windows a better chance to become dominant in the world of tablet computers.

Intel & AMD with new chip designs These chips have major design changes which will help hold off the advancing tablets and smart phones. Traditional computers using their new chips will be more competitive with mobile devices. The computers will be better at graphics-intensive tasks and playing videos. With the added efficiencies, there will be longer battery life as well.

3-D TV’s with cinema glasses Though 3-D TV’s were out last year, they required large, battery powered glasses to view. This year’s versions boasted light, inexpensive glasses. LG, Vizio and Samsung are big on this new gadget. (Personally, I don’t want a TV that I have to wear special glasses to watch! It’s hard enough just to track down the remote!)

Free TV for mobile devices TV broadcasters have added signals that are designed to be picked up by laptops and cell phones. Though similar offerings have failed in the past, makers Audiovox and LG are believers and are providing several “Mobile DTV” gadgets this year.

High Speed color inkjet printing Startup Memjet has come up with a major development in inkjet printing that allows desktop printers to cheaply print one page per second in color. The head is stationary and spans the whole page. The cost of the printer will be about $600.

Live long and prosper!

Tomorrow is a New Day!

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 21:15:00 GMT

2010 Flashback: Remember the massive Toyota recall that kept getting shockingly worse, the inspiring Chilean miner rescue, BP’s devastating Gulf Oil Spill, the Tea Party, Mark Zuckerberg (who knew the name Mark Zuckerberg (besides his mom) before 2010? Now it’s everywhere! ), Facebook, Wikileaks, Twitter, Android phones, the Apple iPad, oh, and remember the ash cloud from the Iceland volcano and all the trouble that caused? That seems like forever ago but it really was 2010.

News and new things came at us faster than ever in 2010. We hardly had time to appreciate the new marvel before the next one was in our face. Maybe a fast-paced, electronic, information-based world energizes and amazes you, or maybe it makes you just want to check out. Me? Some days it’s all cool, some days I just turn off all the gadgets and go for a hike in the woods and watch the blue jays take on the red tailed hawks.

Either way, it seems like a few minutes of calm reflection at the end of each day helps keep things in perspective. 2011 is a new year and tomorrow will be a new day with new solutions for each new challenge. The National Circuit tech team is ready to take on your electronic repairs challenges in 2011!

Are You Well Grounded? Don't Be "Shocked" if You're Not

Mon, 29 Nov 2010 20:39:00 GMT

“Shocking” Info Bites:

Almost 500 people die each year from electrical accidents, mostly in the workplace, putting it among the top 10 causes of accidental death in the U.S.
Approximately 80% of all injuries and fatalities caused by electrical accidents are not caused by the electric shock itself, but by the intensive heat, light and pressure blast caused by electrical faults.
The blast made by vaporizing metallic components can break bones and damage internal organs.

Scary? Don’t be one of these statistics. One important factor in plant safety is proper grounding techniques. There is no faking it here, so make sure you are working with a licensed master electrician. Here are just a few important things to remember about grounding to protect both people and equipment:

The ground wire must be sized the same size as the supply wires or one size smaller as a minimum. The three-phase power brought into a plant must also have a ground wire.
Do not mix wires of different voltages in conduit.
Never run any wires through an electronic control panel that do not relate to the function of the panel; electronic control panels should never be used as a junction box.
Never allow field wiring to come in close proximity with the controller boards.
Never add relays, starters, timers, transformers, etc. inside an electronic control panel without first contacting the manufacturer for specific instructions.
Never run refrigerant tubing inside an electronic control panel (ammonia will destroy your electronics).
If the electronic control panel has a starter built into the same panel, be sure to run the higher voltage wires as indicated by the manufacturer since EMI from the wires can interfere with the electronics if run too close to the circuitry.
Never daisy-chain or parallel-connect power or ground wires to electronic control panels.
Sensitive electronics require special grounding; ground impedance of one ohm or less may protect people from electric shock but may not be enough protection for electronic equipment. IEEE recommends a ground impedance to be less than 0.25 ohms for proper protection.
Check all devices immediately after installation to verify proper wiring; receptacles should be checked to avoid common wiring errors such as reversed polarity or an open neutral.
Check the manufacturer’s requirements, codes, and always hire a licensed master electrician for electrical work. It may save a life and it will almost certainly save your electronic equipment.

The bottom line is, we CAN protect ourselves from electrical accidents AND prevent costly equipment damage by using certified devices, testing equipment from reputable manufacturers, and keeping up to date on electrical codes. For specific code compliance information see http://www.neccodebooks.com or get the latest electrical codes from http://www.nfpa.org/catalog/.

If your electronic equipment does get fried, we will be delighted to provide power supply repairs, servo drive repairs, or virtually any other type of industrial electronic repairs you need. National Circuit's tech team is here to help you.

What To Do About Loose Connections

Mon, 29 Nov 2010 20:34:00 GMT

Wow. Loose connections…now that’s a “loose” term if ever there was one!

Connection problems are indeed responsible for many problems with electronics of all sorts.

Note the key words are connection problems because the problem may very well NOT be looseness at all. So step away from the torque wrench or worse-yet the screwdriver.

What seems like a “loose” connection could be just that, but electronic problems are more often the result of bad connections caused by:

Oxidation of contacts
Corrosion of contacts
Dirty contact surfaces
Cross threading
Wrong bolt or screw
Wrong connection sizes
Broken conductor stands away from the fitting

Tightening the connections in any of the above scenarios will not fix the problem and may make it worse. Connections that are disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled have a higher repair success rate.

It should also be noted that tightening connections as part of regular maintenance can often be the cause of problems, not the cure.

Truly loose connections result in higher resistances which creates excess heat, one of the biggest causes of electrical fires.

Loose, under load terminals result in arcing which damages the threads and causes microscopic pitting. Then, even if the terminal screw is retightened, it will not properly compress the conductor and will reseat only to the point where the damage occurred. You still end up with overheating and inoperative equipment, or maybe even a fire.

Remember this equation: Clean contact surfaces and the proper exertion of force and pressure = good connections.

If you are sure that your connection(s) need tightening, always use a torque wrench with appropriate torque values as set by the manufacturer or codes to avoid over-tightening.

How often should you inspect connections? If your shop is clean, climate-controlled and reasonably vibration free, once a year. A dirty, high vibration shop should have more frequent inspections.

For most shops, getting printed circuit board repair, drive repair or otherindustrial electronic repairs, it's best to send them to an expert electronic repair provider.

At NCI, our techs do it all day every day. After being inspected and repaired, your entire unit, not just the connections, will also be under warranty for one year. Check out our website at www.industrialelectronicrepair.biz or call our customer service team at 800-257-4021 for assistance.

Industrial Electronic Repairs - Lambda Power Supply

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 22:49:00 GMT

A Lambda Power Supply, Model ZUP 36-6, was sent to our shop with the problem description: “No Output Voltage.” Initial troubleshooting involved powering up the unit and enabling the outputs. The unit immediately presented an Alarm LED and the OVP (Over Voltage Protection) LED. An attempt to clear the alarms by resetting the OVP to high and the UVP (Under Voltage Protection) to 0.0 failed to clear either alarm. Circuit level troubleshooting revealed that the current feedback circuit was open. Component level troubleshooting revealed an open resistor. The resistor was replaced and the unit resumed normal operations.

Industrial Electronic Repairs - Carotron DC Drive

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 22:48:00 GMT

Unit was received with a typical problem. The motor speed was not consistent and the contactors were chattering. Troubleshooting revealed that both contactors were not operating properly. Further inspection revealed that the internal contacts were not closing completely , as they should. It was clear that the environment played a significant role in the failure of these components. The unit was covered with a fine dust that had penetrated the contacts and prevented them from closing properly. Cleaning the internal contacts repaired both contactors. The rest of the unit was cleaned, as well. The unit was then tested under a motor load and ran perfectly in both directions.

Industrial Electronic Repair tips - Multiple Output Power Supply

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 22:48:00 GMT

Many multiple output power supplies require the primary output (high current output) be connected to a load before the secondary outputs are turned on. Understandable if the primary supply output doesn't feedback return voltage, the main circuits shuts down all outputs as a safety pre-caution until electronic repair services can be done.

The recent repair of a multi-output power supply is an example of the main output (5Vdc, 30 Amps) damaged and the other three outputs are in shut-off mode until repair can be completed on the 5Vdc circuit. Once repairs are done and a load is placed on the primary output, control circuits will allow the secondary outputs to go active.

Industrial Electronic Equipment - Linear Scale

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 21:55:00 GMT

Machines can use several different methods to locate the position of the machine work head in relation to zero position markers. An example is the Linear Scale. There are several manufactures of linear scales. These scales have different lengths depending on the overall travel distance needed by the axis travel of the machine. These scales are made up of a graduation glass, a reader head that senses the marks on the glass, and a signal amplifier. The accuracy of movement is dependent upon the degree of measure of each scale, i.e. one hundred marks per inch is more accurate than fifty marks per inch. The higher the count, the more accurately the movement is measured. Dust, oil and other foreign materials will likely cause a miscount because the reader head may count dust or contaminates as a mark on the glass. Good maintenance on the seals and regular cleaning of the scale will help extend the life of linear scale.

Industrial Electronic Repairs - Fanuc Servo Amplifier

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 22:50:00 GMT

Fanuc Servo Amp A06B-6093-H101
This unit came to our shop with the problem description "Stopped working and black powder was coming out from the unit"

The initial inspection found that the black powder was carbon powder due to the manufacturing environment it came from. Cleaning the unit did not fix the problem because the carbon powder was distributed under the power module (IGBT) causing it to be shorted. After replacing the IGBT module, the unit was repaired.

The importance of Universal Power Supplies

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 21:50:00 GMT

Universal power supplies have come into the spotlight in some recent repairs. Power fluctuations can drastically effect some equipment. These fluctuations in the power are normal and due to changing demands on the power grid. Equipment that requires specific power requirements can malfunction or stop operating all together due to these fluctuations. One solution is the universal power supply. Equipment that is sensitive to these unstable power levels benefit from a constant output that the universal power supply delivers. Universal power supplies are designed to operate when the power input ranges from 83 volts AC to 230 volts AC keeping the output at the same determined value.

Solid State Relays

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 15:02:00 GMT

Solid State Relays (SSR) are relays that have the ability to switch high voltage/current loads by means of a low control voltage. These SSR's also have no internal mechanical parts that can wear or arc, that sometimes cause failures in the mechanical relays. Crydom TD2425 is an example of a solid-state relay used in industrial circuits. The TD2425 control input is 3 volts DC to 32 volts DC that controls the isolated output 240 volts AC at 25 Amps.

Testing SSR can be done quickly by first connecting a load in series across the output side of the relay and applying dc control voltage to the input side of the relay. With the control voltage applied the output side of the relay will conduct voltage/current if the relay is operating correctly.

SSR are good relays to use in dusty or harsh environments and also where the loads have short duty cycles.

Industrial Electronic Repairs - Emerson PCM 18

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 22:46:00 GMT

PCM-18 Positioning Servo Controller

Came to our shop with the Fault "won't control"

Troubleshooting the unit exposed a damaged backup battery. The battery is used to hold the programming in the EEPROMS. Without the battery, the programs were dumped. The EEPOMS were also suspected to have sustained some damage.

Replaced the battery and both Odd and Even EEPROMs. Had to pull the programs which are saved in the the Archived file and burn the original programs in the new EEPROM Ic's. After that it was ready to be returned to the customer.

Emerson LX-400 Repair Example

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 19:18:00 GMT

This unit was found to have a problem in the resolver circuit that showed as a ‘Ready Light’ fault. Every time the drive was enabled, the green ‘Ready Light’ LED would go out and the drive would fail to activate the motor.

It was determined through component troubleshooting that a surface mount capacitor located in the resolver, or feedback circuit, was shorted. It was odd that the resolver fault was not displayed, as it should have been.

The capacitor was replaced, the problem eliminated and the drive functioned properly.

Industrial Electronic Repairs - Deltron Power Supply

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 22:51:00 GMT

When the unit was initially powered up, there was no output on any of the unit’s specified DC voltages: +12V, -12V, +5V, or +24V. When the unit was removed from the case, and inspected, several ‘cold’ solder joints were discovered. It was also determined that a third party had attempted to replace several diodes. The installation of the new diodes did not include re-installing the heat sink isolation material. Thus, the diodes were not functioning properly.

Once the ‘cold’ solder joints were corrected and the insulation installed, the unit was powered up and the outputs were present. The unit was mounted in the case and then fully tested with proper load. All voltages were present and were steady under load. Sometimes it just pays to double-check your work to eliminate simple problems.