Happy New Year from Nobreakdowns.com

Happy New Year from all of us at Nobreakdowns.com. Thank you for making 2006 a success for us. We wish you a prosperous and exciting 2007!

It's in the Grip.

One of the strongest men I've ever known wasn't a body builder. In fact, I doubt if my friend ever considered working out. He was a iron worker, and had the strongest grip I have ever known.

He was around fifty years old when I met him, and one day on a construction site, someone addressed him as "old man." This prompted him to request a 16 pound sledge hammer, which he stood on its head. He then asked no one in general, if they could pick up the hammer between their small finger and their thumb. There were a few takers, but none could lift the hammer.

Before long, my friend was asked to lift the hammer. He did it with such ease, that it almost made the others who tried, look like they had been faking. He lifted it several more times, which prompted all of the men watching to give it a try. Out of a group of a group of around twenty men, no one was able to lift the hammer. To add insult to injury he lifted a 20 pound hammer several times as well.

I've repeated this story in many maintenance shops over the last twenty-five years, and have yet to see anyone match his strength.

If you know someone that likes to show his strength, ask him to lift a 16 pound sledge hammer.

Cordless Tools

I often think about improvements in tools for the maintenance technician, and one that is at the top of my list is the battery operated portable power tool.

Almost every 110 volt portable power tool has been replaced by a battery operated one. No longer does the technician have to bring one or more extension cords to the job site, and then hunt for an outlet.

The first cordless tools had short battery life, and the technician usually had to bring a spare battery to complete a task, but that is no longer the case. Manufacturers have made huge gains, that have greatly extended battery life.

In the beginning, the cordless tools lacked real power for drilling or sawing anything but wood, but today's tools can do any job their corded counterparts do.

Battery operated tools have changed the home owner's life as well. Just the other day I used a cordless drill to mount hinges on a storage building, that was 150' from the nearest outlet, and thought,"What a time saver."

Split Bearings

Split bearings are used in many applications today, but back in 1978, they weren't very common.

I was a maintenance supervisor in a foundry then. One day I got a call from a production supervisor, who told me the inner bearing on the bag house blower had failed. I sure wish we would have had a split bearing on the shelf that day. What could have been a two hour job, turned out to be eight hours.

Because the bearing was captive on the shaft, we had to remove the entire blower and shaft, and bring it to the maintenance shop. Removing the bearing required a cutting torch, and before installing the new bearing, the shaft had to be sanded smooth. All of which takes more time than production managers like to see.

After the bearing had been replaced, and the blower restarted, the bag house supervisor ordered a split bearing for stock.

I recall that it took a couple of years before the next inner bearing failure, but the maintenance department was ready with the new split bearing. The bad bearing was cut off with a torch in place, the new split bearing was installed, and the blower was back in service in two hours.

Thinking back, everyone was less stressed about the repair than the previous failure, because someone had decided to" work smarter, not harder."

CMRP Training and Products

Did you know that Nobreakdowns.com offers a multitude of resources for those seeking to become Certified Maintenance & Reliability Professionals (CMRP)?

We have a full selection of maintenance and reliability books, many of which are on the recommended reading list that the Society for Maintenance & Reliability Professionals (SMRP) has built in their study guide for the exam.

We also carry the CD-ROM based review course, which we developed in-house. It is the complete course, with the same material covered in our live version of the program.

If you prefer the live course, you can contact us to arrange a date or get more information. We offer the course publicly in several locations every year, and if you have a group of 8 or more, we can come to your site to do the course. It is 2 days long, and covers all 5 Pillars of the CMRP Body of Knowledge in detail.

If you like the humor and technical discussions offered on all of the other Nobreakdowns.com information sources, this course will be a great fit for you.

Powder Actuated Fastening Tool

I've worked in maintenance most of my adult life, and have always been fascinated by new tools.

I was employed as an electrical apprentice some time back, and hanging conduit was almost an every day event. Fastening conduit often involved drilling holes in concrete, or in steel beams to attach hangers.

One day my supervisor bought the crew a 22 caliber fastening tool. The tools are common place now, but in 1973, they were revolutionary! My supervisor was the first to try the new tool, and after giving the instructions a brief glance, he proceeded to load a bolt into the fastener gun. There were a couple of choices of powder loads, and he picked the largest one, inserted it into the chamber, placed the tool against a concrete block wall, and squeezed the trigger.

The result was a hole through the entire block, and the fastener lying in the parking lot. He asked for the instruction book again, and we soon realized that powder operated fastening tools must be treated with respect.

We all learned the proper use of the tool and I wouldn't be surprised if it's still around. It sure saved us a lot of time, not having to drag extension cords around for the electric drill.

Silicone is Slick

Whether you are shoveling snow in your yard, or at work, snow sticking to the shovel can be an be aggravating. We've all experienced it up here in the northern states. We constantly have to pound the shovel on the sidewalk or driveway to remove the snow.

A simple solution is to spray the shovel surface with silicone. This virtually eliminates sticking for quite a long time. If sticking starts again, simply clean off the shovel and re-spray.

This method works for snow blower discharge chutes as well, and when the temperatures are in the low 30's, (the worst time for clogging) one can save a lot of time by not having to shut down the snow blower repeatedly to unclog the chute.

As with the shovel, when the chute starts plugging, simply stop, clean, and re-spray.

Wind Chill and Furnace Slag

I worked in a copper smelter in Michigan around twenty years ago. Although my job description said "Operator", I soon found out everyone involved was responsible for maintenance as well. The maintenance part of the job description was quite vague, so removing slag from the melting furnace became part of the job.

Slagging a furnace in the summer allows a glimpse of what hell might be like. The heat is unbearable beyond ten minutes, and fortunately the slagging crew numbered five people most of the time. Things were a little better in winter.

We all took our turn for around ten minutes, and then tried to cool off until our turn came around again. To cool off we would stand in a doorway with our jackets wide open and our hoods off, to get the benefit of the wind chill. In the summer, cooling off was difficult at best.

After each ten minute turn at the slag hoe, our fire-proof clothing would be smoking on the outside, and the internal temperature of the suit would be around 140 degrees.

Whenever I was standing in the doorway to cool off, I thought of how my mother would remind me to avoid getting chilled when I was young. Getting chilled was supposed to rapidly induce a cold or worse.

I don't think that old axiom applied to our situation, because on a twenty below zero day the wind chill was around fifty below in the doorway, and none of the crew ever got sick. That cold air felt like heaven as we stood in the blast.

When I think of it, the difference in temperature was around 200 degrees! It's amazing what the human body is capable of withstanding.

Drilling Holes

Drilling holes larger than a half of an inch in diameter with a hand held drill motor can be tough on the wrists, especially if multiple holes need to be drilled. In addition to being tough on the wrists, the twisting that usually occurs as the drill breaks through the metal and sticks, can be unsafe in tight quarters.

A low cost solution to drilling large numbers of holes by hand, is a "mag base" drill. This drill has an electro-magnet that can be switched on and off to magnetically clamp the drill base to the plate being drilled. The result is a portable drill press that can moved around by one man in most cases, and greatly speeds the process of drilling large diameter holes.

When I was in the U.S. Navy, I can recall a fellow sailor being thrown in the air trying to drill a hole in a plate that was held in a vice. The drill was a three quarter inch electric drive, with a two foot long handle opposite the pistol grip. As the drill penetrated the plate, it stuck, and the motor started to spin. My friend tried to hold it back, which resulted in him being lifted over the drill motor, and slammed to the floor.

He wasn't hurt, but I'm sure he would have appreciated a "mag base" drill back then.

False Alarm

One of the most embarrassing moments in my maintenance career occurred shortly after I was hired as a maintenance supervisor in a gray iron foundry. I had no foundry experience, but was hired because of my maintenance background.

It was nearly time for the shift change, and I was walking around the plant to get my bearings. As I was nearing the melting furnaces, or cupolas as they are known in the industry, I saw a huge stream of iron coming out of the bottom of one of the cupolas. I ran as fast as I could to the maintenance shop and yelled," I need the whole crew, one of the cupolas has sprung a leak!" The crew responded quickly, only to start laughing as they saw the leak.

What had actually occurred is what's called "dropping bottom." In order to rebuild the cupola for the following day, the melting crew pulls a support pin from underneath the hinged bottom of the cupola, and a small amount of liquid iron and coke fall to the floor in a spectacular display of fire.

What I thought was a disaster turned out to be an everyday occurrence, that left me quite red faced, and made for many jokes in the future.

Safety Mindset

Maintenance workers, regardless of the industry they work in, must constantly be aware of their surroundings.

Rotating equipment is dangerous, and the craftsperson must start each day with the mindset to return home in the same physical shape as when they left for work. Returning home injury free requires wearing all required safety equipment and following safe work practices.

I've known many seasoned workers who have never had a serious accident during their entire career, and the common thread that runs through their backgrounds is a daily decision to be safe. The worker who doesn't make a daily decision to be safe, will probably become an accident statistic sooner or later. It sounds simple to say safety is in a persons mind, but it is.

The main cause of accidents nation-wide is carelessness.

Let's all make a conscious decision to work safely, and be at home for the holidays.

Snow Games

The snow board got it's start in the 70's, and it's design is so simple, I'm amazed it wasn't thought of earlier. I'm a baby boomer, and in my youth a favorite pass time was sliding down the hilly streets in my home town.

The one who slid the farthest was usually the one who wasn't wearing overshoes. Shoes with leather soles were the best for sliding long distances. On days when snow conditions were just right, the winning slide would often be a block long.

We all had excellent balance and coordination, and rarely fell. I still wonder why none of us ever thought of trying an old slalom water ski in deep snow. As I reflect, it just seems like that would have been a natural progression.

I've often thought how great it would by to go back in time with one of today's recreational inventions, just to see the looks on people's faces.

No Cutting Torch

Early in my maintenance career a welder friend showed me a way to cut steel using a welding rod instead of a cutting torch. The welder was assigned the job of welding the broken corners on a fork lift style scrap metal container. The container was in pretty bad shape, and with only a portable welding machine, I thought that a ragged piece of metal that needed to be cut off the box would have to wait until we brought back a torch.

The welder didn't want to go back to the shop, so instead he soaked a couple of rods in a water bucket that stood nearby. After about twenty minutes he put the rod in the holder and cranked up the amperage. Instead of making a bead, the wet flux made the rod act like a crude arc-air rod, and in a few minutes the ragged piece of metal was removed. Although the cut was crude, the scrap metal box didn't need a more precise cut, as it was ready to be scrapped itself.

I hope this trick will help someone else one day.

It's Dark Underground

Anyone who has ever worked in an underground mine is aware of the darkness when all lights are shut off. It is black to say the least.

My first exposure to the blackness was as a contractor. A mine foreman was assigned as my escort underground. I was doing substation work and had to move around quite a bit. One day, as we were on our way to a different substation, my escort decided to have a little fun and test my heart. I had no way of knowing that we were about to come to very steep hill on the haul road we were on. We were doing about 35 mph when we approached the crest of the hill. Just as we started down the foreman turned off the headlights of the vehicle we were in. There is no feeling like falling in the pitch black. After about one hundred feet he turned the lights back on and asked me if I was all right. I said I was shocked, but that was an understatement.

I can't remember any night, no matter how clouded or moonless that even comes close to how dark it can be underground.

Arc Flash

Welding flash can be very painful and repeated exposure can lead to permanent eye problems. Modern helmets include the option of automatic darkening as the arc is struck and have probably done more to save eyes from damage than any other improvement.

Most experienced welders are aware that arc flash can occur from behind the helmet and bounce off of the inside surface of the lens. This reflected flash usually happens when welding inside of a tank or vessel that has a smooth of polished surface.

The beginning welder may be using a handed down welding helmet that isn't as close fitting as the newer styles, and the older design makes getting a flash more likely. This is something to keep in mind when welding inside of a closed vessel, and it can be avoided by closing off the back of the welding helmet with a dark piece of cloth.

The Wave

I have no way to prove it, but I think my Grandfather started the"wave" or at least a version of it. I hunted with my Dad and grandfather for many years in my youth. It was always a learning experience for me to watch the two of them go at it from time to time. I guess as long as your Dad is alive, you will always be his son.

My grandfather was very expressive when he told a story. I don't think he realized just how much he swung his arms while describing a situation. During the rifle deer season, his stories where no exception. When he carried his 30-30 Winchester, he always had it under his right arm with the barrel pointed forward. One particular season, we teamed up with another group of around eight guys. We set out for the morning hunt, and agreed to meet near the cars at lunch.

At lunch we were all standing around the fire warming up and swapping stories of the hunt. When it came time for my grandfather to tell his tale, he still had his rifle under his arm, and when he would describe how the deer ran one way he would swing his rifle across the group and everyone would kind of crouch as the rifle swung towards them. He would then tell how the deer ran the other way and the rifle would pan across all of the guys again, and they would go into their crouch again.

As you can imagine, it didn't take long for them to complain to my Dad. They said either he puts the rifle down when talking, or they would not hunt with him again. My Grandfather was a stubborn old Finn, and didn't get the nickname "Bullhead" by accident. He never did hunt with those"babies," as he called them again.
If you think about it the guys did look like they were doing the wave at a football game.

Slug Wrenches

Removing large nuts and bolts can be very difficult in some situations. We've all used "cheater bars" or pipes over the ends of wrenches or used a hammer to hit a box/open wrench. In cases where nuts and bolts have to be loosened on a regular basis, a good investment might be a slug wrench.

Slug wrenches have a box end on one end and a squared off larger hitting surface on the other. They are made either straight or offset. It's been my experience that the straight wrench works best as it has less spring when hit with a small sledge hammer.


Slug wrenches are mostly for larger bolts usually starting around an inch and a quarter. They can sure save time and effort if stuck bolts are a daily occurrence.

Watch Your Step

I have a relative that loves to help his cousin do farm work. He enjoys all aspects of farming, including the not so glamorous job of cleaning the cow barn. One day as Bill was using a wheelbarrow to haul very soupy manure out of the barn, he had a mishap that had it been on camera would have won him a million dollars.

Here's what happened; In order to dump the manure onto the pile outside of the barn Bill had to push the loaded wheelbarrow up a 2"x10" plank to gain access to the next level of the barn.
Did I mention soupy manure? Well, some of the soup spilled onto the plank and as Bill was about halfway up the ten foot run his foot slipped , causing him to fall on his face. He managed to hang on to the wheel barrow handles which only made things worse. As he fell, he pushed the handles down along side the plank, but remember his face was already on the plank. The result was him dumping the entire contents of the wheel barrow on his back! Not a pretty sight.

The farm owner simply had Bill stand while he used the garden hose to clean up most of the mess and then get him a change of clothes.I wish I could have had a video camera running that day

Wire Wheel Safety

Back in the early 1970's I was involved in the gas turbine maintenance field. When doing repairs, it's common to have a person responsible for cleaning the threads on bolts to simplify reassembly. Because there are so many bolts to clean, it's also normal to use a bench grinder with a wire brush on it to speed the task. One day, as the assigned bolt cleaner was doing his job, he grimaced in pain and rubbed his stomach. I asked what happened and he said a wire must have come out of the brush and hit him in the stomach. He had only a little red mark where the wire had hit him.

About an hour later, the man complained of severe stomach pain. The ambulance arrived to take him to the emergency room, and we found out later that an X-ray showed a piece of wire had perforated his small intestine. He had emergency surgery and was back on the job a week later.

I'm sure there are thousands of people using wire wheels every day, and the kind of injury I mentioned is rare. The point of the story is that if a piece of wire can penetrate the body like it did, just think of what it could do to a person's eye.

Safety glasses are the minimum in eye protection for grinder use. A face shield should always be worn as well.

Table Saw Respect

I've been a basement woodworker for forty-plus years, and have been aware since my high school shop classes that the table saw can be dangerous and must be treated with respect. I've always worn safety glasses and used a push stick to reduce the chance of hand injuries. In addition, I've always stayed out of the line of fire when ripping a board, in case of a kick-back.
It turns out that standing to the side is a good safety tip. Around ten years ago, I was ripping a board, like several thousand others in the past, and as fast as a blink I saw the scrap piece fly past my body as I finished the cut. I shut off the saw and looked for the piece. I didn't see it on the floor, and was puzzled as to where it could have gone. I sighted along the blade and saw a small hole in the wall of my shop, but no piece of wood. I left the shop, and went into the recreation room in my basement and found the piece of wood lying in the middle of the room.
The piece of wood had a blunt end and was about an inch square in cross section, and four feet long. The piece had penetrated the drywall and paneling of the wall separating my shop from the rec room.

I've often wondered how much damage would have been done to my body if I had been standing in the line of fire.The saw never had an anti-kick-back device on it, but my new one does.

First Aid?

My grandfather was a diesel mechanic before retiring many years ago. He is a World War II veteran of the Marine Corps, and regularly makes use of the VA Hospitals for his medical care.

He has been told by his doctor that his hands appear to have been exposed to radiation in the past, but he told them he has not had anything like that occur in his lifetime. While he did serve in the Pacific during the war, he was not involved in any action near the detonation of the atomic bombs at Hiroshima or Nagasaki.

Being a diesel mechanic, and most of his time doing so was in terrible conditions of extreme cold in northern Minnesota where winter temperatures are routinely -20 to -40 degrees Fahrenheit, his hands have taken some abuse.

Well, we know why his hands look like they do. My grandfather often says, "Whenever I get a cut or a scrape, I slap a gob of wheel bearing grease on it, and wrap it up real tight with black tape. It heals up quick, and I can get right back to work."

This is NOT a recommended practice, but you can imagine after doing this hundreds of times, your hands would look a little strange. I can tell you that he has treated wounds this way for as long as I have known him, and rarely has gotten a stitch for cuts that would make most people run to the hospital.

So, you think you are tough?

Diesel Jackhammer

The summer of 1969 was hot in Detroit. I was assigned jackhammer duty on a construction crew. The morning started out OK, but as the temperature got to around 95 degrees, my jackhammer started to sound like a truck with no muffler.

I asked my foreman what was happening, and he said the jackhammer was so hot it was starting to "diesel". We had a water hose on the site, so I sprayed down the hammer, and the diesel effect stopped for while, but soon came back again.

The phenomena is unnerving, because the hammer "runs away" and hits a lot harder than when operating on air only. The lube oil is the fuel source for the diesel effect, actually igniting inside the pneumatic chamber, creating explosive pressure. As hard as the hammer hits, I'm sure its life would be shortened without cooling. I wonder how common this is for those running a jack hammer every day?

Conveyor Belt Safety

Most long conveyor belt systems employ a counterweight pulley to maintain tension on the belt. Therefore, if the conveyed material gets trapped between the belt and the tail pulley (or the head pulley) and brings everything to a stop, the craftspeople responding to the problem must always remember to lift the counter weight pulley and block it in place.

This would seem to be routine, but sometimes in the heat of battle shortcuts happen. I remember a while back, where a mine electrician was killed trying to get a piece of ore from between the belt and the tail pulley. When the piece was removed the counter weight moved down causing immediate movement at the tail pulley and the electrician got caught between the belt and tail pulley himself.

It's another type of potential energy that needs to be locked out and tagged out before maintenance is performed.