A Tight Spot

Inspecting wicket gates sounds like just another maintenance task, but it's not a job for the claustrophobic. A while back in my tenure with an electrical utility, my partner and I were assigned the task of inspecting the wicket gates on a small hydro-electric turbine the utility owned.

A small log was thought to have gone through the gates, and the plant supervisor wanted to check if any damage had been done. The first thing that had to be done before we entered the scroll case, was to close the ten foot diameter butterfly valve that supplied water to the turbine.

After the valve was closed and locked out, we proceeded into the pipe which rapidly got smaller as it transitioned into the scroll case. Soon we were on our hands and knees, and then stomachs as we arrived at the wicket gates which were about sixteen inches high.

During our short trip in the pipe, I noticed that some water was leaking by the rubber seal on the large butterfly valve. As we were looking for damage, I kept hoping the valve wouldn't fail somehow, and allow the full 100' plus head of water to force us through the gates like the log.

Fortunately the engineer that designed the valve knew what he was doing and we finished our inspection without incident. That was one time when I was really in a "tight spot."

Remove the Blindfold

Imagine if you will, that you are wearing a blindfold and are expected to navigate a maze with not only dead ends, but dangerous pitfalls. Let's say that numerous people depend on you negotiating the maze unharmed, and you have to do so everyday.

Some days you might get lucky, and make it through with only a scratch. That's good for all the people depending on you. On another day you might end up with a twisted ankle, causing one or more of the people who depend on you to have to work overtime to make up for the loss of your contribution.

The worst thing that could happen would be for you to fall and break your leg, taking you out of the picture entirely for an extended period. Now many people are left floundering, because no one ever thought of the simple solution: Take the blindfold off!

Isn't this kind of like a maintenance department doing it's best keep a facility running by employing the "fire-fighting" method of maintenance? Eventually fire fighting techniques won't be enough to keep up with the failures, and all the people that depend on the maintenance department will suffer.

The solution is to remove the blindfold by implementing maintenance planning and scheduling, and experiencing what it's like to see again.

Rude Awakening

I think most of us have heard the term rude awakening. I experienced a rude awakening one early morning back in the summer of 1970. I was working on a blacktop crew and we were on a dawn to dusk schedule. This meant I had to leave home at 3:30 am to arrive at the 5:00 am starting time.

Things went well for about a week, and then the pace started to wear me out. On the sixth day of this schedule I was heading for the job bright and early. I started nodding off in about ten minutes, and soon I was nearly breaking my neck as I would catch myself dozing.

A thunder storm had passed through the area overnight, and I saw a lot of debris on the road. What I didn't see during one of my short naps, was a poplar tree about four inches in diameter laying across my lane. As I ran over the tree at fifty plus miles per hour with my 1960 Chevrolet, I experienced a rude awakening!

After that incident I never had a dozing problem the rest of the summer, and by the way, my 1960 Chev came out unscathed. Try that with the new low riders.

WWII Russian Tank Recovered From Lake

Check out this story we got from our good friend Lloyd. Some folks in Estonia located a WWII vintage T34 tank submerged in a lake and buried in mud. They pulled it out with a Komatsu skidder, and when you see it, I am sure you maintenance guys are going to appreciate it BIG TIME!

Watch the video, and see the tracks still turn after 53 years under water! The story says they were able to get the old diesel running too. Unbelievable...

The other unique feature is the tank was apparently captured by the Germans, and was repainted with Nazi insignia. The theory is that they ran it into the lake intentionally when retreating from the Russian Front in 1944.

Read the story

You Think Hitting a Deer is Bad?

We just got an email from Jeff's brother showing some spectacular images of a moose/car collision. It occurred in Ontario, Canada, and the woman driving only suffered a broken wrist. Amazing!!

So You Want to Be a CMRP, eh?

What the hell is a CMRP, you ask? Well, it is a Certified Maintenance & Reliability Professional, and Nobreakdowns.com wrote a nice review course for the certification exam.

If you are a maintenance professional, getting your CMRP is a very big deal, as it is an internationally recognized measure for excellence. The Society for Maintenance & Reliability Professionals (SMRP) developed the certification, and it is a fantastic addition to our field.

The exam is difficult, and many people take it several times before passing. The trouble is, the exam covers everything from the management side of the business, to training, to operations and the usual maintenance process. Very few people are exposed to all of this material at work, and fewer still have seen it done correctly.

So, we took the bull by the horns, and made a live course, and a CD-ROM based course for those wishing to review and make sure that they have all the bases covered. it's called the 5 Pillars: Maintenance & Reliability Professional Review. We have taught over 300 CMRP candidates since 2005.

If you would like more information about a live course, either at a maintenance conference or your site, please just email us.

Buy the CD-ROM version

Chilly Grip™ Gloves

Once in a while, we at Nobreakdowns.com run across a product that is truly great. When that happens, we try our best to add it to our list of products, so you can buy them right here.

Well, we have a really good one this time. Chilly Grip™ Gloves! These gloves are made for hard working people, and they are tough! At the same time, they are comfortable and provide fantastic grip, even in wet conditions.

We found these gloves locally, being used by loggers in the Minnesota woods, because they are warm, and have such a super tough textured rubber palm. Then, the son of a guns showed up in bait stores, because fishermen are wearing them to keep warm and grip the fish they catch. You all know about our great fishing up here, so they must be seeing some hard use.

We offer Chilly Grip™ Gloves in Medium, Large and Extra large, but we recommend you try a size smaller than you usually wear. They are stretchy, and the snug fit makes the fingertips much more able to handle small items in cold weather. People who order a pair nearly always come back for a dozen!

We have a special going on right now, that offers the dozen packs of Chilly Grip™ Gloves for $86.28, and we pay the shipping. Whether you buy a pair or several dozen, we know you will like them. We usually have them in camouflage color, but sometimes they are blue or another color (never pink, though). You'll look cool, no matter what!

Click here to buy some Chilly Grips!

Click here to pop some bubble wrap (We want you to get some value even if you pass on the gloves)

Catapult

In the summer of 1970, I worked for a building contractor as a manual laborer. The contractor was in the process of building a two story senior citizens center. One day as I was cleaning up trash around the work site, my foreman asked me to help him lift a concrete support made of nailed together 2 x 4's, up to the second floor. The support was about twenty-five long, and needed to be lifted through a second story window.

I went to the window to haul up the support. As I stood in the rough opening, I noticed that there was a scaffold about three feet below the window that the masons were using to install the building's brick fascia. In order to get the support into the window, my foreman placed the edge of it on the outer pipe of the scaffold.

He then started pushing the support up to me, until he was standing on his toes with his arms fully extended. I had the other end underneath my arm. My foreman's last words were,"Do you have it?" I said "Yes," confident that now my end of the support was inside the building. When he released his grip, I found myself being catapulted out of the window! To my momentary horror I realized that my end had not been inside the building!

The scaffold pipe was now the fulcrum as the lower end of the support swung towards the wall, and somehow I had the presence of mind to lift my legs as I was flung over the scaffold.

In less time than it takes to say" Oh Boy,"I found myself standing next to my foreman. I landed in a pile of mortar sand the masons were using for the brick fascia. He did a double take, and looked back up to the window as if he expected to see my twin standing there. The only thing he could say was "Walk for me!"

I was just as surprised as he, that I was unscathed. I didn't get so much as a sore ankle from the fall, but I don't think I would have faired as well if the mortar sand had been placed somewhere else.

Infant Mortality

Until recently, I thought infant mortality only applied to children. The maintenance definition of infant mortality is- the relatively high conditional probability a piece of equipment will fail immediately after it is returned to service.

Those of us that have overhauled an engine have experienced the momentary doubt felt as the starter is engaged. If everything was done right, the engine would have good oil pressure and not overheat. The first five minutes were critical, if the engine didn't grind to a stop, it would probably survive for many thousands of miles.

When I worked as a gas turbine field rep, I felt the same doubt, only magnified by a thousand, every time I gave the OK to start a unit that had been down for a month or more for repair. There was a lot more at stake if something had been overlooked during reassembly. Bringing the turbine up to rated speed was stressful enough , but the real stress came when the unit had to be accelerated to approximately twenty five percent over its rated speed to test the mechanical over speed trip device. I never saw one fail, but it was always a relief to hear the unit shut itself down as it was designed.

I'm sure that there are field reps around the world that are still crossing their fingers when they give the OK to start up, hoping they don't experience infant mortality.

Fishing Reel to the Rescue

I was on my way from Eau Claire, Wisconsin to Minneapolis, Minnesota one day in 1974, when my Suburu car suddenly died. That was back in the day when a person could work on a car.

I pulled onto the shoulder of I-94, lifted the hood, and started looking for the problem. I knew I had fuel by looking in the carburetor as I actuated the throttle, and seeing gas squirt from the accelerator pump.

I then concluded I was lacking spark. So I removed the distributer cap, and saw that the points had come apart. What failed was the tiny rivet that held the points together. I was a little disappointed, because the car had only 20,000 miles on it.

I knew I didn't have a spare rivet, but I did have my trusty Mitchell 300 fishing reel in the trunk. I removed one of the side plate retaining screws on the reel , and it was a perfect match for the rivet.With some difficulty, I fastened the two pieces of the points together by peening the brass screw. I reinstalled the points, and set the gap with a match book. After replacing the distributer cap, I started the engine, and it ran fine. I never replaced the points again, and sold the car when it had 130,000 miles in it.

I've always been thankful I had that fishing reel in the trunk. It saved me an expensive towing charge.

Life on the Road

Finishing college is a beginning for most graduates. Now real life rears its head, and can be intimidating. I have a suggestion for those that are undecided.

My first job was with a utility company, and I soon realized I wasn't being challenged. The job was too predictable, and I had to find something more exciting. As fate would have it, the company redirected my career.

In order to upgrade their system, the company installed two gas turbine generators. During the construction, I talked daily with the gas turbine field representative, and learned what life on the road was like. Through these discussions, I learned that his company was hiring field reps nationwide.

I submited my resume, and after a brief, and informal interview, I was hired. As it turned out, that was the best decision I ever made.

Life on the road isn't for everyone, but for me, it was just what I wanted. An opportunity to travel and work with different people, but best of all, no chance for boredom.
Each new assignment meant a new challenge, and just when things would start to slow down, I'd get a call, and be off on another adventure.

If you're a recent graduate, life on the road might be the right choice for you.

Respect

During my career as a maintenance supervisor, I learned a lot from the people that worked for me. No matter how inexperienced a technician in an industrial setting might be, he or she wasn't born yesterday. Most maintenance people I have worked with had a mechanical background, and I always made a point of listening when to their suggestions, whatever the topic.

In turn, I've received the same respect for ideas I have contributed to solving a problem. The bottom line is , most people give what they get.

To me, being honest and respectful is a great way to build a maintenance team. If you tell the truth, you never have to remember anything.

CMRP Review Course Invitation and Poll

Nobreakdowns.com would like to invite the readers of our blog and The Drift maintenance newsletter to attend a special invitation only session of our 5 Pillars: Maintenance & Reliability Professional Review course.

We have selected three popular destinations for the event, and would like to get your opinion on the best location. Whichever location gets the most votes, is the place the course will be held. Cast your ballot below, and let's see what happens! We hope to see you there...or there....or there.

This course is very popular, and is designed to provide a complete review of the topics and skills included in the Certified Maintenance & Reliability Professional (CMRP) exam, which is the international standard for maintenance leadership excellence.

The Society for Maintenance & Reliability Professionals (SMRP) offers the exam at dozens of locations throughout the year. A little studying goes a long way toward ensuring your success on this difficult exam.

The 2-day course is priced at $795/person, and will be held on Thursday- Friday, February 22-23, 2007. Plan to stick around for the weekend, and enjoy the other attractions in the area with your family or coworkers. If you are interested in registering for the course, send us an email with your contact information at Class@Nobreakdowns.com, and we will call you to complete the process by telephone. Seating is limited to 36 attendees. Groups of 3 or more will receive a discount of $100 per person.

Favorite Location for Feb. '07 CMRP Review Course?
	Las Vegas, NV
	Orlando, FL
	Branson, MO
Free polls from Pollhost.com

We cannot guarantee you will pass the CMRP exam, and we are not affiliated with SMRP. SMRP does not endorse our course. Do not eat the course, or heat it in the microwave. The course is not intended to cure any diseases, or conditions.

Industrial Tricycles

In any large manufacturing facility, maintenance technicians spend a good deal of time walking to and from different areas, to complete work orders. I've found that an industrial tricycle is an excellent alternative to walking. The tricycles are available with a platform on the back that can accommodate even large tools or parts, thus saving the technician several trips to the work site.

The three wheel design is much safer than a bicycle when traveling across wet floors, and the narrow width makes negotiating tight areas a breeze. I have put countless miles on a tricycle, and can say that it beats walking.

For any facility considering a tool to improve the lives of their maintenance technicians, I vote for the industrial tricycle.

New Year Resolution

This is the time of year we all make resolutions. Mostly to quit smoking and to lose weight, but how about a resolution to wear Personal Protection Equipment (PPE)? Accident statistics reveal that most injuries result from not wearing PPE, even when it's a condition of employment.

I know many people in maintenance that dislike wearing PPE. The excuses I hear are mostly about comfort. Perhaps if we resolve to return to our homes in the same condition as when we left for work, comfort would be a secondary consideration.

Let's give it a try. I think it's a resolution that we all can keep.