Just been looking at some circuits and something that we need to look at keeps coming back. The fact that you open a control cabinet when having to find a fault only to realise that there are no schematics available, is something that just wastes so much time. When you look at how the circuit was wired in the first place makes it even harder to understand why a copy of the schematic was not left in the switchboard?
Too often there seems to be only one copy which is put in a “safe place” after the circuit has been wired. This safe place somehow becomes a black hole as when you ask for the diagram, it seems to have dissapeared
I suppose what I am trying to say is that when you build a control cabinet, make a few copies of the circuit and leave one inside the door of the cabinet. This becomes a very good habit and the next thing we need to do is to update the drawing should we ever make any changes to the circuit
I know this post deviates a bit from the usual where we look at a circuit etc. but if we all start doing this life would be so much easier for the guys having to troubleshoot circuits. This will also become your signature of the job. Word soon gets around that it is great to go to a job that you have worked on as there is always an updated schematic in the panel!
When you wire the circuit, always number the wiring at both ends, show these numbers on the drawings and also make sure you mark any terminal strip. I can just imagine how many of you out there would wish to find this the next time you open a cabinet right?
So maybe it is time to start setting the trend by showing others how it should be done. Before you know it they will start following your example and we will end up with drawings in every cabinet. Would that not be great?
While on this topic, let’s do the same for the PLC program. Print a copy of the program and place it in the same folder. It only takes a minute or so to have a full set of program printed. Why would I think that is neccessary? Not every Electrician will have a laptop with him/her and if if they do, they may not have the software or communications cable for the PLC.
Enough of that! We will get back to some basic circuits again in the next post so until then, always think safety first. When you do a job, remember that other people rely on you to provide them with a safe installation