Conner, Bob k., I checked the UPS this morning and it was able to close the
hatch. It may have not been fully charged yesterday because it was without
power for over an hour. I will keep an eye on it. Thanks for your help
yesterday and the (Drink), Connor. I realized I forgot to mention Conner in my
daily report yesterday. It was his idea to put the WD-40 on the contacts. Never
assume any good idea comes from just myself! At least most of the time. (Joke)
Bob
"Flynn, Connor J" wrote:
Hi Bobs,
I worked with Bob H on the hatch problem yesterday. [Where do you think he
went for the "quick drink"? ;-) ] A few days ago I was having GFI problems
on another piece of equipment that turned out to be due to condensation
creating intermittent contacts between hot and ground. We opened up the
electrical connection panel and the compartment with the limit switches but
saw no obvious signs of wetness. Nevertheless, we applied WD-40 judiciously
and were happy when the hatch no longer generated the ground fault.
This still leaves the lingering concern of why having the UPS the hatch
failed to close. Bob and I were able to duplicate this failure several
times. We would simply unplug the UPS from grid. The hatch controller
would properly respond by attempting to close the hatch but would only get
about half closed befored halting. It does not seem to be a mechanical
problem as Bob earlier noted that the hatch mechanism seems to operate
smoothly when moved by hand. Also, this problem does not occur in response
to a rain condition (when the UPS is getting good grid power) but only when
the UPS is the sole source of power for the hatch. It seems likely that the
current draw required to fully close the hatch is beyond what that little
APC 400 can reliably provide. Maybe the best solution is to replace it with
a slightly more robust (and newer) model. Alternatively, the battery in the
APC 400 could be replaced if age is the principle issue.
Cheers!
Connor
-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Knuteson
To: Robert Holz
Cc: Flynn, Connor J
Sent: 7/16/2002 6:32 AM
Subject: Re: [Crystal] AERI-bago Daily Summary 14-15 July-2002
Nice work. Please do explain the problem to Connor
when you see him. He is the expert on the hatch mechanism.
-bob k.
Robert Holz wrote:
-----------------------
AERI-bago Daily Summary
-----------------------
Date: 14-15 July 2002 (Sunday and Monday)
Location: Everglades City, Florida
Operator: Bob Holz
Weather Conditions:
Sunny with afternoon cumulous on Sunday. Today (Monday) there where
isolated rain showers in the afternoon. Lots of thunderstorm activity
on
the eastern side of Florida. The anvils where visible above the the
bago in the afternoon. Temperatures where in the low 90's.
Instrument Status:
At 1919 (UT) The hatch partially closed and tripped the ground fault
protection. I reset the GFI but the hatch would trip the GFI every
time
I attempted to close or open the hatch. This occurred in manual and
auto
mode. At approximately 0000 (UT 16th) 8:00pm (local) I got the hatch
to
work again. I took the actuator off and opened the compartment
containing the limit switches. I checked the limit switches and all
seemed OK. The actuator would still not work. I left and got a quick
drink and came about 1 hour later. I tried the actuator and it worked!
I
put some WD-40 on the contacts for the limit switch and motor
connections guessing that water could have caused the problem. I
tested
the hatch multiple times and it worked. The only problem I found was
that the APU was not able to completely close the hatch if the the
power
was not connected. It is possible that the APU is not fully changed. I
will check this tomorrow. I hope the hatch continues to work tonight.
Science:
There where no flights Sunday or Monday.
Miscellaneous:
Any questions feel free to call or email:
AERI phone: 941 695 2113
e-mail: reholz@ssec.wisc.edu
Bob Holz
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--
Robert O. Knuteson
Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS)
Space Science and Engineering Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison
1225 W. Dayton St., Madison, WI 53706
Ph: (608) 263-7974 Fax:(608) 262-5974
robert.knuteson@ssec.wisc.edu http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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