Test Equipment Needed

[bb3030]

I am troubleshooting an intermittent generator problem. Information from customer is generator shuts down after running approx 6 hours. Only alarm is under voltage. Not sure if this is a secondary alarm coming in after an engine problem occurs.

I am looking for a multi channel recorder to monitor generator voltage, freq, governor actuator, pmg, etc.
I need approx 500ms update max ... quicker would be nice.
I would like it to connect to a computer and retain approx 30 minutes of information.

Does such a device exist?

Thanks

BB

 

[edison123]

May be the engine is running out of fuel after 6 hours ?

Muthu

http://www.edison.co.in

 

[bb3030]

The generator runs on natural gas on an offshore platform. It is possible that the fuel valve closes...another thing to monitor.

Just looking for a good recorder to give me a real time sequence of events.

BB

 

[Skogsgurra]

What about ten channels with 3 kilosamples/second on each channel? Twelve bits resolution. Trig on edge, level, window in or out and combined trig 'A AND/OR B' etcetera. Pretrig and post trig. Unlimited memory depth (streaming directly to disk) math functions and a lot more. Connects to and takes power from USB port. Cost is USD 4k.
Developed to locate 'non-existing and mysterious' faults, intemittent faults or plain long term supervision with high time resolution. Extended zoom and reference curve overlay. Export data to Excel if needed.

We love it. We wanted it for thirty years and now we have it. We named it Arcus with a blink at ABB Argus.

Gunnar Englund

http://www.gke.org

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100 % recycled posting: Electrons, ideas, finger-tips have been used over and over again...

 

[ScottyUK]

Sounds nice Gunnar. I was going to suggest one of Astro-Med's recorders but your unit sounds like it has a lot of performance for the cost. Did you develop it?


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If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!

 

[Skogsgurra]

Yes, we did. Couldn't find anything that worked and that was low cost enough to leave on site for months. Put some facts here:

http://www.gke.org/pub/files/ARCUS leaflet English.pdf

Gunnar Englund

http://www.gke.org

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100 % recycled posting: Electrons, ideas, finger-tips have been used over and over again...

 

[edison123]

Gunnar - Looks like a nice piece. Expect to hear from me.

Muthu

http://www.edison.co.in

 

[sreid]

When I have needs like this I usually Rent what I need. In the US I use Electro Rent but there are others. I'll be renting a 1000 Frame per Second Digital Video Recorder soon.

http://www.electrorent.com/

 

[bb3030]

Thanks for the replies. Are there modules for monitoring ac voltage (480) and ct secondary currents? Mostly need it for 120 vac, 24 vdc, 4-20ma.

Thanks again

BB

 

[Skogsgurra]

+/- 10 V and 0-30 V is standard. Use current clamps for AC and DC current. Floating 4-20 mA can be handled by measuring voltage drop across resistor with differentially coupled (A-B) channels. Or use loop powered converter module, which makes the measurement truly isolated and uses only one channel. For 480 V, use VTs or simple voltage divider if grid neutral is at ground.

Gunnar Englund

http://www.gke.org

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100 % recycled posting: Electrons, ideas, finger-tips have been used over and over again...

 

[rbulsara]

I am with edison, sounds like a mechanical or some automatic device issue, certainly not in the alternator.

Depending on the place, do not discount mischief!

Aimlessly gathering slew of information could be just waste of time and money. How about having a couple of experienced people watch it, say after 5 hrs. Depending on how sophisticated the engine controller and display are, it can inform a lot.

Also there is much to the story that is not told. What do you have to do to bring the machine back online?



Rafiq Bulsara

http://www.srengineersct.com

 

[bb3030]

I haven't been there yet - scheduled to go Tuesday. The platform has 2 600kw gens - 1 running, 1 in standby. It is plc controlled. Any shutdown from the plc is annunciated. The setup with a Basler GPS-100 shows a 27 and 81U alarm when shutdown. (I may change this to block alarms when offline).

I am not sure if it is breaker tripping on under voltage and generator continues running, or if generator is shutting off. As designed, 27 should trip breaker only.

Just wanted right test equipment to catch the event when it happens as it is such a long time between events.

BB

 

[powerjunx]

rbulsara may have the point. Try run the generator, observe the parameters on the switchboard..V, Hz, A, pF, KW, exc.Voltage are all present. you may determine which parameters in abnormal state. Simple observation may isolate and help you troubleshooting the machine without a need of such monitoring device, though Basler GPS-100 may render the task as which trip comes first.


"..the more, the merrier" Genghis Khan

 

[sibeen]

I'd try renting a Yokogawa DL708 / 716 or the newer equivalent with the relevant plug in modules.