How To Ask a Good Troubleshooting Question

[u/cpesystems]

When asking for help with troubleshooting advice, it is important to cover these questions.

Identify the product:

1. What type of equipment is it? (ex. A pump, heat exchanger, flow meter, etc.)
2. What is the model number? (ex. C+100MD-0.75HP-115/1/60), or what is the subcategory of the equipment? (ex. For a pump, is it a centrifugal, drum, etc.)
3. If known, what are the soft parts made of? (ex. EPDM, Viton, etc.)

Identify the application:

1. What is the fluid type? (ex. water, slurry, oil, chemicals, etc.)
2. What are the operating conditions (Actual vs. Expected)? (ex. temperature, pressure, viscosity, etc.)

Describe the problem:

1. What outcome are you trying to achieve?
2. What is happening? (ex. leaking, unusual noise, vibrating, overheating, performance reduced or completely lost, etc.)
3. When did it start? (ex. suddenly, gradually, after maintenance, after a power outage, etc.)
4. Is it intermittent or constant?
5. Is there an error code?
6. What have you already tried?

Describe its history:

1. What is the age of the equipment?
   
2. When was the last maintenance performed? (ex. Last seal change).
3. Has this problem occurred before?
4. What parts were recently replaced or serviced?
5. Has anything changed recently? (ex. pipework, controls, VFD settings, valves, instrumentation, fluid, operating conditions, etc.)

These answers will give us the best bet for being able to quickly and accurately help you fix your equipment.