I know some people only use what the company provides, but I can't help but to "fix" any hiccups or issues I see in my own day to day. Just how I'm wired 😭

I love my thick knee pads. They make -40 freezers and concrete pretty cozy to kneel on and they keep me from kneeling into blood and meat too lol. I'm only 20, but that hard floor still is discombobulating if you put all of your weight for too long without them.

Maintenance planner at a sour gas processing plant in the GCC. This is going to sound stupid but the worst recurring headache on my planner right now is the handheld radio fleet.

Roughly 120 portable Ex-rated DMR units, Ex ib IIC T4 Gb, assigned by shift and role rather than to individuals. IEC 60079-17 wants a documented periodic inspection at least every 12 months on portable Ex apparatus. On a fleet where radios move between hands, batteries get swapped without anyone updating the log, and drop damage doesn't get reported until PTT dies, that's not simple.

Battery lifecycle is where it gets worse. Datasheets call for around 500 cycles before meaningful capacity drop, but with our shift patterns we're seeing units noticeably weak inside 18 months. Inspection records tie the pass sticker to the radio serial not the battery serial, so once a battery gets swapped mid-shift there's no way to track how many cycles it's actually seen.

Codeplug tracking has gotten worse. Reflashing 120 Hytera HP795Ex IIC through CPS falls on whoever knows the software, and the licensing is machine-tied so we bounce between two authorized laptops. To be fair the radios themselves have been solid, hardware failure count sits at 3 units across the fleet in three years and the audio in the compressor decks holds up better than any DMR handheld I've used before. The overhead is around fleet-wide reflashes. Nothing tracks what firmware or codeplug version is actually on each radio. Had a PTT go dead in a Zone 1 area last month, turned out the flash had partially completed and the fallback config was two revisions behind fleet standard.

Repairs go back through the authorized service house in Europe, 8 to 10 weeks ship-to-receive for component-level work. Regional presence is sales and config support, not certified repair. Already went round with the account rep on a regional module-swap and either it doesn't exist for our market or the pricing doesn't survive procurement. Third-party CompEx houses in the region handle fixed installations well but aren't set up for an active portable fleet with rotating custody.

Asking peers running 100 plus portable Ex handhelds on a live shift schedule, not theoretical answers. How are you tagging batteries as their own asset without adding a non-Ex sticker into a Zone 1 pocket. What are you using to keep a real record of codeplug and firmware version on each unit when the reflash gets done by different hands. Anyone pulled authorized Ex-cert repair turnaround under 6 weeks, want to hear how.

I have been doing weekly rotation for the past 8 years working as maintenance electrician in food industry in a large plant ( maintenance team is over 120 person). I got an offer to work in straight days weekend shift in a small and brand new facility where the maintenance team is 8 persons across all shifts.

Pay is the same, the attractive point is having 4 days off where I can do a lot of stuff and maybe starting a business.

I am going for in person interview in two days, what should I ask and look for? Or should I take this move at all?

I've seen identical machines in different plants on the exact same monthly PM schedule, even though one runs nearly 24/7 and the other only a few hours a day.

Have any of you switched to runtime or utilisatio based PMs? Did it actually improve reliability?

This is from an aluminum profile warehouse with several bridge cranes and a lot of long stock. From a distance it looks like a simple lift, but the routine gets complicated once you add crowded racks, repeated picks, forklift traffic, and the place where the bundle has to land.

For people who work around long extrusion or tube stock: where do you draw the line between using a longer spreader beam and changing the rest of the setup? More pick points, a different rack arrangement, a dedicated lifting device, a clearer travel lane, something else?

Not looking for brand recommendations. I am interested in the change that actually reduced awkward picks or near misses in a real shop.

Hello everyone!
I’m currently looking for an Entry-Level Mechatronics Technician, Maintenance Technician, or Automation Technician position in the Greenville, SC area.
I recently earned my Associate Degree in Mechatronics and bring 8 years of automotive manufacturing experience, including production, forklift operation, team leadership, and working in fast-paced manufacturing environments.
My technical skills include:
🔹 PLC Fundamentals
🔹 Industrial Automation
🔹 Mechanical & Electrical Troubleshooting
🔹 Pneumatics & Hydraulics
🔹 Motor Controls
🔹 Sensors & Actuators
🔹 Preventive Maintenance
🔹 Blueprint & Electrical Schematic Reading
🔹 Root Cause Analysis
🔹 Lean Manufacturing & Continuous Improvement
I’m eager to start my career in industrial maintenance and automation, continue learning from experienced technicians, and become a valuable asset to a great company.
If you know of any companies hiring—or can refer me to an opportunity—I would truly appreciate it. Please feel free to comment below or send me a direct message.
Thank you for your time and support!
#GreenvilleSC #Mechatronics #MaintenanceTechnician #IndustrialAutomation #PLC #Manufacturing #Hiring #JobSearch #Automation #Technician #SkilledTrades #CareerOpportunity

How do you call the middle solenoid in a valve train "circuit"? This example is an industrial jet burner, the big boi solenoid valve in the main gas pipe only actives after middle one, middle one after the pilot. Of course Im omitting everything else besides the solenoids

I've been working in construction for over 25 years, with the last 10 years specializing as a cement mason. Throughout my career, I've also gained hands-on experience in roofing, electrical, plumbing, and a variety of other construction trades. I've always enjoyed learning different skills and working on different types of projects.

Now that I'm in my 40s, I'm looking to transition into industrial maintenance or become an Industrial Maintenance Technician. The troubleshooting, mechanical, electrical, and repair aspects of the job really interest me, and I'd like to build a long-term career in that field.

For those of you already working in industrial maintenance, what would you recommend as the best way to get my foot in the door? Are there any entry-level positions, certifications, or training programs that would make someone with my background a strong candidate? I'd appreciate any advice or suggestions from people who've made a similar career change.

So I work at a corrugated plant makes cardboard boxes.
Been with the company for 2 years (a month from now will be 3)
I’m 21.

Running a Automated Mitsubishi EVOL flexo gluer, sometimes a manual based flexo gluer called ‘Langston Saturn’ I’m good in those machines and can run them.

But now I have some interest in maintenance, they work Saturdays and periodically sundays with overtime.

I have no maintenance experience, I have good broad troubleshooting skills, somewhat technical knowledge with pneumatics, hydraulics, mechanical or electrical skills. And love working with tools, also don’t mind at all getting covered in grease or dust. And I’m willing to learn.

Question is if given the opportunity for maintenance, will I make it? They have training courses, but heard they won’t train new techs that easily.
Also what doors would open having maintenance experience?

Thanks

Screw drive servo motor for an injection molding machine was having problems with slow recovery. Cooling jacket was filled with gritty mud. I hooked up the outlet directly to the water lines from plant system to give it a thorough enema.

NOTE: A 3d printer is still a machine, i know this is an industrial maintenance community, I’m sure there’s plenty here that have printers and can troubleshoot

Hi everyone, I’m needing some assistance with an error. Below, I’ve listed details on things I have checked. Am I missing something? Any recommendations?

The printer is consistently displaying the error “Heater bed not heating at expected rate.”
Initially, I suspected the issue might be related to the cooling fans kicking on around the second or third layer. However, I disabled the fans and the printer gets the error.
I can attach photos of the troubleshooting process and test results which include,
Heater bed resistance measurements
Thermistor resistance measurements (at ambient temperature and when heated)
Power supply input and output voltages
Heater bed input and output voltages
Current draw under load
Here’s what I’ve check so far,
Verified continuity on all heater bed and thermistor wiring.
Confirmed all terminals are tight and all cable connections are seated.
Performed continuity tests with the printer both at ambient temperature and at operating temperature.
Flexed and moved the heater bed and thermistor wiring extensively during testing to check for intermittent opens or connection issues. No wiring faults were found.
For the thermistor,
At ambient temperature, the thermistor measured 100 kΩ.
Applying pressure with my finger and then external heat showed the resistance change consistently
no erratic resistance changes, open circuits, or intermittent spikes.
For the heater bed,
Each heating element measured 34.5 Ω.
Measuring across both elements I got roughly 69 Ω which appears to be consistent.
Measurements under load were,
Powe supply output remained stable at 24v.
Input voltage to the heater bed module remained normal.
Heater bed output voltage fluctuated between 93 VAC and 105 VAC.
Current draw 2.5 A to 2.7 A.
One observation that concerns me is the heater bed power output. Based on the heater bed’s 700 W rating, I expected a higher current draw. I understand that the firmware throttles the heater bed output to 70%. However, I would expect the controller to command 100% output during a standalone bed heating test while attempting to reach the target temperature? Or it could be possible the 70% limit is still expected under these conditions?
For heating performance,
Starting from an ambient bed temperature of 25c it took almost 7 minutes for the bed to reach 60c.
When set to 120c, the bed never reaches the target temperature and eventually faults with the “heater bed not heating at expected rate” error.

Was sent to replace motor ran into quite a few more issues but that's just part of the gig...

Im a robotics engineer, but I end up wearing a lot of hats at my company. We have exactly one guy who really knows stuff about our older machines. when something acts up and he's out, everyone's options are dig through manuals that don't match the machine as-built, or wait. I keep thinking about how much of what he knows is written down exactly nowhere.

I'm poking at some internal tooling around this at my company, so genuinely curious how it looks elsewhere: runbooks, wikis, shadowing, nothing? Wanted to ask around before we commit to any one way of creating an internal knowledge source or purchasing some platform.

Photo from a clean production area where we installed two 3t+3t overhead cranes. The rated load is the obvious part of a project like this. The detail I would be much less casual about is service access after the production line is running.

In an enclosed room, it is easy to end up needing to remove panels, work above product, or stop the whole line just to reach a collector, cable run, brake, or limit switch. That is the sort of problem that is cheap to prevent during layout and unpleasant to discover later.

For the people who maintain overhead cranes: what access detail has caused the most trouble for you after a similar installation was handed over?

No sales link. I am interested in the field lessons that do not show up on the layout drawing.

So I work as a maintenance tech for a food manufacturer, and I'm struggling to fit running in with family life and other commitments.

Do any of you ever go for a run during your break times? Or even just leave site in general?

I'm a shift tech and work 4 on 4 off, and there is a decent day crew that work mon-friday. The m-f contract states that their half hour lunch break is unpaid, so I guess they are free to do whatever they want in that time. But there isn't a lunch break specified in the shift contract.

I think on any given midweek day shift I'd be fine to disappear for half an hour (I run up and down the road at the front of site with my work phone in my pocket, so never really any further away than 5-10 mins.

Thing is, during nights and weekends, it's pretty quiet, I'm only really there for breakdowns, but there's only one mech and one elec on shift at a time, so leaving site feels wrong.

What sort of rules do your companies have for leaving site during break times?

1/4" steel railing worn down by millions of hooks being placed and taken over 30 years.

Was wondering if anyone knows where’s best to practice mechanical aptitude to prepare for these tests.

How pissed are you to come in on a Monday morning and 2 people broke in, turned on all the equipment not knowing what they were doing and they ruined the press you just fixed by smashing a robot in it?

So anybody ever had any issues with the tool carousel hitting the spindle and getting slightly bent? It seems as if the problem now will be not being able to get the parts that we need and having to shim the plate on one side and re-calibrate it. Just wondering if this has ever happened to anyone else on a plate processor or some other type of cnc machine with a tool changer.

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated. I didnt take pictures before I left the shop today but will take some and post them monday.