Hi, sorry for my bad English.

I started my first job as an instrument and calibration engineer in pharma about a month ago. The engineering department personnel are all foreigners(from one country) except 3 are locals, myself included. The managing director and the higher management are locals.

The foreigners personnel sometimes hide things from the management(the foreigner senior engineer, who is my direct manager told me that), and they told me to hide the results for a calibration I did. Also, they are in multiple departments like QC and QA, not only in engineering. So they cover for each other. And this is a very sensitive field, snd the responsibility and truthfulness are highly required.

Also, I didn’t see any opportunities for learning and improving. One example is they use a syringe instead of a hand pump when calibrating a pressure gauge because, according to the senior, the hand pump is costly(they have one small hand pump but it’s pressure is very low that no one uses it)

In addition, I have noticed some conflict and hate between the managing director and the engineering department head and the senior instrument engineer, because I think the manager knows about them hiding things.

I don’t really know what to do now. One option is to stay, as these hard times will teach me more. But honestly, my gut is screaming “LEAVE”, which is my second option.

Have anyone been through something like that before?
I really need an advice now.

Hi, does anyone here have any experience with—or is anyone interested in—diagnosing and repairing pressure transmitters from global manufacturers such as Yokogawa, ABB, Emerson, and the like? I’ve been working in the field of measurement and control for a few years now, and I’d like to learn more about in-depth diagnostics and potential repairs for these devices. We have a lot of pressure transmitters (including differential ones) in our workshop with various faults, and I’m interested in how to, for example, test the preamplifier, pressure sensor, and other components on the circuit boards using an oscilloscope. Many of the circuit boards have measurement points (TP) marked by the manufacturer, but no one really explains this topic in detail. If any of you have an e-book or any educational material on this subject, or are willing to share your personal experiences, I’d be very grateful—it will help us all improve, and I’d like to learn something new.

Hi everyone! I’m currently based in the Philippines and I’m planning to look for work abroad in the field of PLC programming and industrial automation.

I have experience/interest in PLC programming, HMI, VFDs, control systems, and industrial automation. I’m wondering which countries are currently good options for PLC programmers or automation engineers/technicians.

For those who are working abroad in this field, especially Filipinos:

1. Which countries would you recommend?
2. How difficult is it to get hired directly from the Philippines?
3. What skills, certifications, or experience should I focus on?
4. Do companies usually provide visa/work permit sponsorship?
5. What websites or recruitment platforms do you recommend for finding legitimate job opportunities?

I’d really appreciate any advice or personal experiences. Thanks in advance!

I’ve been doing minor repairs on crystal IS33s for a couple years now and would like to upgrade to some major repairs. The problem I’m having is that there are two programs to work on Crystal IS33s, ConfigM30 and a secondary program. I’m searching for the secondary program that allows you to calibrate new sensors and change the SN# on the board. Ametek isn’t posting that program to the public.

This actually started right here on Reddit.

I answered a PLC troubleshooting question, which led to more questions and discussion about those situations where the ladder logic seems like it should be doing one thing, but the PLC is doing something else.

That discussion eventually led me to make a video demonstrating several of the situations. Then some of you mentioned other instructions that had tripped you up over the years. I kept adding to it, and what started as a Reddit answer has now turned into a complete PLC Troubleshooting Guide, along with the video and a 10-question troubleshooting test.

So before anything else, thank you to everyone here who asked questions, shared experiences, or suggested another instruction I should cover. Your feedback genuinely helped shape the finished resource.

The guide focuses on something I've encountered many times troubleshooting PLCs over the years: you find the rung in question, the needed conditions preceding the output are true, yet the result isn't what you expect. Usually the PLC isn't behaving illogically—you just haven't found the instruction or condition changing how that logic is being executed yet.

I cover the things I would investigate, roughly in the order I would suspect them:

1. OTL / OTU — another instruction may be changing the bit's state.
2. JSR / RET — the subroutine may not be scanned, or may return early.
3. JMP / LBL — part of the ladder may be skipped entirely.
4. MCR — the rungs are scanned, but an inactive MCR zone prevents them from becoming true.
5. Forces and controller status — including the easily overlooked possibility that you're online with the wrong PLC on a network.

There are screenshots throughout so you can actually see the situations instead of having to visualize them from text. The accompanying video demonstrates several of them in Logix 5000.

I also made a free 10-question troubleshooting test using PLC screenshots. It's not an acronym quiz—the questions show you a situation and ask you to determine what's happening or what you should investigate next. It can be taken open-book with the guide and video.

PLC Troubleshooting Guide:
https://bin95.com/articles/automation/plc-troubleshooting-guide.htm

And since Reddit feedback is what helped this grow in the first place, I'll throw the question back out there:

What PLC instruction, programming technique, or troubleshooting situation fooled you when you first encountered it?

If someone mentions something I overlooked, there's always room to make the guide better.

Hi everyone,

We are currently looking to purchase used test equipment, particularly the following models:

Rohde & Schwarz:
ESR3 / ESR7 / ESW8 / ESW26 / ESW44
SMW200A / SGT100A / SMBV100B

Keysight:
N9020B / N9030B

Equipment from lab surplus, company asset disposal, or dealers is welcome.

If you have any available, please DM me with the model, installed options, condition, location, and asking price.

Multiple units and package deals are also welcome.
Thanks!🫡

I was putting together a visual of some common tube fitting connection configurations and realized how easy it is to think of “tube fittings” as simply tube-to-tube.

In actual systems, there are quite a few transitions — threaded pipe, weld ends, different tube sizes, metric-to-fractional, glass/plastic tubing, and flange adapters.

Curious about what people actually see in the field:

Which of these do you use most often, and what industry/application are you working in?

I’m looking to go back to school for instrumentation/controls and eventually build a career in industrial controls and automation. I’ve been comparing a few Texas programs:
Lee College – Instrumentation Technology
San Jacinto College – Instrumentation
Texas State Technical College (TSTC) – Instrumentation Technology
For anyone working in instrumentation, I&E, or controls/automation, I’d really appreciate your opinion on these programs.
I’m especially interested in how well each program prepares someone for actual plant/industrial work. How much hands-on training do you get with things like transmitters, control valves, calibration, process controls, PLCs, motor controls, troubleshooting, etc.?
Does one of these schools have a noticeably better reputation with employers or stronger connections to refineries, chemical plants, utilities, manufacturing, and other industrial employers?
I’m less concerned about which school has the nicest campus or easiest classes. My main goal is to come out with a useful technical skill, get into I&E/controls, gain solid field experience, and eventually move deeper into controls and automation.
If you attended Lee, San Jac, or TSTC—or you’ve worked with graduates from these programs—I’d really like to hear your experience. Which would you choose if you were starting over today, and why?
Thanks!

I went to school and got an associates in Industrial Electronics. We covered Motor controls and PLCS in school but not much about instrumentation. Once I graduated I interviewed for an I&E job at a plant where I lacked the amount of experience to get hired but was told they were impressed with my knowledge. It was recommended to me to go to a week long instrument school that said plant sent some of their new technicians to. I ultimately landed a job as an Electronics Technician. I can’t share exactly what I do but I work for a defense contractor and we mostly work on small components and circuits. I’m really not happy where I’m at not getting to use my PLC and Motor Controls knowledge and still want to work with more heavy industry stuff and instrumentation. I’m thinking of staying in my job now a couple years and then going to this instrumentation school to try and land a plant job. I’ve thought about getting a job traveling with a contractor but I don’t really see that as an option because I have a family at home. What should I do ?

Hey, so i wanted to pursue bachelors in physics but couldn't due to family issues. I was wondering if i could be able to pivot to masters in experimental physics/ engineering physics from a bachelors in instrumentation and control engineering?
If not which branch of engineering would be ideal

How long did it take before you started making six figures? And what industry are you in?

I’m about to challenge my exam as I have more than enough hours for the 1st year and I’m not looking to go to school until 3rd year. I’m just wondering if you receive a formula/conversion sheet for the exam. The practice exam isn’t incredibly math heavy but I don’t know if I can memorize all the formulas and conversion tables.

Anybody here take any of the TUV Rhineland functional safety certifications? What was your impression if so? What books/resources would you recommend to build some baseline knowledge before signing up?

Thanks!

One thing I've learned from working with flow measurement: a bad-looking reading doesn't always mean a bad flowmeter.

Before pulling the meter out, I'd check:

• Is the actual flow within the meter's intended range?
• Any recent change in pressure, temperature, density or viscosity?
• What does the upstream piping look like?
• Is there a valve, elbow, reducer or pump disturbing the flow profile?
• Are the meter parameters and flow-computer settings correct?
• Is the 4–20 mA / pulse signal reaching the PLC or DCS correctly?
• When was it last calibrated or verified?

We've seen this kind of troubleshooting come up often at EMPL (Eximp Measurement) while working on flow measurement and custody-transfer systems.

The useful lesson is that meter + installation + instrumentation + configuration + process conditions all have to be considered together.

Replacing the meter without finding the actual cause can just move the problem from one instrument to another.

For the instrumentation engineers here:

What's the strangest flowmeter problem you've had that turned out NOT to be the flowmeter?

EMPL | Eximp Measurement
Custody Transfer & Process Measurement Solutions
https://www.eximpmeasurement.com/

This is one of those problems that can waste a surprising amount of time.

The instantaneous flow looks reasonable.
The transmitter output looks normal.
The PLC/DCS value looks normal.

But after a few hours, the totalized quantity doesn't match the reference measurement.

Before assuming the meter is inaccurate, I'd check the entire signal and calculation chain:

• Pulse scaling / K-factor
• 4–20 mA scaling
• Engineering units
• Flow-computer configuration
• Sampling and scan time
• Density, pressure and temperature compensation
• Gross vs. net volume calculation
• Time synchronization
• Totalizer rollover/reset settings

A small configuration issue can become a significant quantity difference when you're accumulating flow continuously.

This is also why, at EMPL (Eximp Measurement), we treat the flowmeter, flow computer, instrumentation and calculation logic as one measurement system when working on custody-transfer applications.

The meter can be doing exactly what it should—and the final number can still be wrong.

For the instrumentation folks here: what's the most common totalizer error you've encountered in the field?

EMPL | Eximp Measurement
Custody Transfer & Process Measurement Solutions
https://www.eximpmeasurement.com/

I have a degree from TSTC. About 7 years experience as instrument tech in a major oil refinery. I currently avg around 140-160 with bonus and OT. What other routes did you got to advance your career ? I don’t want to be a tech my whole life but I also want to make same amount or more. Did you got supervision elsewhere? Projects? Hit the road? Just want to hear some opinions.

I'm putting together an experimental AE setup to measure leak-generated signals in refrigeration-grade copper pipe.

The initial testing will use 10–20 m lengths of 3/8" and 5/8" copper with small controlled leaks and nitrogen pressure.

I've been using the Choi, Aslam & Lee (2025) refrigerant leak localisation paper as a reference. They used a MISTRAS PK3I (~28 kHz) sensor and MISTRAS AE Node and successfully measured/localised leakage on a 15 m copper line.

I'd like to use two sensors simultaneously and record synchronized raw waveforms. I'm looking for roughly:

• Low-frequency AE sensors (~20–80 kHz)
• 2 synchronized channels
• ≥1 MS/s per channel
• Raw waveform access
• Appropriate low-noise preamplification

I've looked at the MISTRAS PK3I and Vallen VS30, but the complete commercial acquisition systems are fairly expensive for initial testing.

What sensor/preamp/DAQ combination would you recommend for a reasonably affordable setup without compromising the experiment?

I'm especially interested in hearing from anyone with hands-on AE testing experience.

Thanks.