Network heros empowered to solve network challenges
July 2000
Maintenance, Test & Measurement, Calibration
Spescom Measuregraph
The use of a Fluke Lanmeter saved the day for American company, Computerwise, when a hospital refrigerator forming part of an installed system developed a faulty capacitor. Similarly, Wafertech, a Washington-based concern, was able to use a Fluke Lanmeter to confirm a vendor's 'ineptitude'.
Fluke solutions provide network maintenance staff with effective, informed solutions in solving day-to-day network challenges, says Gary Casper, Product Specialist at Spescom MeasureGraph, the sole local distributor of all Fluke products.
"In the case of Computerwise, the client, a hospital, complained that their lab network was periodically running slowly," says Casper. "A Fluke Lanmeter was left on the system to monitor the traffic and began to report a large number of highly intermittent 'ghosts' on the network, occurring in bursts of some seven minutes and then suddenly disappearing."
The source was narrowed down to a particular wiring run and all electrical devices in its vicinity were shut off. One of the first devices to be reactivated was the blood bank refrigerator, which soon began triggering 'ghosts'. A technician discovered that the start capacitor on the unit's motor had been failing and needed to be replaced.
"Without the timely intervention made possible by the Fluke Lanmeter, the customer would have complained about a slow network, the capacitor would have failed and the ghosts would have disappeared," says Casper. "The Lanmeter made Computerwise network technicians look like heroes. It prevented the hospital from being annoyed by a slow network and helped in effecting a timely repair to a problem which would otherwise have been difficult to detect."
In the Wafertech case, the company had two Unix stations on a network which demonstrated intermittent communication problems. The workstation vendor insisted that either faulty cabling or duplicate IP addresses were to blame. A Wafertech network maintenance technician used a Fluke Lanmeter to check that the cables were in order and to determine that there were no duplicate IP addresses. He then used the Fluke Lanmeter to confirm his suspicion that the problem was caused by duplicate MAC addresses on the two workstations. The highly embarrassed vendor promptly changed the system board and the problem was solved.
Further reading:
Infrared thermometers for electrical, industrial and HVAC applications
Comtest
Maintenance, Test & Measurement, Calibration
: Comtest, distributor of Fluke test and measurement equipment, explains how handheld infrared thermometers are transforming maintenance in electrical, industrial and HVAC environments, with three measurement strategies and a wide range of practical applications.
Read more...
Reverse-engineering legacy industrial gearbox parts
Maintenance, Test & Measurement, Calibration
WEG Africa’s turbine workshop uses 3D scanning technology to reverse-engineer components for legacy gearboxes, turbines and compressors, enabling equipment to run for decades after OEM support and spare parts have dried up.
Read more...
Unlocking ICCP remote monitoring
Omniflex Remote Monitoring Specialists
Maintenance, Test & Measurement, Calibration
Cathodic protection keeps buried and submerged pipelines safe from corrosion, but verifying it traditionally means costly, hazardous manual site visits. Omniflex explains how a retrofit module brings remote monitoring to ageing transformer rectifiers without replacing functional infrastructure.
Read more...
Microdieseling – the explosions you never hear
Maintenance, Test & Measurement, Calibration
Microdieseling is a pressure-induced thermal degradation mechanism in which entrained air bubbles are compressed so rapidly that the surrounding oil ignites, producing soot, varnish and sludge. WearCheck explains how it happens, why the damage varies, and how oil analysis detects it.
Read more...
Electrostatic spark discharge – when static strikes back
Wearcheck
Maintenance, Test & Measurement, Calibration
WearCheck technical manager, Steven Lumley explains how static electricity accumulates in modern low-conductivity lubricants, why compact system designs and fine filtration make ESD more likely, and how to recognise the degradation it leaves behind.
Read more...
High-speed cameras for crash testing
Horne Technologies
Maintenance, Test & Measurement, Calibration
Vision Research has expanded its Phantom C-series with two cameras optimised for crash and safety testing, offering 4 and 8 megapixel sensors rated to 170G, up to 1180 frames per second, and Phantom Academy application training planned for South Africa next year.
Read more...
SKF extends remanufacturing expertise to bearing clearance modification
SKF South Africa
Maintenance, Test & Measurement, Calibration
Using its clearance modification expertise, SKF helped a mining equipment OEM salvage spherical roller bearing inventory that would otherwise have been scrapped, confirming a new capability within its remanufacturing services and avoiding redundant procurement.
Read more...
When maintenance-system compliance starts replacing plant reliability
Wearcheck
Maintenance, Test & Measurement, Calibration
WearCheck ARC division manager, Annemie Willer argues that the greatest threat to effective maintenance is no longer a lack of technology, but the gradual replacement of technical judgement by CMMS compliance, leaving no one owning the machine.
Read more...
Automatic lubrication systems drive mobile mine machine reliability and uptime
SKF South Africa
Maintenance, Test & Measurement, Calibration
SKF’s Lincoln P203 progressive lubrication systems are improving reliability and uptime on mobile machines at a Zambian gold mine, with installation of 45 units completing by October 2026.
Read more...
Nitration: the acid you didn’t see coming
Wearcheck
Maintenance, Test & Measurement, Calibration
Nitration is as destructive as oxidation in many engines but far less understood. WearCheck technical manager, Steven Lumley explains how nitrogen oxide gases degrade lubricants, why the process is difficult to detect, and what oil analysis can reveal before damage occurs.
Read more...
printer friendly version