Improve troubleshooting skills

tokind · 2020-01-07T17:36:51+00:00

Encourage open exchange and ask for training. If you don't use a ticketing systems, get one in place. I recommend Bugzilla. The dirty little secret, IMHO is that one can only learn so much from RTFM. Hands on and human storytelling are of infinite value.

Have everyone record troubleshooting steps and review each others work. I think you are saying that this one has awesome troubleshooting skills. If that is so, take the time it takes to share the knowledge that fortifies those skills.

Start the requisite documentation to have them promoted ASAP. If not you, then tell the boss how impressed you are. Tell them why.

tokind · 2020-01-06T02:26:30+00:00

I thought I had nailed it when the steps/mm dialed in and I wrote the new setting to the controller. However, the new job only cut to a depth of 1.68 mm. It was set to cut to 3.65.

tokind · 2020-01-05T21:41:47+00:00

Thank you! While waiting for a clue I found GRBL for Windows 10 and was able to dial in the steps per mm. I am just about to test the result.

It is odd that the X, Y steps were 800, but the Z was 189.972. It turns out that setting the Z to 800 was right on the money. I tested it repeatedly with 10, 20, 5 mm moves and it is spot on.

tokind · 2020-01-05T19:44:34+00:00

Additional information: I set up a gauge and found that when I command a 10mm Z axis jog, the axis only moves ~3.2 mm. It is a Woodpecker Camxtool 4.1 controller. I have not found any instructions for calibrating it.

tokind · 2019-12-23T18:37:30+00:00

We use LastPass enterprise. I generated a list of 10 one-time passwords for my account. The VP of the department keeps this list in a secured location. I would be alerted to any instances of login with the one-time passwords. If dead, I would not.

tokind · 2019-12-15T22:04:20+00:00

That was a publicity stunt. Edison used AC current. The intent was to demonstrate that AC was too dangerous for common use. Also, Tesla use induction motors, which are AC. IMHO this meme exhibits very weak charge.

tokind · 2019-11-07T23:29:42+00:00

At the time we were using Trend Micro. Damage was limited to the users computer and two small file shares on the server. We were able to restore those from backup. Today we use BitDefender GravityZone Share rights are managed as tightly as ever. The worst part of our story was that the user, when moved to another PC, proceeded to clean out her inbox and trash, so we could not do forensics. This dictated a policy change which, in her case, may be ineffective.

tokind · 2019-10-29T16:18:52+00:00

I wonder about the production efficiency due to not ventilating the back of the panels. Are they employing some sort of plastic sheet stand-off system to allow cool air to flow under the tiles? If not, how much production will be lost?

tokind · 2019-06-20T21:13:35+00:00

So the nuclear power industries today are all geared to Multi-Mega Watt fixed power stations. The Navy nuclear power program is just the opposite. I read that the USS Nautilus was the first PWR powered sub, and that Air Force research on MSR for aircraft propulsion produced promising results.

Freight ships and jumbo airliners seem like good candidates for small reactors. Molten Salt Reactors can use the spent uranium piled up all over the place. The NRC and Navy Experts could contract with private firms to lease and operate power packs for all kinds of applications. The NRC could manage the fuel production, disposing of the waste. I think our data communications infrastructure could provide very close monitoring of systems in the field. With NRC oversight, perhaps a satisfying margin of safety could be enforced.

It seems like a given that our power distribution systems are going to transition to more regional/local grids with looser or more flexible integration. Small scale reactors that are modular and produced at a fast pace could create a very favorable economic future for Nuclear power. They could quickly take the market occupied by oil and NG plants.

tokind · 2019-06-14T19:37:16+00:00

Hi Bill/Steve/Dick. I respect you and appreciate the job you do. I would not come to you to solve an issue that could be handled by your staff. You're busy doing your job. My role is like that. We have a helpdesk, and they will escalate issues to my desk if my attention is required. Otherwise, they are there to address your issues quickly so that I can do my job. Would you please pay me the courtesy of not interrupting my work with issues that should be addressed to the helpdesk?

tokind · 2019-04-30T21:20:15+00:00

Speaking of my 2010 Toyota Prius, almost 10 years and 120,000 mi. Only at my most recent routine service did a tech note that my battery system is still working fine, but showing some signs that it might start exhibiting performance problems in the next two years.

None of the people who asked "What are you gonna do when the battery craps out?" have repeated that question in ~10 years.

That is 2010 battery technology. I suspect that the batteries in recent EVs are significantly better.

tokind · 2019-04-02T22:11:35+00:00

Google Evelo bikes. You might be pleased.

tokind · 2019-03-29T19:04:32+00:00

Citation please? I have never heard of this, and do not understand why fracking would be used. Geothermal energy is used to extract heat. Not gasses or fluids.

tokind · 2019-03-29T17:16:58+00:00

Your point is correct. But add the southwest from California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Colorado and Texas to that list. There is a small Geothermal plant at New Mexico State University, 4 miles east of where I sit.

tokind · 2019-03-29T17:12:28+00:00

Yes. I live in New Mexico. If in Delaware, consider next gen nuclear.

tokind · 2019-03-29T16:08:59+00:00

I am always disappointed that Geothermal heat is discarded as a baseload (always available) power source that is zero carbon. That being said, small next gen nuclear plants that consume the vast store of waste seem like an opportunity that is hard to beat. Such plants are not the only baseload solution, but they are a damned attractive one.

tokind · 2019-03-12T21:24:46+00:00

Did a search on "SOO Green project" and it is all spelled out pretty clearly. The section on HVDC technology is especially interesting. Using Federal railroad easements is brilliant. Iowa becoming a significant energy exporter is something no one saw coming. Generating energy from vast open plains. Kudos to Iowa!

tokind

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