Configuring an electro-hydraulic system in a controlled environment is challenging enough, but fine tuning equipment performance in the field presents an additional layer of difficulties. Carrying and maintaining up-to-date specialised equipment and cables, protecting the technician and the equipment from hazardous conditions and accessing difficult to reach components, all serve to complicate the process and add time and cost to the operations.
Imagine the challenges of an offshore dredging operation: floating in a sea of corrosive liquid, isolated and basically self-contained, with the hydraulic systems located in a dark, noisy, hot, cramped engine room far from the equipment it controls. That’s the situation faced every day by the crew of the offshore dredge at Hillsboro Inlet, on the east coast of Florida. This operation keeps the pass free of sand for boating traffic and for drainage to prevent inland flooding during storms. The dredge includes two diesel engines that power a 34 m3/min pump pushing out over 300 cubic metres of sand per hour from the dredge onto a nearby beach to replenish the shoreline.
Ellicott Dredges, based in Baltimore, Maryland, has worked closely with local Sun Hydraulics distributor, Advanced Fluid Systems (AFS), for the past 25 years. The 1170-S dredge uses between 25 and 30 Sun cartridge valves and five Sun coils for control of directional and proportional valves. One of the electro-hydraulic proportional valves controls the swing winch used to adjust the speed of the dredge arm movement and has to be configured to ensure proper operation.
Once on board the dredge, the challenges Captain Woody faces when configuring that valve can be seen. Fine tuning the valve to optimise the winch performance can take hours.
When Sun Hydraulics announced the introduction of the new Bluetooth Embedded Amplifier configured using Sun’s AmpSet Blue smartphone app, AFS sales engineer, John Caldwell, saw this application as a perfect example of how this new approach to remote, wireless amplifier configuration could save time, money and effort.
Sun’s new Bluetooth Embedded Amplifier, the industry’s first commercially available Bluetooth-configurable product, provides a compact, factory-integrated coil and connector combination for use with Sun’s proportional solenoid valves. Users configure the embedded amplifier wirelessly using Sun’s AmpSet Blue app on their mobile devices for quick, easy, reliable wireless calibration.
AmpSet Blue allows users to locate and pair with the selected amplifier using their smart device and to adjust all parameters of the proportional controller through several simple screens. This eliminates the need to carry an expensive laptop with special cables. With the app, users can name each device and save, store, recall, and share settings for future use. The amplifier is CE-certified to the latest standards, including the 30-V/m automotive standard (per Directive 2009/19/EC). Since it is fully encapsulated, sealed to IP69K and offers vibration, shock and environmental protection, it is ideal for installation in harsh environments.
Caldwell contacted Captain Woody and proposed the installation of the new Bluetooth amplifier. All that was required for a successful installation of this new solution was the Bluetooth amplifier and the captain’s iPhone. To install the new amplifier, they disconnected the cable connector, removed the installed coil by removing the nut assembly, slid the new Bluetooth amplifier over the installed solenoid valve, tightened the nut and reconnected the cable connector. Time to install: less than five minutes. Captain Woody walked through the various settings available on the app, then went to the engine room to confirm connection with the amplifier. Because of the quick configuration and feedback, he was able to set the valve more precisely, more easily and in less time.
Having wireless remote control of the Bluetooth Embedded Amplifier offers a new level of convenience and safety in configuring hydraulic systems in challenging locations. For the crew on board the dredge, who spend a lot of their time maintaining their equipment in a warm, humid, corrosive environment, it’s a major benefit to quickly, precisely dial in the dredge arm speed.
This new Bluetooth amplifier/app combination opens up opportunities across a broad range of applications, both mobile and industrial, where cost, reliability, ease of use and security are critical. Add to that its noise compliance and robust environmental protection, and you have a solution for many of today’s most challenging electro-hydraulic applications.
For more information contact Fritz Kern, Axiom Hydraulics, +27 (0)11 334 3068, [email protected], www.axiom.org.za
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| www: | www.axiomsa.co.za |
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