One of the great benefits of a community of heat treaters is the opportunity to challenge old habits and look at new ways of doing things. Heat Treat Today’s 101 Heat Treat Tips is another opportunity to learn the tips, tricks, and hacks shared by some of the industry’s foremost experts.
For Heat Treat Today’s latest round of 101 Heat Treat Tips, click here for the digital edition of the 2019 Heat Treat Today fall issue (also featuring the popular 40 Under 40).
Today’s tips come to us from Control Concepts, covering SCR Environmental Conditions. Another contributor, Messer, also shares a tip on “Preventing Furnace Downtime.” These are great tips to make those fixes that can fly under the radar.
Heat Treat Today welcomes you to submit your own heat treat tip for the 2020 Heat Treat Today fall issue to benefit your industry colleagues. You can submit your tip(s) to karen@heattreattoday.com or editor@heattreattoday.com.
Heat Treat Tip #50
Using a Grounding Rod in Noisy Environments
This may be beneficial if you have a bad system ground. (Control Concepts)
Heat Treat Tip #51
Seal Away Dirt or Dusty Environments
Use a sealed enclosure or alternative cooled power controllers for dirty and dusty environments. For heavy dirt or dusty environments, a sealed cabinet with air conditioning or filters is recommended. Alternatively, select a SCR manufacturer that offers external mount or liquid cooled heatsinks to allow you to maintain a sealed environment in order to obtain maximum product life. (Control Concepts)
Heat Treat Tip #52
De-Rate Controller Above 6,000 Feet
De-rate controller for installations above 6,000 feet. As the air thins at increased elevations, natural convection and forced air cooling becomes less efficient. Follow the manufacturer’s recommendations for de-rating the SCR power controller above 6,000 feet altitude. (Control Concepts)
Heat Treat Tip #64
Prevent Furnace Downtime
If your atmosphere heat treatment furnace is experiencing frequent downtime, and circulation fans fail, it is probably time for an upgrade. New injection mixing technology uses nitrogen to stir the atmosphere and maintain its uniformity. (Messer)
