As you can tell by the title of this post, I’m in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. It’s kind of good here. There is a shift premium for working night shifts and an extra few bucks an hour for working out of town. I also got paid for the drive out here and have a hotel room paid for and a food expense account. If it’s done right, you can make a pretty good amount of coin. Plus with all the overtime you end up working it just adds to it. On the other hand, it’s not the greatest having to leave home and travel for work. You do miss your friends, but it’s only for a week. I’m not gone for too long and don’t miss too much stuff back home. It takes a bit of getting used to working at night but I think I’ve got a handle on it now. If you don’t mind working out of town, it’s a good opportunity. I don’t think I’ll be doing it too much more though.

This past week has been quite busy. And I got to do some really neat things. On Wednesday myself and Myles, another apprentice, got to operate the Genie manlift (or woman-lift) out at our local airport. We were assisting some of the telecontrol guys with putting up a new antenna and mast.  It was such a fantastic day for the weather, and we couldn’t remember the last time we got a sunburn in the middle of September.

Two telecontrol guys attaching the antenna.

I also was assigned to escort a Department of Labour worker named Bill to do his elevator inspections. I got to ride on top of the elevator car up and down several times, and even though I enjoyed it very much Bill seemed bored by it. And then I learned that he has been doing this for the past eighteen years.

Well it’s almost time for me to go home and pick up where I left off with the house reno’s. Busy busy busy…

Tracy.

For the next couple of weeks, we are working hard out in Oakbank replacing old reclosers with new. (Pictured below, old on the right, new on the left)

Circuit reclosers are essentially circuit breakers, the main difference being the reclosing part.  When a breaker trips, it remains in the tripped or open state until someone gives it a command to close.  When a recloser trips, it closes itself back in automatically.

To take the old one out of service, it first needs to be isolated from the system. Because the reclosers handle a lot of load for the Eastern Manitoba, we need to make sure its load is transferred to another line. We then hang temporary working grounds, and remove the electrical connections from the top of the recloser.

The oil is drained from the recloser using a small oil pump and is collected in a barrel. The recloser is lowered, and the structure bolts are removed from the concrete pad. Using a boom truck, the recloser is rigged up and lifted out.

The new circuit reclosers are fitted with plates that match the existing bolt pattern in the concrete pad. This makes installation a lot easier. The new recloser is lowered onto the plates, and bolted in place. The new reclosers are oil and gas free. This is good for the environment, because there is no substance to potentially leak.

A new run of PVC pipe is installed, and the control wires are fed through it, and into the cabinet. Once the AC power has been connected, the commissioning can begin.

We start with a cabinet wire check.  The ACR’s are factory wired, and we need to ensure all wires are where they should be.  The connections are compared to wire paths on prints provided by the manufacturer.  Next, we cut and install bare copper grounds on two sides of the cabinet.  The grounds are then tied into the existing station ground grid.

A number of tests are applied to the recloser to ensure proper and safe operation when the equipment is put into service.  These include insulation tests, contact movement, heater functionality, and relay operations.

During my tour in Yorkton I got to do a lot of different jobs that are fun and a wide range of what a carpenter does. It started with framing two walls that windows could be installed into for a pharmacy. Of course I had to take down one of the walls and re-frame it because the company that was the general contracter didn’t put the posts in the right place for the ceiling. Stuff like that happens sometimes on commercial jobs.  There is so much going on that sometimes mistakes are made. Then I got to look at the plans and figure out where walls needed to be built and doors needed to be put in and mark that stuff out. I also got to do a little prep for concrete work by forming up and leveling a couple of curbs that coolers rest on and walls get built on. I didn’t pour or finish them because I left before that happened. Finally, I was able to do some demolition work. It’s always nice to take a little anger out on something that is meant to come down anyways. I liked it in Yorkton, but the distance from home would keep me from going again unless it was absolutely necessary.

So I got my letter for school just last week. When you get it its best to get your money to the apprenticeship office as soon as possible. If you don’t there is a good chance you could lose your seat and possibly have to wait till the next class. If there is no class then you’ll have to wait till the next school year. Another possibility is that you may lose your apprenticeship. That would be a shame because of the effort that you put into it to get as far as you have. I get to go back in mid November till the end of January. It’s going to be nice because I’ll be in school for a good chunk of the cold weather. I’ll have to work in February but it won’t be too bad. It’s going to be a nice break from work for two and a half months and they have a delicious breakfast in the J building at school. Man, I’m looking forward to that!

Well, it’s that time of year when everyone looks forward to going back to school. Maybe not everyone, but I sure was. I am currently now attending Assiniboine Community College in Brandon completing my level 2. I never knew I would be so excited, or that school could be as fun. Meeting new people who are on the same path as you is awesome. Same interests, willing to learn from each other and sharing different work related experiences. I attend school for about 9 weeks, and then write my level exam. I have to get 75% or better to complete my level 2, and return to work to start my hours towards level 3. One thing I noticed about college is how different it is than high school: the environment, students, teachers, everything.  I think the main reason for this is because everyone attending college is paying to be there. They are there because they want to, they need these classes to move up in life, and work towards developing successful careers. High school is different because not everyone wants to be there. They get poor grades, or don’t show up. Everyone tends to respect and acknowledge your presence in college. In high school it’s harder to become known. Everyone walks right by you; there are groups that people hang with. College has none of that. Like I said, you attend because you want to. No one is forcing you. I’ll try to get some more blogs in during my school, maybe a few sneak peeks of some in-class stuff.

Here is what a typical battery bank looks like:

Maintenance on the battery banks is very important, as we need to ensure they are constantly charging and are in a reliable condition, should an emergency situation occur.

An integrity check includes water and acid levels, charger amperage and voltage, and functionality of the emergency eyewash stations.

If water needs to be added to the battery cells, the explosion caps are removed. Distilled water is added until the level is at maximum. To fill batteries, two people must be present for safety reasons. Acid resistant gloves must be worn, along with a face shield, and an apron.

All trailers ride on bearing and races, as well as some older vehicles that still use tampered bearings on the front hubs. These are found within the hub, which the wheel bolts on to. Like everything else, bearings must be maintained and well greased in order to do their job. If they’re not maintained, the bearings can heat up and deteriorate within seconds, causing major damage and scoring inside the hub and axle. Replacing the axle and hub can become very costly to the customer.
A race is metal ring that is pressed inside the hub. The bearing sits and rides on the races. Over time, both wear out.

Here I am working on a trailer that had bad bearings. I started with removing the axle nut and outer bearing, sliding the hub off, then removing the rear seal and inner bearing. You then clean the old grease from inside the hub, and use a punch and hammer to remove both of the bearing races.

After this step, I take the new races, and use a special race installation kit to install races into the hub. Once this is complete, I take the outer bearing (bigger bearing) and pack it with grease. Apply lots of grease inside the hub ( you can never have to much) and install the bearing. A new seal is installed once bearing is in place. You repeat the process for the outer bearing and races.

You then install the hub back onto the trailer. When tightening the nut, be sure not to over-tighten! Of course I learned this the hard way, and it was not fun. The easy way to do it is to snug nut up with a pair of pliers, back it off, and then turn it by hand. There should be little bit of play, with the nut snug. This is one of my favorite jobs I like to do at my work. Its fun, and I’m good at it.

Just the other day, the shop technician and I diagnosed a problem on a Hyundai Sonata.  The customer complaint was that it was very noisy when running. To verify that, we simply just had to start the engine. So, we started diagnosing the problem using stethoscopes and by feel. It wasn’t long before we found the problem underneath the valve cover. It was something to do with the lifters. We looked it up in the shop repair manual to help us further diagnose the problem. We learned that the noise was occurring most often on the front and rear of the engine (which was a V6) on the opposite ends. This is the exact location of the timing chains.

Once we figured that out we opened up the engine. Once the valves covers were off, and the timing chains in plain view, we saw that the chains were loose and worn out. Since we had to take all four camshafts out anyway, we tested all the Hydraulic Lash Adjusters for movement. We found that 8 out of  24 were bad.  This would cause a very loud engine noise.

An HLA is cylindrical and has a open bottom end with a spring inside. They are what the camshaft pushes on to open and close the valves. They have small oil holes, so when engine is running oil gets inside to lubricate it. On a vehicle with only 60,000 kms on it, it is rare that the HLA ’s would fail so soon. Hyundai Canada suggested to us that at some point, this car may have ran out of oil. I have done some reading on HLA’s, but I never really understood them until this job came in. Another great reason that apprenticeship is the best way to learn your trade.