Troubleshooting
batching problems
Establishing benchmarks helps
solve problems rapidly and effectively
t’s 6:33 a.m. and Ken is already hav-
I ing problems. As the batchman as-
signed to one of the largest pours of
the summer, he has big trouble. The
plant had batched perfect concrete the
evening before. But today Ken is taken by
surprise on the very first load as he watch-
es the scale displays climb way too fast for
the mix and load size.
As the batch is completing, he looks out
the window and sees the problem. The mix
is calling for 1⁄2-inch rock and although the
1
⁄2-inch rock gate is opening, so is the 1-
inch rock gate. Ken’s first thought is that
the batching computer is telling the 1-inch
rock gate to open.
“That darn Joe probably edited the gate
assignments and didn’t tell anyone,” Ken
says out loud. He pulls up the gate assign-
ments, but they are correct. Ken’s face
flushes as he says aloud, “Okay, Joe, I owe
you an apology.”
Ken next reasons that the computer must
be messing up. He knows enough about
his batching control system to realize that
he can bypass the computer entirely by ac-
tuating the gates from a manual control
panel. Ken presses the 1⁄2-inch rock gate
Problem: Random overweighs
Symptoms:
Problem happens on large loads
Problem happens on every mix with 3⁄4-inch rock
Problem not there on all other rock sizes
Conclusions:
Aggregate batcher and scales are okay
Freefall compensation for 34⁄ -inch rock is misset
Goal: Look for common or overlapping symptoms
button and both 1⁄2-inch and 1-inch rock By David Hall
fall. He is getting panicky now.
Ken senses that this is not going to be an
ordinary problem. The trucks are backing
up deep in the yard. In desperation, Ken
pulls the solid-state optocoupler module
for the 1-inch rock out of the computer
cabinet. “There, that should get us going.
We’ll just have to troubleshoot this after the
big pour is over,” Ken says to himself.
He decides to test his theory by pushing
the 1⁄2-inch rock button just enough to see
the gates crack open. Unfortunately, the 1-
inch rock gates open, too. The usually cool
Ken lets out a string of expletives as he sits
down hard on the wooden stool by the
computer console.
One of the drivers pokes his head into
the batch house to see what is causing the
delay. “We got trouble boss?” the driver
asks. Ken glares at him as an answer. “I
don’t understand,” the driver says. “It was
batching fine last night … just before Lon-
nie rewired the horn.”
It doesn’t register with Ken immediately.
All he can think about is the possibility of
the huge order being canceled. Finally, it
continued on page 721
Overlap
Look for common or
overlapping problems to
help reduce the time it
takes to isolate and di-
agnose a problem.
strikes him. Lonnie had been in the com-
puter cabinet last night rewiring the horn.
Ken hadn’t given it a thought, since the
horn was working fine.
Ken hops off his stool and goes to the
back of the computer cabinet. All the horn
connections are neat and tight. He looks
down on the next row of terminals and lo-
cates the 1-inch rock gate terminal. He no-
tices that it happens to be right next to the
1
⁄2-inch rock gate terminal. The light bulb
comes on in his head as he realizes what
must have happened.
He looks carefully at the terminals. Sure
enough, right behind where the wires poke
out of the keepers, there is a single strand
of copper wire, nearly invisible between
the I/O rack and the terminals. It is, as Ken
had guessed, bridging the 1⁄2-inch rock gate
signal over to the 1-inch rock gate terminal.
Ken now has a clear mental picture of
what must have happened. Lonnie was
stripping the insulation off the wire and ac-
cidentally nicked a strand that fell into the
cabinet. Ken removes the bridge and tests
the gates again. He is ecstatic to see them
open one at a time.
Solving real-world problems
Ken’s dilemma is just the first of several
real-world batching troubleshooting meth-
ods that will be examined in this article.
Each method is illustrated with an actual
problem. As you read them, focus on the
methods used to isolate, identify, and elimi-
nate the problem. Keep in mind, also, that
these methods will work for any type of
troubleshooting problem, whether it be a
batch plant or a front-end loader.
“Trouble” on a batch plant is anything
that slows down production or delivery or
degrades the quality of the concrete being
produced. Trouble comes in several forms:
product quality problems, production
speed problems, accuracy problems, and
reliability problems.
The root cause of one type of problem
may initially appear to be in a different area.
For example, a lack of plant maintenance (a
reliability issue) may be mistakenly tagged
as an accuracy problem. In fact, plant main-
tenance problems can show up as a factor
in every category. Poor gate maintenance,
for example, can lead to excessive jogging.
Excessive jogging in turn, can cause slower
batching, decreased accuracy, and a slow-
down in overall production speed.
Backtrack to go forward
Ken’s early morning experience is typical
of many problems that are nearly impossi-
ble to plan for. Whenever things are going
fine and then suddenly go sour for no ex-
plicable reason, there is usually a critical
piece of the puzzle missing. Nine times out
of ten the missing piece is an unnoticed,
inadvertent action by a human. Whenever
things don’t add up, go over everything, no
matter how unrelated, that took place just
before the breakdown or problem. The an-
swer will usually be obvious.
Ken was aided by the fact that he had a Divide and conquer:
solid working knowledge of his automation In each successive step
of this troubleshooting
system. He had taken the time to attend a technique, the problem
training seminar at his automation company, is subdivided into two
where he had learned to operate his batch- parts: 1) the part with
ing controls efficiently and to quickly isolate the problem and 2) the
part without the prob-
common control and plant problems. Even lem. As the process con-
though the training had taken place more tinues, the part with the
than a year before, Ken was able to utilize problem gets smaller,
the survival skills he had learned and apply and the problem takes
less time to troubleshoot.
them in this critical situation.
Establishing benchmarks
The first step in a systematic approach is
to isolate and identify problem sources.
Unless you know what is normal at every
point in the process, you can’t begin to iso-
late, much less identify, what is wrong.
The key is to take your batching opera-
tion’s pulse regularly. Record these pulse
points and compare them to the same read-
ings taken when the plant was running nor-
mally. This technique is known as bench-
marking. Benchmarking is based on the
 concept that any process, no matter how
complex, can be effectively solved by hav-
ing enough measurements at different points
in the process in both the normal, running-
well condition and in the abnormal, trou-
bled state. These measurements provide the
information needed to determine the validity
of the symptoms. They help eliminate false
symptoms and ensure that you won’t run
out of troubleshooting clues before the
cause of the problem is determined.
Once the problem is isolated, detailed ob-
servations are often necessary to separate
the true cause from the list of suspect caus-
es. For example, let’s say you are getting
Clos in g the l o o p : sporadic high-side, out-of-tolerance batch
Knowledge of normal weights. The out-of-tolerance measurement
operation parameters
leads to establishing
recordings flag the problem. Careful obser-
benchmarks which are vations recorded during the out-of-tolerance
used to rapidly trou- batches yield more details. Without the de-
bleshoot plant equip- tailed symptoms, you may never realize that
ment problems.
the overweighs occur only on large loads
and only on one particular aggregate.
Visual inspection of the overhead bin
gates for the problem aggregate turns up the
fact that whenever the gates are held open
beyond a certain length of time during large
loads, the worn teeth allow one gate to slip
out of mesh with the other gate, causing the
gates to close with difficulty. If the problem
had gone undetected much longer, the gates
would probably jam in the full open posi-
tion, creating a very undesirable result.
Fixing subtle problems
Without regular performance measure-
ments, subtle problems can take root and
grow so gradually they are not noticed un-
less they are compared to peak perfor-
mance measurements. A prime example of
such a situation is a poorly calibrated mois-
ture meter. A drifting moisture probe and
meter can cause intermittent slump or wa-
ter trim errors whenever sand moisture
content gets in the high range. If the probe
under-reports sand moisture, the computer
will add water to compensate, resulting in
excessive slump.
Another gradually worsening problem is
excessive buildup of cement on the inside
of a cement batcher. If not removed regu-
larly, this slow buildup of cement may
cause you to tare off too much weight and
result in the sudden release of the built-up
cement into one load.
Many speed problems are addressed by
expensive plant steel modifications when
they could be solved more economically
with an automation software enhancement.
If your slow production rates are killing your
competitive advantage because one material
routinely takes longer to batch, check out
available software options for your batching
automation. Chances are, there is an inex-
pensive software option that will enable the
faster material to begin production on the
following batch while the slower one finish-
es discharging on the current batch. This
software solution can cost up to 50 times
less than modifying the plant itself.
The solutions to most batching problems
are surprisingly obvious, provided you have
gathered enough symptoms to describe the
problem. The following techniques may be
used separately or in combination. They are
guaranteed to reduce the time it takes to
isolate and diagnose a problem.
Symptoms with like factors
Mike experiences significant overyields
on some days, and correct yields on other
days. He is puzzled by the fact that every
problem load has correct batch weights on
cement, admixtures, and coarse aggregate,
but consistently overyields. Since the batch
weights are correct, Mike zeroes in on the
sand because he knows there is an interac-
tion between sand and water in terms of
yield.
Mike rules out freefall compensation set-
tings because the load overyields
occur consistently, by about the
same percentage, no matter what
the load size. Mike is just about to
pull out what little hair he has left
when he notices that the overyields
are particularly frequent on days
when the sand moisture content
measures fairly high. This one extra
fact forces the problem out in the
open.
The solution is determined only
after Mike has gathered enough
facts—and discarded enough pieces
of information that do not fit the
situation. The solution to the prob-
lem is that the high-end calibration
point on the moisture probe is set
too high. The reported moisture on
high-moisture days is greater than
the actual sand moisture content.
This is causing Mike’s batching au-
tomation to hold back more water
and add more sand to compensate
for the false moisture content. The
result is correct batch weights, but
significant overyielding.
Divide and conquer
Another effective approach is to
logically whittle the problem down
to size. This is a highly efficient
troubleshooting technique. Every
time you subdivide the problem in-
to two parts—1) the part with the
problem and 2) the part without
the problem—the part with the
problem gets smaller and smaller,
and takes less time to troubleshoot.
Let’s walk through another situation
to get the feel for how this tech-
nique can be applied.
The cement scale on Steve’s plant
overweighs sometimes, under-
weighs at other times, and never
seems to fit any pattern. The manu-
al batch panel scale readout drifts
up and down on the cement scale,
but the aggregate scale readout is
steady. The aggregate batcher, at
the other end of the plant is rock-
solid and batches perfectly. The
first step Steve takes, using the sub-
divide method, is to isolate the
problem to either the plant or the
batching control.
Steve weighs up some material in
each batcher, notes that the cement
weight is drifting, and the aggregate
reading is steady. Steve then turns
off the power to the batch control,
unplugs the cement scale pot cable
and the aggregate scale pot cable.
He reverses the plugs so that the
aggregate scale pot is feeding into
the cement scale input and vice-
versa. Steve turns the batch control
back on and notices that the aggre-
gate readout is now drifting all over
the place and the cement readout is
rock-steady. Since the problem
moved to a different readout when
the scale pot cables were reversed
and the cables lead outside to the
plant, Steve has now cut the possi-
ble hiding places of the problem
neatly in half.
Steve now concentrates on the
plant itself, with full confidence that
the problem is definitely out there.
He climbs up on the plant and
checks the scale pot. It appears to
be fine. The scale lever pivots are
tight, the knife edges are fine, and
Steve knows that the scale is track-
ing accurately. The wind is blowing
out of the north, making it very cold
on the cement silo end of the plant.
Steve goes to the south side of
the plant to visually compare the
condition of the aggregate scale
pot. He notices that the aggregate
weigh hopper is motionless. He
goes back to the cement end and
notices that the cement weigh-
batcher is swaying ever so slightly
in the wind. The cause of the prob-
lem literally hits Steve in the face:
The wind. Steve tracks the batch re-
sults along with wind speed and di-
rection for a couple of days. Sure
enough, the loads that have cement
weigh accuracy problems and fre-
quent jogs happen when the wind
is out of the north and gusting.
The solution is easy—and inexpen-
sive. Steve merely dials in more scale
motion electronic compensation that
is available in his batch control. This
feature is available on most types of
batching controllers. It has the effect
of an electronic shock absorber to fil-
ter out minor signal swings resulting
from batcher swaying.
Handling multiple problems
The techniques discussed previ-
ously are highly effective for black-
and-white problems. But what if
there are multiple problems that
show the same symptoms? Let’s vis-
it a plant that once was a model of
production efficiency. Suddenly
and without explanation the plant
batch weights become erratic.
Sometimes it overweighs and gives
out-of-tolerance messages. At other
times it underweighs and jogs to
completion. The 1⁄2-inch rock mater-
ial is especially erratic.
Jim, the owner, spends a day in
the batch house observing produc-
tion. After a few loads, Jim begins
to notice a pattern. If there is a
break in the pace of production, the
first batch after the break tends to
underweigh. The next batch is on
the low side of the target, and the
following batches get progressively
higher weights and fewer jogs.
Jim knows that when everything
is running properly the batch con-
trol hits the target weights on every
material consistently. He knows he
will have to look elsewhere for the
root cause of the problem. Jim goes
down to the air compressor and
takes a look at the air tank. He no-
tices that the motor never stops
running and the air tank water
bleed valve is not fully closed. Jim
closes the valve securely, and the
compressor motor stops running af-
ter a few minutes.
Jim tracks the batch weights over
the next few days and confirms
that each material batches perfect-
ly—except for the 1⁄2-inch rock. The
1
⁄2-inch rock batch weights are still
erratic compared to the way it has
batched in the past. Upon inspec-
tion, the cylinder seals on the 1⁄2-
inch rock feed gate cylinder prove
to be worn out. Jim also notices
the length of the air hose from the
control solenoids is significantly
longer than the other gates. Jim
has the seals replaced and the
hose run shortened. Those actions
solve the problem.
Jim now has the most accurate
loads ever produced at this plant.
Material overconsumption goes
down, profitability goes up, and the
customers are more satisfied with
their quality concrete.
Once things are running smoothly,
Jim is tempted to breathe a sigh of
relief and go back to business as
usual. However, he just can’t get
over the fact that something so sim-
ple and obvious could have escaped
attention for so long. Jim decides to
take steps to prevent future situa-
tions from getting out of control.
The first thing he does is to call
his automation company and get an
adjustable air pressure sensing
switch installed on the compres-
sor’s main air manifold. This switch
signals the batchman through the
batch control computer whenever
manifold air pressure drops below
a preset level. The second thing Jim
does is pick a routine mix design
and write down the batch times for
a given load size and truck loading
times—now that the plant is run-
ning well. While he is at it, Jim
waits for a heavy production sched-
ule and puts a stopwatch to one
full day of truck movements. He
computes and records the average
in every category. Jim now has a
baseline benchmark to judge every
aspect of batching performance.
Jim knows that even if the im-
proved business activity resulting
from improved plant performance
will not allow time for regular
benchmarking, he still has the base-
line benchmark to fall back on
when performance deteriorates,
and it eventually will.
He realizes that most truck manu-
facturers must have felt the same
way when they put oil pressure,
water temperature, and battery
charge gauges on their vehicles.
These continuous benchmarks give
early indication of when something
critical to the truck’s operation mal-
functions. They often give warning
before the problem becomes dis-
abling. Gauges give valuable insight
into the cause of a problem. They
also provide confidence that the
truck will get you there, when they
are in the normal range.
It is hard to justify the time and
effort required to do even basic
benchmarking. The day-to-day
challenges of taking care of busi-
ness often overshadow the need to
plan for what might happen. Yet
deep down inside, we must all ac-
knowledge that new problems will
surely crop up sooner or later.
The best we can hope to accom-
plish is to keep our guard up by
keeping a close watch on the vital
signs of a healthy operation. When
trouble does strike—and we all get
our fair share—the difference be-
tween a successful producer and one
caught in a downward spiral of prob-
lems might prove to be the availabili-
ty of information that can make
problems easier to troubleshoot.
The best troubleshooting tools of
all are the knowledge provided by
the benchmark data and prevention
by acting on the benchmark data.
As Vernon Law once said, “Experi-
ence is a hard teacher. First it gives
the test, afterward the lessons.”
Recording accurate benchmarks can
give you the same advantage come
troubleshooting time. It’s compara-
ble to reading one chapter ahead of
the teacher. ✥
David Hall is marketing manager for
Command Data Dallas Division, man-
ufacturers of Eagle batching control
systems.
PUBLICATION #J950719
Copyright © 1995, The Aberdeen Group
All rights reserved