SERVICE BULLETIN

NOTICE: The Type of Change and Recommended Compliance specified reflects Solar's best judgment regarding the Service
Bulletin. All questions should be directed to your Solar Field Service Representative. Solar, Saturn, Centaur, Taurus,
Mercury, Mars, Titan, SoLoNOx, and Turbotronic are trademarks of Solar Turbines Incorporated. Cat and Caterpillar are
trademarks of Caterpillar Inc. Specifications subject to change without notice.

NUMBER: 21.0/112
ISSUED: December 2018
REVISED:
PRODUCT: All
MODEL(S): All
Specifics: Enclosed units

SUBJECT: A-FRAME INSTALLATION INTERFERENCE

Type of Change: Product Improvement

Recommended Earliest Convenience

Compliance:

Purpose:
To provide a solution for the interference between the external A-frame I-beam and the internal
engine removal I-beam.

GENERAL INFORMATION:

Between the December 2008 and August 2014, projects were shipped with external A-frame beam
support part numbers 1075716-101, -102 and 1075765-102, -103. These kits included a physical
“job aid” used for assembly that was too long due to interference with weld beads preventing proper
installation in all cases.

The purpose of these two installation job aids is to support the external I-beam during installation.
Field personnel should be able to rest this end of the external beam on the positioned internal I-beam
to support the installation of the splice plates and hardware between the two beams (Figure 1).

The issue with the two installation job aid tabs is that they are too long, as the weld on the mating
beam was not taken into consideration. Therefore, while attempting to align the external beam, the
weld and supports interfere, preventing the splice plates and hardware to be installed (Figure 2&3).

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 EXTERNAL A-FRAME I-
BEAM: Installation Job Aid

Figure 1 A-Frame Job Aid

EXTERNAL A-FRAME I-
BEAM: Installation Job Aid

INTERNAL A-FRAME I-BEAM:

Installation Job Aid Landing Area

Figure 2 Interference Location

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 INTERNAL A-FRAME I-BEAM:
Weld – needs to be measured to ensure the
tabs will land on the beam flange

INTERNAL A-FRAME I-BEAM:

Landing area for external beam tabs

Figure 3 Excess Weld Material

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 Engineering re-designed these parts to prevent any interference on later projects after August
2014. With the latest improvement, the support tabs are located on top of the doubler plates.
Therefore, the tabs will not interfere with any welded structure (Figure 4).

Figure 4 New Projects I-beam Interface

ACTION REQUIRED:

SAFE WORK PRACTICES MUST BE IN PLACE BEFORE STARTING

WORK. THEY MUST INCLUDE THE IDENTIFICATION OF ALL
HAZARDS AND ASSOCIATED CONTROLS TO MITIGATE ANY RISK.
ALL WORK PRACTICES MUST COMPLY WITH LOCAL REGULATIONS
AND EMPLOYER RISK MITIGATION REQUIREMENTS. AT A
MINIMUM, ALL SOURCES OF ENERGY SHALL BE CONTROLLED IN
ACCORDANCE WITH STANDARD HAZARDOUS ENERGY CONTROL
(LOCK OUT / TAG OUT) PRACTICES.

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 EQUIPMENT AND SYSTEMS MUST COMPLETE NORMAL
SHUTDOWN CYCLES, COAST DOWN TO A COMPLETE STOP, AND
COMPLETE POST-LUBRICATION CYCLES BEFORE COMMENCING
WORK.

It’s recommended to perform a trial fit with A-frame and engine lift tools at earliest convenience
before first engine exchange on site. Before Installation of A-Frame, confirm if job aid interference
condition exists by following the below procedure.

1. Measure the welds width and length on the internal engine removal I-beam (figure 5);

2. Measure the width and length of the external engine removal I-beam tabs to verify if
there will be interference when it is mated to the internal beam (figure 6);

3. If it is determined that there will be an interference, cut or grind the end of tabs off as
needed to prevent the interference with the weld. Ensuring that the overall length of
the tab is a minimum of ½” in length. Additional grinding on the internal sides of the
tabs may be required if there is too much weld material on doublers of internal beam.
Do not grind the weld on doublers or beam in any case. The distance between the two
tabs should be measured to ensure that there will not be an interference with the
amount of weld at final installation (figure 7);

Figure 5 Internal Trolley Beam

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 Figure 6 External Trolley Beam

Figure 7 Final Installation

4. After the engine removal tooling has been used, and then taken apart, it is
recommended that the area of modification get cleaned and painted with a
zinc-rich (aka cold galvanizing) spray paint according to the paint
manufacturer’s instructions. This is to prevent the exposed carbon steel from

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 rusting. Cold galvanizing is predominantly elemental zinc which gives similar
cathodic protection as hot-dip galvanizing.

A list of affected projects is available in Local Solar District Office. Contact your local Solar
district office and provide your project definition number (PD number) or package serial number
to verify if it’s in the affected list.

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