When most of today’s electricians started out, hardly anything was computerized. Electrical controls were mostly electro-mechanical relays. Then such things as PLCs and solid-state relays became common. Now we even have “smart” devices that communicate on a network.
This has not only changed the maintenance picture, it’s changed the repairs picture.
If you understood relay operation and ladder logic, you could troubleshoot and repair the controls. You didn’t encounter such things as:
• Unknown user password for access.
• Operator entered system password in BIOS and didn’t record it.
• Corrupt or missing dynamic link library (dll) file.
• IP address problems.
• Operator altered the control logic but did not record the change.
• Malware loaded onto system.
• Wrong program/recipe/protocol loaded for the desired operation.
• System has power, but doesn’t run.
When equipment needs repair and the electrician encounters such issues, the repair is going to take a while unless the electrician has training for that specific system. The electrician also needs quick access to the kinds of information you can’t simply guess at or find on a ladder logic diagram, such as:
• Passwords.
• Program installation disks.
• Data backup disks.