surviving lightning season - ricelake.com · surviving lightning season acme scale goes by the book...

Surviving lightning seasonAcme Scale goes by the book

The power of zap 3:Grounding 101

The stylus is mightier than the pen

Tom’s amazing file cabinet of mechanical rarities

A mAgAzine And ReFeRenCe TOOL FOR THe WeigHing indUSTRY / SUmmeR 2010 • iSSUe 1 • vOL. 7

The first SURVIVOR® Alan Dorschug ever sold wins our truck scale poster photo contest

and Rice Lake’s Wisconsin fishing trip!

Alan’s photo is now a poster in this issue. Turns out the scale and the photo are both winners. Not only did Alan claim the contest prize, he also reports that his customer liked

the scale so much, they bought three more!

www.ricelake.com | RICE LAKE MAGAZINE 3

Beginner’s luck The winner of our SURVIVOR

truck scale poster contest

2Surviving lightning season:

Acme Scale goes by the book

4The stylus is mightier

than the pen

7Timeless tile

10Take a closer look at the CB-2

concrete batch controller

11Sweet success with the 920i

12Tom’s amazing file cabinet

of mechanical rarities

16Painting the future

18The power of zap 3

Third installment of the series Grounding 101

20What’s New

24

Editorial Staff:

Carol Ailes, Technical Writer

Melanie Al Faraj, Technical Writer

Tamala Anderson, Designer

Cheryl Aune, Literature Manager

Bob Chatten, Translator

Matt Davis, Marketing Specialist

Jessica de la Cruz, Writer

Melissa Hjelle, Marketing Specialist

Katy Madden, Senior Editor

Hannah Martell, Designer

Kelly Musil, Catalog Manager

Caleb Olson, Technical Writer, Reporter-at-large

Pat Ranfranz, Marketing Director

Adam Sharpe, Web Master

Tina Slayton, Marketing Specialist

Kevin Theese, Marketing Support

Stacy White, Marketing Specialist

Kristina Zengaffinen, Senior Designer

rice lakeMAGAZINE

SUMMEr 2010 • ISSUE 1 • Vol. 7

T H I S I S S U E

WELCOME TO THE SUMMER ISSUE OF Rice Lake MAGAZINE.

We celebrate Americans at work—from our manufacturing crews to our mechanical scale experts, from our product and service engineers to our technical support team. Despite the trend toward offshore manufacturing and outsourcing, we keep over 400 jobs in Wisconsin, Alabama, and Connecticut.

Rice Lake built its reputation with top quality products, affordable custom weighing solutions, quick turnaround time, and the best customer service in the weighing industry. We depend on our people for their dedication to excellence—just as they depend on us for employment. Theodore Roosevelt once said, “The best prize life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”

Even as we celebrate our national independence, we salute our customers and partners the world over. National pride is universal. In this issue, we feature several equipment application stories from our distributors and their customers in Mexico. You will also find technical information and valuable advice to help you and your equipment survive lightning season—the summer fireworks are not all man-made.

If you have an interesting Rice Lake equipment application, please let us know. We hope you enjoy this issue and that you will contact us with your comments, questions and suggestions.

Sincerely,

Steve M. Parkman,Chief Operating Officer

rice lake ONLINE MAGAZINEGoing green? Access the Rice Lake magazine online. You will enjoy the same great stories plus links to more information. Also, with electronic access, you can easily share articles with employees and customers.

To subscribe:Go to www.ricelake.com/ricelakemagazine and complete the online form.

It’s that easy. If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected].

On our cover: Tom Jaecks, Class A welder, 21 years with Rice Lake Weighing Systems

4 RICE LAKE MAGAZINE | www.ricelake.com

T E C H TA L K

LIGHTNING SEASON IS A LOT LIKE DUCK HUNTING SEASON to scale people, ex-cept our truck scales are the sitting ducks. Consider that each spark of lightning can reach five miles in length, soar to tem-peratures of 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit and pack 100 million electrical volts—one zap like that could fry every load cell in the county.

Except for those in the truck scales in-stalled and maintained by Acme Scale Company in Windham, Maine. Carl McLaughlin has been selling SURVIVOR® truck scales for almost as long as Rice Lake has been making them. He serves his cus-tomers well. Acme Scale has the reputa-tion of never having lost a truck scale load cell to lightning.

According to Carl, it is easy. “We just fol-low the manual—single-point grounding all the way back to the service ground. That includes any peripheral equipment coming in. Multiple devices that are connected to the scale network—printers, PCs, remote displays—can cause a lot of grief if they are not single-point grounded. Everything is bonded to the same point of ground.

“When you start putting in ground rods, you just cause more potential for volt-age transients to the system. We insist on checking everything twice a year. We grease all the connections and make sure every-thing is under one ohm. If you don’t keep the connections well greased they will rust and eventually create a bad connection.”

Carl says his truck scale customers get bragging rights when others are knocked out by lightning. David Mattocks, manager of a New England scrap yard, called Carl because he wanted to relocate his truck scale. During that initial conversation, David mentioned he had been having a lot of trouble with lightning. He lost two load cells one day and during the next electrical storm he lost all eight load cells.

Carl went out to the site and found multiple ground rods. The service ground was not hooked up. The bypass cables were in bad shape—damaged in a variety of ways. Carl replaced the defective com-ponents, re-established the bypass cables, and threw away the extra ground rods. The service call was followed by a flurry of electrical storms—one right after another. David called Carl after every weather on-slaught to tell him his truck scale was fine, even though the weather had knocked out other equipment in his building. David claims, “Acme Scale is probably the best in the business with grounding. Their scale maintenance service is simply awesome!”

Dave Jarvis, operations manager (now retired) for Waste Management in Nor-ridgewock, Maine, echoes David’s com-ments, “Carl came in one day just to say he

Acme Scale goes by the bookKevin holds the only equipment

you need to check if your truck scale is safe from lightning.

continued on page 6


T E C H TA L K

When thunder roars, go indoors!Besides frying load cells, lightning kills an average of 67 people in the United States each year and injures hundreds more. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-tion (NOAA) marks “Lightning Safety Awareness Week” with the campaign slogan: “When thunder roars, go indoors.” Taking shelter under trees offers little safety from lightning. Nearly one-third of the people killed by lightning last year were under a tree when they were hit. Do not just stand there counting the seconds between lightning flash and thunder to estimate the distance between yourself and lightning. By the time you calculate it, it may be too late.

Sometimes thunder and lightning happen simultane-ously. Another third of lightning-strike victims were

on their way to shelter when they were struck.

Lightning safety tips:

Get into a fully enclosed building or hardtop vehicle at the first rumble of thunder.

Stay indoors for 30 minutes after the last thunder clap.

Monitor the weather forecast and have a plan for getting to safety in case

of a thunderstorm.

Do not use a corded phone during a thunderstorm unless it is an emergency;

cell phones are safe.

Keep away from plumbing, electrical equipment and wiring during a thunderstorm.

Go to www.ricelake.com/lightningtips for more myth-busting facts about lightning.

Jerry and Kevin make certain every piece of peripheral

equipment goes back to a single-point ground.

Scale technicians Kevin Petty, left, and Jerry Anderson, right, with Carl McLaughlin, center; owner of Acme Scale.


was in the area, and he asked me if I had good lightning protection. I told him ‘No!’ We were blowing seven to twelve load cells a year from electrical surges and storms. Carl looked me right in the eye and said, ‘I can fix that.’ And he did. His crew came in here one weekend, and since then we have not blown a cell from a surge or storm in the last nine years.”

Joe Geisser, Rice Lake northeast regional sales director, went out on a service call with Carl and Jerry Anderson, Acme Scale technician. “It looked like a ground-ing issue to me and I mentioned that to Jerry—who took great exception. He said ‘I’ll show you grounding!’ and confident-ly marched out there and popped off all the covers. Sure enough, the grounding was perfect—by the book. The problem turned out to be a defective board.”

Joe adds, “Lightning was once a big issue in the scale industry. When our industry got into installing electronic truck scales it was thought that the more ground points the more protected you were. Rice Lake Weighing Systems had the advan-tage of coming out of the gate with a superior weighbridge, checking system, grounding and electronic transient pro-tection; which has virtually eliminated product loss to lightning.

“Our goal was zero downtime due to lightning—and we achieved it. Carl’s crew takes the time to be sure that the grounding is done the way we specify it in our manuals. Carl, Jerry and Kevin [Kevin Petty, Acme Scale technician] wouldn’t think of leaving a routine main-tenance inspection before checking the grounding of a scale. I am confident that I could go to any one of Carl’s truck scales and find no problems with respect to grounding or lightning.” ▪

Diagram of Single-Point

Grounding

T E C H TA L K

continued from page 4


By Caleb Olson

DONALD SCELZO, WHO OWNS DIAMOND SCALE in Westport, Mass., has been using CRS for over four years because it helps him compete in his market. “In today’s environment, you need an edge,” Donald explains. “One of my customers recently hired a new purchaser who re-evaluated the cost of preventative maintenance on their scales. They decided that while other scale companies could do the preventative maintenance more inexpensively, the con-

plant and just putting stickers on a scale are gone,” Donald says. “They need more. Once these companies are on CRS for a while they begin to rely on you. The audi-tors respond to CRS, which takes pressure off management’s shoulders. That’s huge for keeping an account. I know they won’t go anywhere else.”

Along with helping keep existing custom-ers, CRS also enables Diamond Scale to obtain new clients. “When you perform a

venience of CRS enabled me to keep the account. That’s what CRS does for me; it gives me that edge. It also results in more sales because those parent companies have sister companies who not only use us for preventative maintenance, but buy scales from us as well.”

CRS is especially relevant to ISO-certified companies that adhere to strict record-keeping standards to maintain their ac-creditation. “The days of walking into a

O N L O C AT I O N

OUR LIVES ARE BEING TAKEN OVER. From the moment a digital alarm clock wakes us up in the morning to the time we fall asleep in front of a giant flat-screen TV, there is no escape. Little digits—ones and zeros—are every-where! They constantly flutter over our heads, cloaked in the invisibility of a wireless network, cell phone coverage, or the brilliance of remote controls. Resistance is futile.

We are neck-deep in the information age, an era which is winning the battle against patience. We expect instant access to everything, from our credit card statement to details about our favorite celebrities’ personal lives (thank you, Twitter for letting us know what Ashton Kutcher is having for dinner).

Waiting for information is no longer an option, and that is

changing outlets such as newspapers. People refuse to

wait for a hard copy, delivered at the schedule of some-

one else’s choosing, when the same information can be

retrieved whenever one chooses. This theme resonates

across industry lines, and has even found its way into the

scale business.

Certificate Retrieval System™ (CRS) is a high-five to the

information age. This electronic device has been devel-

oped to provide end users anytime-access to electronic

certificates. The scale technician simply loads CRS onto a

PDA, then follows the built-in calibration wizard to enter

data. Once complete, the PDA is synched with a PC, the

information is uploaded, and certificates in PDF format

can be accessed by logging in at www.crscerts.com.


O N L O C AT I O N

first-time preventative maintenance for a client,” Donald explains, “they really don’t know what to expect. But when I show them how I use CRS, they are blown away. That’s a great feeling.” He continues, “It’s obvious to them I know what I’m doing and they can trust me. More and more people are going paperless and we’re ready for it. I don’t know what I would do without CRS anymore. I actually forgot my PDA one day and I felt lost. I had to write everything down on a piece of paper like the old days. It was awful!”

Diamond Scale uses another tool to impress customers. Most scale companies calibrate a scale with traditional cast iron weights. While perfectly accurate, if not properly maintained, these can become riddled with rust and look twice as old as they actually are. Diamond Scale uses stainless steel test weights, which meet the highest standards, even for food-grade envi-ronments. Frequently sanitized at customer locations with steam and chemicals, the mirror-finished weights convey the professionalism Donald demands. “When I show up with CRS and stainless steel weights,” Donald says, “I know the customer will understand that I am giving him the best value for his preventative maintenance dollar.”

VALLEY SCALE, INC., is a family-run business in Pleasant Valley, New York. Owners Robert, Kristi, Mike, and Paul Stolarski had been using CRS when they found themselves in the market for new cell phones. “We knew CRS worked on a typical Windows® PC, so we wondered if it would also work on a Windows Mobile cell phone,” Paul explains. “So, we bought the Windows Mobile phones and loaded CRS. It works beautifully!” While CRS was designed for PDAs and has not been officially tested on cell phones, Valley Scale has consolidated the two devices, using an HTC Ima-gio™ running Windows Mobile version 6.5, to streamline their cer-tification process. “It’s great,” Paul continues. “I’m using CRS and if somebody calls me, I’ve got everything right there. I’m never out of touch with a customer. We’ve picked up several new accounts be-

cause they need certifications for ISO. I’m uploading it and they can get the certificate the same day, whereas the previous technician would provide a handwritten paper copy within two or three weeks. When I go in and certify 25 scales for one of my customers—and on ev-ery report they want the ID number, the weights used, and the Weights and Measures certification number of those weights—CRS saves me time.”

It seems to be human nature to misplace things. From car keys to loose change to important documents, most of us cannot be trusted. When Valley Scale received a call from one of its larger accounts, frantically looking for a lost (printed) certificate, no-body should have been surprised. However, Valley Scale sim-ply helped the client login to the Valley Scale website (which links to the CRS website) and they immediately retrieved the certificate. It is often not a matter of if someone will lose the paper copy, but when.

Because CRS stores everything outside of the customer’s building, they cannot permanently lose a certificate. The certificates are available for download 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. “It makes their bookkeeping much easier,” says Robert Stolarski. “They’re used to waiting a couple of weeks for a guy to fax or mail the certificates. With CRS, they can have them whenever they want. Clients are amazed I can do certs on my cell phone.”

DEAN HAITA, OF SCALE SERVICE & SUPPLY CO., Inc., has a unique client. This customer weighs high-performance, high-value material and continually needs their scales to be certified to avoid costly errors. An ounce here or there means a lot of money when you are

Dean Haita, Scale Service & Supply Co., has seen a 50 percent increase in efficiency since implementing CRS. Office shelves previously stacked with paperwork are now almost vacant—the lone survivors of the desertion are Rice Lake catalogs and literature.

Donald Scelzo, Diamond Scale, uses CRS and stainless steel weights to give customers ultimate value.


O N L O C AT I O N

CRS is installed on an explosion proof PDA for intrinsically safe environments.

Tell us a storyWe are looking for great stories about Rice Lake equipment and

service for this magazine.

Have you recently made an interesting install or service call?

Even a funny thing that happened on the way makes a good read. Do you have a customer using

Rice Lake equipment who would welcome a positive people and

product story going to more than 60,000 readers?

Please email a brief summary to [email protected].

dealing with this material, not to mention the legal requirements. Many of the on-site scales are being used to fill drums which are shipped directly to the customer. To main-tain Legal-for-Trade status, these critical scales need regular certification. This need is especially time-consuming because of the number of scales involved. “They have over 250 scales to be tested every month,” Dean explains. “That used to produce a lot of pa-perwork. It was taking longer to do the paperwork than the actual test.”

In 2006, Dean was writing scale certifications by hand, which was no easy task. The fa-cility demands that everything be explosion-proof, and certain non-technician-friendly precautions are therefore required. “I have to wear special gloves,” he continues. “So I would get the weights in place, try to write the values down, move the weights, write another weight down, and so on. And then the pen wouldn’t always work, or the paper would get stained.” It was around this time that Scale Service & Supply moved to the CRS system. Dean’s dexterity dilemma disappeared! “Now, I just have to tap tap tap on the PDA, and I can do it as I’m calibrating the scale,” he explains. “Our explosion-proof PDA has replaced an entire office they had set up for certification storage.” That office used to consist of a fully stocked filing cabinet (one folder per scale), a computer, and a desk—all devoted to certificate storage.

It was not only the convenience of CRS that prompted Scale Service & Supply’s adop-tion of the technology—the client demanded it. They were moving to ISO 17025 cer-tification and had a misplaced-certification incident during an audit. Thus, one of the requirements was a system to file all calibration certificates electronically. “We initially invested in CRS to keep the account,” Dean states. “What we didn’t know was how much time would be saved.”

One building took Dean four days to complete—sometimes more. That is almost a full work week blocked off on his calendar every month, and 25 percent of his time. Today, it takes him two days to finish that building, and the client often has the certificates on the same day testing was performed. CRS paid for itself after the first month; now he can use those extra two days to work with other customers. Since the amount of time spent on each scale is less, Scale Service & Supply’s profits for this large account have increased.

The 50 percent efficiency increase prompted Scale Service & Supply to move more customers to CRS. Today, all of their customers are on the CRS system. Office shelves previously stacked with paperwork are now almost vacant—the lone survivors of the desertion are Rice Lake catalogs and literature. Dean emails a PDF of each certificate to his clients, and there is always a backup stored online in case a hard drive goes down.

A particularly useful component of CRS is data tracking. When a scale is out of toler-ance, a client or technician can go back and see how that scale has performed over the course of time. If that scale is routinely out of tolerance, the paperless trail makes it easier to gain approval for a new scale purchase. An email with six PDFs, for example, can simply be sent to the company’s quality control representative—showing the scale’s performance (or lack thereof) over the past six months. Scale Service & Supply’s cli-ents have been so impressed with CRS that it has opened the door for other Rice Lake products. Dean recalls one Legal-for-Trade scale that always needed adjustment. “Every month—I would tell them it needs to be replaced,” he recalls. “They moved to Rice Lake’s RoughDeck® floor scales and 320IS indicators and now there aren’t any issues at all.”

Since the move to CRS, Scale Service & Supply’s clients have never had a problem with their audits. They simply go online to get certificates. Because everything is organized and smooth, Dean feels his clients would be reluctant to move to something (or some-one) else. CRS has secured a long-term working relationship with his clients.

What’s next for Scale Service & Supply? They are trying to further streamline their test-ing procedures. Time equals money, and the more time saved—the more money can be earned. That is where the value of CRS really counts. ▪


GRUPO PORCELANITE-LAMOSA is one of the largest producers of ceramic tile in the world. David Hernandez, manager of the plaster mill at the Porcelanite plant in Querétaro, Mexico, recently replaced a European-made weighing system with a 920i system designed by Industrial Weighing Solutions (IDN). David says, “There was no support for the old system. It was very expensive to get service. This 920i system is very good. No problems at all.”

Mario Garza, director of IDN, notes, “The 920i is doing what a PLC would have done, but for less cost and with greater flexibility. PLCs are not well equipped for weighing applications.”

Mario also points out that using the 920i saved Grupo Porcelanite-Lamosa time and installation costs. “Only the original controller was replaced, without altering or replacing the field elements. The variety of option boards available to receive and transmit signals allowed us to completely adapt the 920i with the existing elements.”

The 920i controls two bucket lifts, five conveyor belts, five in-motion conveyor scales and monitors levels in five silos. As soon as the 920i detects a low level in a silo, it sounds an alarm to prompt the operator to initiate refilling. When the 920i detects that the receiv-ing silo of the mill is full, it stops the process. After the receiving silo signals the level has dropped, the indicator restarts the formulation process.

The operator selects the formula. The 920i controls adding five ingredients in a continuous mix via in-motion weighing conveyors. The mix is very important to the end strength and durability of the finished tile.

Porcelanite-Lamosa floor tiles are deceptively beautiful—for as practical as they are. They are waterproof, fireproof, fadeproof, odorproof, resistant to fungi, acid and the elements. All proven by undergoing a series of punishments devised by the European Normalization Committee.

Varnish toughness is tested by scratching the varnished surface with a progression of implements starting with a fingernail and ending with a diamond tip. Ice resistance is tested by stacking ten floor tiles of the same type, soaking the stack in water, and alter-nately freezing and thawing continuously for a minimum of 50 times. Tiles are boiled in water for two hours to test water absorption. There is more shake and bake to test other qualities.

The IDN system consists of one 920i controlling three processes:

• loading the silos

• loading the mill

• the weighbridges

There might be slight tone and caliber (di-mension) variations. These are inherent to clay products, which are made using a high-temperature baking process. Even the caliber variations within one box may be up to 1.5 millimeters. This is still within the limits established by European Normative Standards. That is why Porcelanite-Lamosa recommends mixing floor tiles from five different boxes for best results. Go to www.porcelanite.com for more tiling tips. ▪

Timeless tileThe 920i® formulates waterproof, fireproof, fadeproof, ageless tile

“The variety of option boards

available to receive and transmit signals allowed us to completely adapt

the 920i with the existing elements.”

Mario Garza, director of Industrial Weighing Solutions

The 920i controls two bucket lifts, five conveyor belts, five in-motion conveyor scales and monitors levels in five silos.

Joe Heinicke, Rice Lake CB-2 service engineer, is installing a CB-2 modification at Concretos Tecnicos, a customer of Rice Lake distributor Teodoro Overhage, Basculas Tabesa.

The CB-2 can help operators of manual plants transition to automation. It can be used in high-volume process applications and streamline plant operations from weighing raw materials to printing tickets and reports. Improved accuracy will quickly repay the cost of a CB-2 in material savings alone.

920i ® HMI ControllerThe CB-2 is driven by Rice Lake’s intelligent 920i HMI controller and delivers real-time statistical data through various network options. The robust processing power and expanded networking capabili-ties enable the 920i to easily communicate with printers, PCs, keyboards, and other peripheral equipment.

Power Control Includes:• Keyed power switch with internal

circuit breaker• Keyed auto /manual control

Auxiliary Control Includes:• Up to 8 auxiliary controls• All controls include status lights

Plant ControlComprehensive plant control including status lights and manual override switches that can be configured in either momen-tary or continuous operationManual Override Controls:• Dust collection system• Alarm / horn• Aggregate conveyor start /stop• Air compressor start /stop• Boot raise / lowerStatus Lights Include:• Aggregate conveyor running• Load complete• Cement gate closed• Aggregate gate closed• Out of tolerance• Air pressure OK

Aggregate Control Includes:• Your choice of 8 single-speed

or 4 dual-speed gate controls• Status lights on each gate• Weigh hopper discharge gate control• Aggregate vibrator control• Sand bin vibrator control

Cement Control Includes:• Your choice of 4 cements with dual-speed

fill or up to 8 single-speed controls• Status lights on each gate• Cement bin aeration on 4 bins• Weigh hopper discharge controls• Weigh hopper vibrator control• Weigh hopper aeration control

Mixer Control Includes:• Fully integrated mixer controls• Mixer start control• Mixer stop control• Mixer discharge control

Water Control Includes:• Hot and cold controls with status lights• Metered water pulse status light• Reservoir discharge control and “empty”

status light• Adjustable tail water discharge in either

manual or automatic mode• CB-2 supports both metered and weighed

water with both hot and cold feed

Admixture Control Includes:• Automated and manual control

of admixtures• Pulse meters included, eliminating

outboard control• Up to 6 admixtures or colors• Fill /feed control and status lights• Discharge control and status lights• Bottle empty status lights

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O N L O C AT I O N

FIFTY YEARS AGO, D’GARI made flavored gelatin through a slow, crafty process with manual machines that produced only 25 kilos of gelatin powder an hour. Over the years, D’Gari formulators have perfected mixes that make firm, durable and tasty gelatin every time. (Only three people know the secret recipes.)

D’Gari’s recipes must be followed to the milligram, which is important since some of the ingredients are extremely concen-trated. Anyone walking through the front door of the immaculate D’Gari plant will immediately taste sweetness.

Electronic Control Systems, led by Ru-ben Rabell, has designed, fabricated, and installed the automatic formula-tion system at D’Gari. Ruben recalls how his company was awarded the project with D’Gari. “Jose Delorius Vargas, the chairman of the D’Gari board of direc-tors, analyzed D’Gari’s growth over the past three years and predicted where the company could be in five years. He tried to find a formulation system that was already manufactured. He looked in Germany and the USA and asked five companies, including ours, to present a solution—and we won!”

Ruben is clearly satisfied with the fin-ished system. “We designed and built all of this—the robotic cart, the stainless steel enclosures, the bins, even this catwalk and these stairs. All was built by our engineer-ing and programming team to handle 80 different ingredients within 20 formulas. It was perfected in 14 months from contract to start-up!”

Ruben and company have programmed the Rice Lake 920i to control a network of five PLCs with an industrial computer that supervises the process and the move-ment of the robotic cart. The mix recipes are stored in the computer database. The 920i receives the formula and instruc-tions to control servo motors. The servos move screw augers as little as one degree, or one pulse, to dispense as little as seven

kilograms of an ingredient. The robotic cart travels a track be-low the hoppers. Ruben dem-onstrated the process: “This is the diagnostic screen. If there is an error, we can locate it on this screen. We can even calibrate the scales through the 920i.”

There are seven ingredients in most recipes, and Ruben’s team designed each hopper to dis-pense the ingredients precisely. Some of the hoppers dispense an ingredient more rapidly than others. Some of the ingredi-ents are denser, so that hopper dispenses more slowly. If data from the scale indicates the mix needs another gram of an ingredient, the 920i sends a command to the screw auger to rotate as little as one degree. When the mix is complete, PLCs send data for the next recipe.

Raul Rocha, D’Gari chief engineer, notes another benefit of the formulation sys-tem, saying “We had been having prob-lems with running out of ingredients and we didn’t know why. I wanted to improve our traceability.” The 920i-based system traces and controls the ingredients to mix 20 to 90 recipes. The automatic formula-

“We had been having problems

with running out of ingredients and we didn't know why.

I wanted to improve our traceability”

Raul Rocha, D’Gari chief engineer

Ruben Rabell, Electronic Control Systems, clearly enjoys his work for D’Gari. “We designed and built all of this—the robotic cart, the stainless steel enclosures, the bins, even this catwalk and these stairs.”

Manuel Talancon, Rice Lake international regional director, far right.

O N L O C AT I O N

tion system has ten scales and mixes a bag every two minutes, producing five million cartons annually, each containing 50 boxes of flavored gelatin.

Raul is very pleased with Ruben’s group, “They’re young, but they are very expe-rienced and very cooperative. They did their research and they came up with the system we needed.”

Electronic Controls Systems would like more projects like the D’Gari application. “We can design and build an automatic formulation system for any mix—liquid or powder. It’s always a custom fabrication.”

When Ruben discovers 60,000 people receive Rice Lake magazine, he rubs his hands together in anticipation of future projects. ▪

We are proud to employ over 400 people at our plants in Wisconsin, Alabama and Connecticut. The SURVIVOR® truck scale crew gathered here has a combined total of more than 268 years of experience with Rice Lake—putting their loyalty and pride into every truck scale we manufacture. From workers on the truck scale lines to those who answer our phones, we believe Rice Lake people are the best by every measure.

Go to www.ricelake.com/americansatwork to learn more about the people behind the products that carry the Rice Lake name.

800-472-6703www.ricelake.com

mobile: m.ricelake.com


I N S I D E R LW S

TOM PETERSON, RICE LAKE’S MECHANICAL SCALE ExPERT, has grown up with the scale industry. Over the past 35 years, he has seen scale technology evolve from me-chanical levers to electronic load cells. Tom’s cubicle is a veritable library, shelved and stocked with probably every scale parts catalog printed since 1940. There are rows of three-ring binders thick with scale drawings in plastic sleeves. There are several stacks of long metal drawers packed with neatly penciled index cards recording part numbers, casting numbers, phone numbers, and the number of calls Tom has taken requesting that part.

“Some of the companies that made these parts are out of business. Some original scale manufacturers are still in business, but no longer make older parts. So parts are hard to find.” Tom smiles, “Actually, they’re easy to find—if they call me.”

Tom began his Rice Lake career as an apprentice machinist; then he became shop foreman. Now he is in Inside Sales, the mechanical scale parts archivist. Tom explains, “I took notes. I kept sketches. We made lots of special parts that were no longer available.

Tom’s amazing file

cabinet of mechanical

rarities

When we had enough calls for that part, it became a new part with a part number.

“People say mechanical scales are dying out, but they’re still out there. There are still mechanical scales in service from the early 1900s—rail scales, even wagon scales. Cattle scales don’t last as long be-cause of the corrosive environment.

“Rice Lake started buying old scales years ago. We ran an ad in WAM [Weighing & Measurement magazine] for a year or two. We haven’t run an ad for a couple of years and we still get calls from it. Les Gunder-son [more than 60 years with Rice Lake] takes the old scales apart and refurbishes the parts. We have enough parts out there for a good many years.”

Tom gets a call. A customer needs a ful-crum stand made by a company now only a card in Tom’s file. “Take a picture of it or send me a sketch. We’ll make any-thing you need like that. We might have something that will fit. We’ll take a look at it and figure it out.”

Another call. This time, when Tom con-sults his amazing file cabinet, he comes up empty. “No, we don’t have that in stock, but let me call a buddy of mine.”

Not only does Tom get the part, his buddy emails the manual! Which will be duly filed in Tom’s amazing cabinet of mechanical scale rarities. ▪



When you need a custom part, or need to replace an overpriced OEM part, send your drawing to us. If you don’t have a drawing, send us the part. If we can make it, and we probably can, we will send a quote. Depending on options like heat treating or plating, your new part will be shipped ASAP. We make it simple.


Paintingthe future

DRIVING THE STREETS OF MONTERREY, MExICO, is a colorful tour through par-allel worlds. Trucks and cabs barrel noisily around the occasional horse-drawn cart. This same duality appears in Mexican manufacturing as industries leap from manual labor to automation. Nowhere is this more evident than at Pin-turas Doal, paint and solvent processors, an automation customer of Industrial Weighing Solutions (IDN).

Pinturas Doal had been making paint by hand: mixing pigments, filling cans, sealing lids, and applying labels since the company was founded by Dom Do-mingo in 1960. Ramiro Mora was hired two years ago as the company’s director of operations. His goal has been to increase productivity and decrease errors. His strategy: total automation of the plant in two phases. His tactic: hire IDN. Direc-

tor Mario Garza of IDN says his engineers were up to the challenge. “We looked at this as a great opportunity to create an automation system from the ground up.”

IDN engineers programmed the power of the 920i® Programmable Indicator/Controller to store orders and formulas and control 14 ingredients at the Pinturas Doal plant. The operator sets parameters such as jogging and flow time, since some additives flow more slowly than others. According to Ramiro, “They can go to lunch and have the 920i finish a process. If there is an error, the 920i stops the process and sends an alert.”

Using Ethernet networking, the Pinturas Doal quality laboratory creates paint formulas and transfers the data through the iRev program in comma-delimited text files.

▶ The 920i stores the data along with operator instructions.▶ Pending work orders are also stored in the 920i.▶ Prior to initiating a formula, the system confirms the scale is empty.▶ The ingredient amounts are given in percentages.▶ Each ingredient is weighed on a 1,000 kg capacity RoughDeck®.

▶ The 920i opens electrovalves and discharges each ingredient into the line of mixers.

▶ After each ingredient is discharged, the 920i discharges water to clean the tank and sends a message that the order is finished.

Ramiro says, “We like this 920i-based setup. It was less expensive than a PLC system. It is very intelligent in that it allows new actions for the future. We can include more ad-ditives and add more stages of automation. Our plan is to continue automating the water-based paint line and then move on to Phase II, the enamel and specialty lines. We can do that using this single 920i.”

Phase II of IDN’s master plan includes a list of new hard-ware requirements: a 12-slot expansion card, a pulse input

card, two I/O cards, two racks of relays, 17 double-output re-lays, 27 quench arcs and the housing. The 920i now has two channels, three I/O cards, memory card, Ethernet card and a six-slot expansion card.

Ramiro H. Mora, Pinturas Doal operations director, right, admits he can be somewhat obsessed. “Everywhere I look, if I see repetitive work, I think of how that can be automated— all the time, everywhere! We are increasing capacity by 15 percent a year. We can do more.” Ramon Medrano, Pinturas Doal production leader, listens closely.


O N L O C AT I O N

Each of the mixing tanks has two valves to discharge the materials in the tank. One valve has been operating in Phase I for dosing the ingredients being weighed— adding small quantities at intervals that give sufficient time for processing. The second valve in Phase II will be used for dosing ingredients that are measured by a flow sensor.

Ramiro admits he can be somewhat obsessed. “Everywhere I look, if I see repetitive work, I think of how that can be automated—all the time, everywhere! We are increasing capacity by fifteen percent a year. We can do more.”

Phase II of IDN’s plan is now in full operation. Even so, there is no doubt that Ramiro is still looking everywhere, all the time, for repetitive work and thinking of ways to au-tomate it. Inside the Pinturas Doal plant, modern methods and equipment streamline processes in stunning leaps. Outside, the cart horses trot along, unfazed, through the honking gas-fueled traffic. Viva Mexico!

“We looked at this as a great opportunity

to create an automation system from the

ground up.”Mario Garza, director

of Industrial Weighing Solutions

Third installment of the series:

Grounding 101By Jim Daggon, Rice Lake senior product engineer, emerging technologies

and Chuck Crowley, senior technical support

In this installment, we focus on the importance of proper grounding for safety and the performance of sensitive electronic devices.

The idea of grounding is that the earth itself acts as the electrical ground, providing not only a common reference for all electrical devices, but also a standard between devices regardless of location. The earth is used as the common reference conductor.

The consideration that the earth acts as a constant conductor is the underlying principle, and in the larger sense, it does. However, the connection to the ground or “earthing” needs to have the lowest resistance possible. Any resistance due to improper or faulty connections will allow the presence of a current to flow. In the context of safety, current flowing through a vital organ is what causes injury or death. The frequency of the alter-nating current, the duration of contact, and the path of contact are all important factors in determining the severity of the shock (see page 22, table 2).


T E C H TA L K

1 Named after George Simon Ohm, a German physicist who first published his findings in 1827.

2 The resistance expressed in ohms is a simple number in DC circuits. In an AC circuit, there are also two other frequency dependent components, inductive reactance (found in coils, or inductors) and capacitive reactance (found in capacitors). For simplicity, we consider only the DC components in this article.

3 Weighing system equipment is sensitive. We recommend 5.0 ohms or less.

The connection to the earth consists of two basic parts: the grounding electrode and the connection (or bonding) to that electrode. Any resistance introduced in the grounding path could lead to a dam-aging or dangerous condition.

The relationship between resistance, cur-rent, and voltage is revealed in Ohm’s Law1:I = V / RWhere :I = current flowV = voltageR = resistance2

Using this equation, if the resistance is 0, then the current flow will be maximized in the ground circuit. (This is what you want, not current flow in another path that does not include the ground, but may include YOU!)

The accepted National Electrical Code (NEC), standard for a grounding circuit is 25 ohms or less, but much lower values can be obtained using multiple ground-ing electrodes.

“A single electrode consisting of a rod, pipe, or plate that does not have a resistance to ground of 25 ohms or less shall be augmented by one addi-tional electrode of any of the types specified by 250.52(A)(2) through (A)(7). Where multiple rod, pipe, or plate electrodes are installed to meet the requirements of this section, they shall not be less than 1.8 m (6 ft) apart”.

Section 250.56 of the National Electrical Code

Recently the following was added:

“In facilities with sensitive equipment it should be 5.0 ohms or less.”3


T E C H TA L K

When using multiple ground rods, they are all connected in a “daisy chain” and one conductor is used to connect to the service or device to be grounded. This ef-fectively places them in parallel and the resulting resistance is lower. Although it would seem the resistance is in direct pro-portion to the number of rods, the calcu-lation is a little more complicated.

The total resistance of a multiple rod system is calculated by using the formula:Rt = (Rs/n) × FWhere:Rt = combined ground resistance of the systemN = number of electrodesRs = typical resistance of one electrodeF = factor shown in table 4 for the number of rods

The grounding electrode

The usual form of grounding an electrode is a copper rod, sunk into the earth at a point near the device or electrical service to be protected. NEC calls for a minimum of 8 ft of electrode to be in contact with the earth. However, not all “earth” has the same electrical properties. (See Table 1).

Table 14

Type of Soil Min R Max R

Clayey Sand 1 156

Silty Sand 1 15

Clayey Silt with Sand 30 91

Sandy Gravel with Silt 30 102

To overcome this variable, sometimes a multiple number of rods can be placed in an area to lower the resistance to ground.

Table 45

Number of Rods F

2 1.16

3 1.29

4 1.56

8 1.68

12 1.80

16 1.92

20 2.00

24 2.16

Testing for earth ground resistivity re-quires the use of an earth ground resis-tivity meter and some additional stakes and cabling to measure the resistance between the grounding conductor and earth. One of the most accepted tests uses the Wenner method developed by Dr. Frank Wenner of the U.S. Bureau of Standards (now known as NIST) in 19156.

Table 3

Shielding Grounding Protection Schemes Magnetic Low f RF High f RF Ground loop Comments

No ground None None None None

Ground one end Good Fair Good None Good for frequencies where cable length is greater than 1/8 frequency

Ground both ends Good Good Fair Dangerous Ground loops currents can be damaging

Ground at send end and capacitor coupled to ground at the other end

Good Good Good Insignificant Capacitor should have a spark gap for transients and must be selected and placed correctly

4 Excerpted and adapted from the National Electrical Grounding Research Project by the Fire Protection Research Foundation.5 From Practical Grounding, Bonding, Shielding and Surge Protection by G.Vijayaraghavan, Mark Brown, Malcolm Barnes, Butterworth-Heinemann, 2004.6 F. Wenner, A Method of Measuring Earth Resistivity; National Bureau of Standards, 12(4) 258, p. 478-496; 1915/16.7 From OSHA.gov website. This table demonstrates the general impact of a 60Hz hand-to-foot shock of one second duration.

Table 27

Current Level (in milliamperes) Probable effect on human body

1 mA Perception level. Slight tingling sensation. Still dangerous under certain conditions.

5 mA Slight shock felt; not painful but disturbing. Average individual can let go. However, strong involuntary reactions to shocks in this range may lead to injuries.

6-30 mA Painful shock, muscular control is lost. This is called the freezing current or “let-go” range.

50-150 mA Extreme pain, respiratory arrest, severe muscular contractions. Individual cannot let go. Death is possible.

1000-4300 mA Ventricular fibrillation (the rhythmic pumping action of the heart ceases). Muscular contraction and nerve damage occur. Death is most likely.

10,000 mA Cardiac arrest, severe burns and probable death.


Electric current flow and magnetism interact and either one can induce the presence of the other.

If you take a simple bar magnet, place a piece of paper over it, and sprinkle some iron filings on the paper, it looks like the magnet above.

The lines of filings represent the magnetic field that is present.

Whenever there is a flow of electricity, there is also a magnetic field that is produced.

When an electric field is generated from any AC current flow (at any frequency), the field produced will induce a magnetic field in any magnetic (ferrous) metal that is in the field.

On the other hand, whenever a magnet is moved through a set of electrical conductors, an electric current is generated in the conductors. The larger the field, or movement, or number and size of conductors, the larger the induced magnetism or electric current.

An electromagnet can be easily made with a nail with a number of turns of wire wrapped around it. Connect the ends of the wire to a battery, and you have an electromagnet.

Take a coil of wire and move a magnet in and out of the coil, and you will gen-erate an electrical voltage at the ends of the wire.

All of this becomes vital when dealing with a shielded cable such as a load cell cable or a “home run” cable. The shield must have a low resistance to ground connection on one end only, to act as a shield to any induced electrical current.

Grounding at both ends of the shield provides a resistance between two ground poten-tials, resulting in a ground loop that can carry enough current to actually damage the equipment to which it is connected.

Shield types are foil, wrapped, braided, or any combination thereof. There are advan-tages and disadvantages to each, although aside from the cost and flexibility issues, a combination foil and good coverage (over 90 percent) braided shield provides the best protection. All of our SURVIVOR® load cell cable offerings have both foil and more than 90 percent braided shielding.

In addition, the actual ground connection needs to be of very low resistance or the advantages are voided. Good quality connectors and grounding methods (360 degree clamp or solder) are essential.

electro><magnetic

TAG TEAM

Rice Lake offers cable with both foil and

more than 90 percent braided shielding.

The Wenner method involves placing four probes in the earth at equal spacing. The probes are connected with wires to the ground resistance test set. The test set pass-es a known amount of current through the outer two probes and measures the voltage drop between the inner two probes. Using Ohm’s Law, it will output a resistance value which can then be converted to a resistivity value using the equation:Ρ = 2πaRWhere:P = soil resistivity in ohm cma = spacing between probes in cmπ = 3.1416R = resistance value measured by test set

Soil resistivity values vary depending on the soil type, temperature, and moisture content. Typically, data is collected to depths of one to ten meters with addi-tional testing required for difficult (high or widely varying resistance) sites.

Finally, testing of the grounding system is important to determine whether ground resistance targets are met. Grounding professionals should be called to perform the ground resistance tests since each test must take into account on-site conditions, and it is very easy to get erroneous data. Testing can be accomplished using clamp-on resistance testers, Fall-of-Potential methods, or by simply calculating the probable resistance. Detailed procedures for accurate testing can be found in ANSI IEEE Standard 81.

The use of a good test set is the best way to not only design and test a new ground-ing system, but also to test existing systems for degradation and ensure they will perform properly in the event of a nearby lightning strike. Although the cost for these sets can range upwards of $3,000 (rentals are sometimes avail-able for a fraction of the cost), the cost of a replacement scale system due to a noncompliant grounding system can be much more expensive, not to mention the priceless protection it provides to individuals. ▪


W H AT ' S N E W

720i™ ProGraMMaBLe INDICaTor CoNTroLLer is now even easier to manage. Rice Lake offers two separate programming options. Once controlled exclusively through the ProAction interface, the 720i is now also available with Rice Lake’s standard batch-configuration tool. Advanced users looking for even more control in their batching routines can still take advantage of the ProAction tool.

LaSer LT rD-1550 reMoTe DISPLay is brighter, bolder, and a whole lot smarter. This IP69K rated device is enhanced by a unique lens material and optional visor. The contrast of the Laser LT’s large 1.5 inch display is fully adjustable for easy viewing up to 50 ft. A five-button keypad can remotely change units, gross/net, tare, zero and print. The Laser LT can be daisy chained to link multiple units to a single indicator/controller.

WLS-C WheeL LoaDer SCaLe is Rice Lake’s new compact weighing system for skid steers, wheel loaders and track loaders. The compact control head fits in virtually any cab. Both individual bucket weights and accumulated weights are shown on the LCD display. Easy to install with pre-cabled wiring.

VIrTUi2™ has an impressively sharp display, ideal for situations where a PC is already pres-ent, eliminating extra equipment. It is designed to interface exclusively with Rice Lake’s iQUBE2 junction box. The diagnostics feature displays real-time load cell performance. VIRTUi2 dis-plays information for up to four separate scales. Together, VIRTUi2 and iQUBE2 will help you achieve the highest possible performance.

PLaTforM fITNeSS SCaLe is NTEP approved and has a 600 lb capacity. The remote LCD display includes a 6.5 ft cable and is large and easy to read. Operator can switch between lb and kg. Other standard features include RS-232 output, BMI, AC adaptor and internal rechargeable battery. Ideal for wrestling programs and weight-loss centers.

iQUBe2 DIGITaL DIaGNoSTIC JUNCTIoN Box handles problems before they become problems. iQUBE2 has the unique ability to digitally monitor and communicate load cell performance and when necessary will even compensate for a failing load cell until repairs can be made. The iQUBE2 is ideal for systems requiring single or multiple scales with multiple cells.

CUBeLoGIC™ DIMeNSIoNING & WeIGhING SySTeM goes from out of the box to operating in five minutes. Rice Lake offers two countertop models in incremental sizes; the CubeLogic 250 and the 265. The CubeLogic 480 features a conveyor deck. The CubeLogic line is designed for point-of-sale, factory shipping and logistic applications.

cubeLogic 265

The secret ingredient in profitable food processing is efficiency. Inaccurate weighing or downtime for repair eats up profits. The MotoWeigh® In-motion Weighing System is fast, accurate and reliable. The MotoWeigh line of food grade stainless steel equipment includes case weighers, checkweighers, conveyors, flow scales, monorail scales, sorting and grading, and weigh-price-label (WPL) systems.

Check it out at www.ricelake.com/motoweigh



Water worksThe damp atmosphere in meat and poultry processing plants is business

as usual for the SST3 Direct Thermal Label Printer. It works day in and day out. When it is time to wash down, simply close the label door and tighten the

screw-knob. This IP69K rated printer pays no heed to blasts from high pressure hoses and gets right back to work. Advanced circuitry

gives the SST3 print speeds up to 10 inches per second.

Learn more at www.ricelake.com/waterworks



Putting our customer first is making Rice Lake Weighing Systems the first choice the world over.

To be the best by every measure®



Americans at Workricelake.com/americansatwork

®

Show your dominanceChad Stedman had been a longtime visitor at a well-known zoo when he had the chance to install scales in their primate center. He knew the 500 lb male gorilla would display his dominance and the scale would take the brunt. The gorilla might try to pick up the scale, bend it and bang it around. He might even climb a ladder and hurtle himself onto the deck.

That is why Chad specified Rice Lake’s RoughDeck® floor scale.

“I was very happy to install RoughDecks for the zoo because I knew they would hold up better than any other scale.”

Chad Stedman, general manager, Colorado Scale Center

See for yourself. Go to www.ricelake.com/roughdeck. You will find a wide selection of models in a full range of features, sizes and capacities. We manufacture custom sizes quickly and affordably.

230 W. Coleman Street Rice Lake WI 54868

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