May 2016
Specialist jobs call for specialist measures and when Gough Cat needed to look after its specialist machinery, they called on TechRentals®, New Zealand’s engineering equipment “rental” experts.
Over the years, Gough Cat’s Parts and Services’ Clint Greer has established an invaluable working relationship with TechRentals® who are the go-to for their data and imagery needs when it comes to the upkeep and repair of their fleet of machines, engines and generators.
Clint’s division has the onerous task of looking after the engines of gas generators, big and small, and in particular a client’s 4611hp behemoth distributing power back to Auckland’s main grid. Downtime for the machine equals revenue loss for his client and delay penalties for Gough Cat so the clock is ticking loudly come maintenance time.
The generator at the heart of the operation is two-storeys tall, encased in a concrete building and each of the 16 pistons powering the generator is 14 inches in diameter. It’s a large machine and is not easy to explore with time and financial constraints.
The job for Clint’s team is to check that the parts in the pistons’ pre-combustion chamber are in good working order and especially, dry. Moisture drastically affects the efficiency and reliability of the spark plugs so how can the Gough Cat mechanics tell if there’s an issue? This is where TechRentals® comes in.
The flexible 6.2mm tube on the Olympus IVO620c Endoscope works its way two meters into the pre-combustion chambers. What’s remarkable about this technology is its usability, with Gough Cat mechanics themselves operating the equipment. Clint bypassed the instruction tutorial and found it uncomplicated to use.
Once the insertion probe is in place, the Gough Cat team take five to six critical photos (or a video) from each chamber for reference and records. This is where the impressive functionality shines through. The user can home in on specific areas of interest by using the targeting function as real-time footage shoots back to the LCD screen. The handheld control’s touch screen is surprisingly basic to use and the push of a finger takes a screenshot from the 4-way articulating camera head and saves it to a SD card for later inspection.
Like in a medical scenario, using the Olympus IVO620c Endoscope is the most effective way for Clint and his team to service and examine their equipment. Without the technology, time and cost would be a significant issue for the client and Gough Cat. With the gas generator’s value around $1.5m, it is imperative they keep on top of the schedule but rest assured if disaster strikes, TechRentals®’ Olympus IVO620c Endoscope also captures data and imagery underwater.
With time and cost so precious, TechRentals have proven to be an indispensable ally for Gough Cat and Clint and the very reason they haven’t had to search around. In such a specialised field, Clint lauds the knowledge of TechRentals® – both technical and vocational – of his team’s needs and the equipment is infinitely reliable and always in top condition.
With annual maintenance a reality of Gough Cat’s core business, having these tools at their fingertips is priceless.