Improve your troubleshooting skills

Faced with pneumatic system issues where, for example, pressure has been fluctuating off and on, are you confident that the component you’ve just replaced was actually the cause of the fault? How can you extend mean time between failure to optimise productivity?

According to Festo, these are common dilemmas faced by engineers with responsibility for pneumatic systems in industries across the UK. From pharmaceuticals to machine tooling, electronics assembly to food production and packaging, pneumatic systems play a fundamental role in performing, highly repetitive tasks.

Understanding how pneumatic systems work and being able to diagnose and correct faults effectively are therefore vital engineering skills.

Troubleshooting and fault diagnosis

Drawing on its experiences as a manufacturer and employer, Festo has been running training courses for many years that take engineers through the fundamentals of pneumatic system design and operation. It has recently added a new course, available from July 2021, that focuses on troubleshooting and fault diagnosis to further improve skill levels in the pneumatic systems arena.

As Hakan Emince, head trainer for Festo Didactic, explains: “The performance of pneumatic systems in industry directly impacts overall equipment effectiveness, productivity and competitiveness. Our new course, Troubleshooting and Maintenance in Pneumatics, offers an introduction to common mistakes, fault finding, maintenance and inefficiency in pneumatics and electro-pneumatics systems.

"Using a combination of theory and practical exercises, the course aims to improve how engineers approach maintenance of pneumatic systems and enable them to deal with breakdowns more efficiently.”

Common problems simulated

The practical sessions are used to simulate various common problems, helping delegates to understand reasons and consequences of issues from real life.

Among other things, participants will learn how to interpret pneumatic system diagrams, how to establish the root cause of a problem quickly, fix faults faster, and avoid costly downtime; and how to optimise system performance to improve the quality, efficiency and lifecycle of the machine. Aspects such as hazard identification and safety are also covered.

‘Troubleshooting and Maintenance in Pneumatics’ is a two-day course and applicable for personnel in multiple engineering type roles, who already have a grasp of pneumatic system fundamentals.

Purpose-built training centre

Courses take place at Festo’s dedicated purpose-built training centre in Northampton, although there is an option to run courses at the customer’s site for groups where circumstances allow.

If potential attendees are unsure if they are at the correct level for the course, then they can complete a free knowledge check via the Festo Didactic website.