Today Remote Handling staff (Maico Dalla Valle, Travis Cave) used the Remote Handling 2C probe removal trolley to remove the probe assembly from inside the Cyclotron.  This is a regular yearly MRO task that is done every shutdown.

This task involves lining up the 2C trolley on the service bridge with the 2C probe assembly remotely with cameras, using a set of alignment markings on the trolley and probe assembly.  Once the trolley is lined up with the probe assembly, a set of solenoids are fired to disengage a corresponding set of four QDLs (quick disconnect latches) at different locations on the probe assembly.  A complete procedure is documented by Remote Handling staff.

The four QDLs are actuated by a set of four solenoid actuators on the 2C removal trolley, numbered 3, 4, 5, and 8.

Traditionally in the past, the QDL actuated by solenoid 8 has  jammed and does not automatically disengage when hit with the solenoid actuator.  A member of Probes or Remote Handling has had to suit up with a respirator, run into the Cyclotron tank, and tap this QDL by hand to free it from it's jammed state.  This has been done every year for quite some time, as long as Don Jackson can remember (around 30 years)!

However, today, Remote Handling staff (Travis and Maico) were able to disengage all four QDLs remotely using the solenoid actuators on the trolley!

A few things were done differently this year compared to previous years, which may have contributed to this success:

a.  The centre post bearing on the service bridge was disassembled, cleaned, and lubricated (see previous e-log from this shutdown)

b.  The "AXIAL A" alignment tab on the 2C removal trolley was intentionally misaligned with the felt pen markings on the 2C assembly (see attached picture that points out this "gap").

c.   The solenoids were fired in the following order: 8 (no success on disengagement), 5 (success), 4 (success), 3 (success), then 8 again (success).

After all four QDLs were disengaged, and the probe assembly was lowered away from its fixture points, it was observed that the assembly moved slightly laterally, indicating a slight stress or misalignment between all four QDL pins and their corresponding receptacles in the Cyclotron tank. The "gap" labelled in the attached picture, shrunk a small amount after this lateral movement.

Don Jackson remarked that in his entire tenure here, he had never witnessed successful remote disengagement of all four QDLs!  This is quite a positive result, as it lowers the expected dose and time required to remove the 2C probe assembly.  This approach to the task should be repeated next year and video documented (unfortunately we were not video recording the successful attempt this year).

Cheers,

Grant Minor, Remote Handling

Lid-up was first attempted yesterday (Jan 28th) by Dan Louie, Arthur Leung, and Maico Dalla Valle.  They experienced problems with Station 9 continually tripping the system and were not successful.

This morning again there were problems raising the lid above ~1 inch due to tripping at station 9.  It was observed that the mechanical counter at Station 9 was increasing about 5 to 6 times faster than the counters at the other stations.  There may be a mechanical problem with the gear reduction for this counter.  However, the mechanical counter is just a readout and does not control any aspect of the lid up.   Comparisons between stations 9 and 10 at the 1 inch trip point are shown below.  Station 10 is representative of the other stations within about 100 counts. 

The lid was lowered fully and the gap between the yoke and the upper structure primary beams was measured by Maico at one spot per station with 1/4" stock and feeler gauges (see attached reference photo from 2012).

Not much could be concluded from the measurements.  The control system is supposed to keep the jacks parallel within about 50 thou, however Stations 1 and 11 appeared to be out by 180 thou.  It is difficult to say without further study whether this larger discrepancy is due to overshoot at each station after the lower limit switches are reached.

Grant Minor, Dan, Maico, and Arthur met in the Main Control Room at around 1:30pm to assess.  Dan commented that Station 9 was continually lagging in the system and causing the ~1 inch trip.   The decision was made to drive the whole system to the ~1inch trip point and then jog Station 9 manually to bring it back into the "go" band of tolerance, and continue on this way until the "sticky" portion of travel was overcome.  In Grant's opinion, the transmission system at each station (motor, reducers, jacks, and upper bearing) sits dormant in one position for a full year each year and settles in a single position.  Some asymmetry in the static and dynamic friction from station to station is expected after such a long idle period.  Additionally, the lubrication at station 9 has not been serviced since 1996 (18 years).  Grant also felt that jogging the system in small increments to bring it back into the tolerance band should not damage the jacks, motors, or reducers provided they were carefully monitored for abnormal noises or overheating.

The sequence of events following the 1:30pm meeting is outlined below:

- The system tripped as expected around 1 inch.

- Station 9 was jogged upwards 20 thou, measured with the dial indicator.  Station 9 counter increased from 9255 to 9429.

- The entire system was run upwards by about another inch with several more trips, some from Station 9 and some from other stations.  Dan reset the system after each trip.

- At around 2 inches, Station 9 was jogged again.  Maico reset the dial indicator and attempted to jog manually but the dial did not move.  This might have been due to the lag at Station 9 creating some amount of backlash before the load was taken again.  He reset the dial again and this time measured a jog of 25 thou.  Dan asked us to back off by 20 thou, then he reset the system and we continued to raise.

- The system was raised to about 3" in small increments with several more trips, each time reset by Dan.  Station 9 was jogged 3 more times during this period by 10 thou each time, at approx. counter readings 16 362, 16 802, and 17 134.

- The system then ran properly for quite some time and tripped at around 6 inches.  We stopped to inspect the tank seal, which was OK.

- The system was reset by Dan and run again to about 10 inches, at which point station 1 tripped.  Station 9 counter read 60 775, Station 11 counter read 10 829 (again a factor of 6 discrepancy).

- Dan requested a jog of 10 thou at Station 1, and then we continued to run.  The system ran with only a couple of trips up to about 1 foot from the upper limit.

- At around 1 foot from the upper limit, Station 7 started to cause tripping.  It was jogged 10 thou and we continued all the way to the upper limit.

(Total travel is approximately 48 inches or 4 feet).

During the course of the work, it was observed that the motor at station 9 was getting hot early (around 2 to 3 inches of travel), but the motors at other stations (e.g. Station 11, Station 1) reached about the same temperature to touch after the system was running properly.

Report by Grant Minor, P.Eng.

Dan Louie's e-mail comments from 30 Jan 2013 are attached.

- Grant

2C has been installed located on all QDLs and all the numbers, continuity check done and passed. Bridge has been removed from the cyclotron tank.

Setup of the HE 1 probe is difficult has we have no mockup of it to properly setup cameras and equipment for it. This is problem for both extraction and installation of the probe. Also with the setup some of the broken micro switch from the HE 1 was found on the HE 1 probe jig after the jig was deconned and moved up the B2 level. Also for setup required camera adjustment to be made with the heavy contaminated probe being very close to the person setting up the cameras.

Now installation of the probe worked but it was very fiddly and touchy feely on the install, which something one doesn't want for remote installation. It required lots of movements and adjustment and a little luck and the probe went in, even with a air cylinder that did decide to work in the end.

On the extraction of HE 1 was mess and was damaged upon extraction, this was due to improper camera setup (no mock up of probe), and to the fact that removal is very fiddly and not east to the current design of the jig, and the way the probe is locked in place on the lid.

Note on contamination on extraction the probe jig was contaminated with about 20 000 cpm in spots it was removable and the jig cleaned. Contamination was also found on the jig for the installation of the jig it was about 800 cpm jig was cleaned again. Plastic was also laid on the platform of the upper ressonator trolley as to prevent the spread of contamination to the trolley, this appeared to work.  AS A NOTE NONE OF REMOTE HANDLING'S TROLLEYS AND CYCLOTRON EQUIPMENT WAS DESIGNED TO HANDLE CONTAMINATION. If the trolley ever get or contamination is ever found on them they will be impossible to clean.

In tank survey completed.  A few items of interest were found.  Ladders need to moved manually outboard to #5 resonators and the items noted in attached document need to be addressed.

Prior to the lid-down operation today, the Cyclotron was lowered by 0.75" and then raised again to confirm that the upper limit switches were working.  Dan Louie confirmed this from the control racks.

Maico and Grant walked around the perimeter of the cyclotron to inspect each station and ensure that there were no interferences, e.g. dial indicator rods, tread plates, etc.

The lid was lowered successfully by Gord Roy and Dan Louie.

Mechanical counter numbers recorded after lid down are shown below:

The dimension between the yokes and the Cyclotron upper structure primary beams was set to .25" nominal at all jack stations today.

At each station:

1. The jacks were jogged manually upwards until the yokes hard-stopped on a piece of .25" nominal shim stock (see attached reference photo, measured accurate within .005").
2. The dial indicator was set and zeroed, and the station was backed off by .005" to 0.010" in order to remove the .25" reference stock (except at station 4 where the dial indicator mount was damaged).
3. After the adjustment, the mechanical counter was decoupled from the output shaft of the jack (without affecting the synchro) and set to "00100".

This work was performed by Maico Dalla Valle and Daniel Wright in co-ordination with Dan Louie.

The defective mechanical counters at stations 5 and 9 were replaced, with a brand new counter at one station and a used repaired counter at the other station.

The yokes at all jacking stations should now be .250" +/- .015" from the upper structure.

All trolleys work electrically and control wise. One encoder was found non functioning on the upper resonator trolley for the vertical drive it was replaced, we've no move replacements of those current type of encoders so a wholesale replacement of all the trolley's encoders will have to be done post shutdown. Also the wiring for the outrigger is in need of replacement but will work for this shutdown it will also have to be replaced post shutdown as well. The upper resonator trolley has also been setup to remove X2C.

Maico Dalla Valle and Grant Minor, supported by Dan Louie and Arthur Leung, entered the Cyclotron Vault on January 15th, 2014 to check the indexing of the jacking stations.  520MeV work permit 2014-01-15-4 was filled out for this work.

Yoke gaps at all stations were found to be within .005" to .010" of the .25" shim stock, and all mechanical counters were found to read zero.  This is consistent with the recalibration done on March 19th, 2013.

The system is properly indexed mechanically, and ready for lid-up.

Grant

Yesterday Grant Minor (me), Maico Dalla Valle, Dan Louie, and Arthur Leung worked with Operations to perform the Cyclotron Lid-Up task for the 2014 winter maintenance.

Work Permit 2014-01-22-2 was issued for this job.

In general, the lid up operation was rough at the beginning.  The system began to trip-out within about 500 counts on the mechanical counter, just when the jacks started taking the load, then continued to trip within the first ~ 3 inches of travel.  Multiple station jogs, complete lowerings, and complete raisings were required to get beyond the rough spot. 

I tried as best as possible to record the mechanical counters for each trip event, as well as confirm the master synchro count and culprit station with Arthur.  The data I collected is summarized below:

Start of Operation: All stations were indexed with yoke gaps within .005" and .010" of the .250" nominal shim stock (see previous e-logs).  Mechanical counters were all set to 100 counts (each count is approximately .001").

1. First lid up attempt tripped at less than 1" of travel.  Station 9 was found to be lagging adjacent stations.  It as jogged in local mode as shown:

2. Lid was raised again and stalled.  Station 11 was found to be lagging and was jogged:

3. Lid was raised again and stalled.  The decision was made to lower completely and raise again.  All station counters were recorded before lowering:

4. Lid stalled on the way down.  Station 9 was found to be lagging and was jogged:

5. Lid was lowered completely and then raised again.  It tripped at Station 9.  It was examined and found not to be lagging a great deal.

6. System was reset and lid was raised further.  It continued to trip.  Station 9 was examined and not found to be out.

7. Lid was lowered completely and then raised again.  It tripped again, and Station 9 was found to be out.  It was jogged with some intentional overshoot.

8. Lid was raised again and tripped.  The decision was made to lower lid completely.  Some counter values were recorded when the lid had reached the lower limit, for comparison to the starting reference.

9. Lid was raised again and traveled more smoothly until tripping at around 850 counts.  6 counter values were recorded.  Station 9 was found to be lagging and was jogged:

10. Lid was raised again and tripped.  Station 9 was found to be lagging and was jogged:

11. Lid was raised again and tripped.  Station 9 was found to lag very slightly (but within the normal variation band), and was jogged:

12. Lid was raised further and tripped again.  Four of the counters recorded and the group broke for lunch (approximately 1 hr).  The lid was left at this position over lunch.

13. After lunch, the lid was raised up to about 1090 counts with 4 trips.  Counters were read as below:

14.  Lid was raised but tripped almost immediately.  Decision was made to lower again.  Counters at bottom limit were read again:

15. Lid was raised with 3 trips.  Station 9 was found to be lagging and was jogged:

16. Lid was lowered completely, then raised.  It went up fairly smoothly and tripped out at about 1350 counts.  All counters were recorded:

17.  A few more attempts were made to raise the lid with a few more trips.  The system traveled in longer bursts and more smoothly between trips.  Counters were recorded and stations 9 and 11 were jogged:

18. System was reset and lid was raised again with a few more trips close together.  The decision was made to lower the lid completely and raise again.  Master synchro was recorded at 2285 before lowering.

19. Lid was lowered completely and raised fairly smoothly up to a master count of 2363 before tripping out on stations 1 & 9.

20. A few attempts were made to lower the lid slightly (not all the way) and then raise again.  This did not seem to reduce the frequency of trips.  The system tripped out around 2820 and all counters were recorded before taking a short break to allow the contactors to cool down:

21. After the break, there was a raise and lower cycle within about 3600 counts that I was not present for.  When I had returned the system was still rising in small bursts and tripping out on station 9 mostly.  Over a span of 5 trips, Station 9 was jogged 5 times by between 20 and 50 counts, with 20-count overshoot.

22. The master synchro passed 3600 counts and then the system tripped.  Stations 9 and 10 were recorded and Station 9 was jogged:

23.  The master passed 3800 counts, and then they system went up smoothly for the first time by about 1500 counts before stopping. Some counters were recorded:

24.  Lid was raised again and stopped around 6350.  The group paused to check the tank seal and all counters were recorded:

25. The lid was raised further with 2 trips at station 9.  Stations 9 and 10 were checked and station 9 was jogged:

26. Lid was raised again with 2 trips initially and then smooth travel up to a Master count of 9600.  After 3 more trips and resets, I began recording just the station trips and master counts at each trip.  No jogs were required during this period.

27. Jacks 1 & 5 tripped at 10,200 counts on the master.

28. Jacks 1 & 9 tripped at 11,500 counts on the master.

29. Jack 9 tripped at 13,400 counts on the master.  Several trips occurred immediately after this.  Counter readings were taken and station 1 was jogged:

30. Lid was raised again with trips at station 1, 5, 7 & 9.  Master synchro count was 15,600.

31. Lid was raised again with trip at stations 1 & 7.  Master synchro count was 18,800.

32. Lid was raised again with trips at stations 5, 7, and 9.  Master synchro count was 21,650.

33. Lid was raised again with trips at stations 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11.  Master synchro count was 23,360.

34. Lid was raised again with trips at stations 1, 5, 7, 9. Master synchro count was 23,700.

35. Lid was raised again with trip at station 9.  Master synchro count was 25,420.

36. Lid was raised again with trip at station 7. Master synchro count was 27,700.

37. Lid was raised again with trip at station 5.  Master count was 27,700.

38. Lid was raised again with trip at station 7. Master count was 30,300.

39. Lid was raised again with trip at stations 1 & 3. Master count was 33,650.

40. Lid was raised with trip at station 7.  Master count was 37,400.

41.  A moaning / groaning noise was heard from the structure around 38,000 counts.  This noise was also observed during the 2013 lid-up.

42. Lid was raised with trip at station 7. Master count was 39,722.

43. Lid was raised with trip at station 1.  Master count was 41,600.

44. Lid was raised with trip at station 9.  Master count was 42,857.

45.  All counters were read and selected stations were jogged:

46. Lid was raised but tripped at station1.  Station one count was found to be behind and was jogged from 42,804 to 42,880.

47. Lid was raised until limit switches were contacted.  All final counter readings were recorded:

***

Photos of the limit switches and the reference "stick" relative to the roof beam are attached.  The stick appears to be between 1/16" and 1/8" clear of the roof beams.

The copper blockers have been removed from the cyclotron and placed into the coffins.

The cyclotron radiation survey was aborted due to the orbit not working recording the numbers correctly. One shield has been in installed.

Jan 29th: uploaded meeting minutes from January 28th regarding the orbital counter problem. - Grant Minor

200's, 400's, 500's, 600's, and a pallet of 700's have been installed

 The Shielding and the Port Hole Covers have all been installed. No issues with the installation have caused any problems. This orbit, radial, and vertical read back continues to be an issue.

All shields, pothole covers, and ladders have been installed into the cyclotron.

2C has been successfully removed from the cyclotron and is now currently sitting in the B2 level of the RH building. A tank access was needed to feel the stuck QDL.

2C has been installed into the cyclotron.

 One of the beam spill monitor boxes was removed and placed into a lead coffin. The fields around the coffin prior to the monitor being placed in were 145 uSv/hr just above the box and 33.5 uSv/hr inside of it. A swipe was taken inside the box at this time and a count of zero was found. The tray for the monitor box was then placed into the coffin and the monitor removed from the cyclotrons. The field above the coffin with the monitor box was 1.0 Sv/hr. Safety hinted that it may be possible to put this in the decay storage tunnel. The copper block was then returned to the coffin. The fields above the the coffin were now 9 Sv/hr. The lid was returned to the coffin and returned to it storage place. The new monitor box was then installed into the Cyclotron. The box only hung up on the pins once and there was some slight difficulties unlatching. From previous experience once fully unlatched a slight tap in the latch direction seems to allow it to release easier.  Overall the installation was considered very smooth. 

During the electrical test the was no contact.  To help investigate further the Montitor box was removed from the Cyclotron. It was found to have zero counts. The issue is believed to have to do with the fit of the box but confirmation of the writing harness continuity needs to be completed. This will continue on Monday. 

Bevan Moss wrote:

One of the beam spill monitor boxes was removed and placed into a lead coffin. The fields around the coffin prior to the monitor being placed in were 145 uSv/hr just above the box and 33.5 uSv/hr inside of it. A swipe was taken inside the box at this time and a count of zero was found. The tray for the monitor box was then placed into the coffin and the monitor removed from the cyclotrons. The field above the coffin with the monitor box was 1.0 Sv/hr. Safety hinted that it may be possible to put this in the decay storage tunnel. The copper block was then returned to the coffin. The fields above the the coffin were now 9 Sv/hr. The lid was returned to the coffin and returned to it storage place. The new monitor box was then installed into the Cyclotron. The box only hung up on the pins once and there was some slight difficulties unlatching. From previous experience once fully unlatched a slight tap in the latch direction seems to allow it to release easier.  Overall the installation was considered very smooth.