High Tech (read as High dollar) REDNECK ENGINEERING!

[ulev1st]

Just thought I'd share this lil tidbit that I found amusing..
I work for a large industrial plant and we have some rather LARGE equipment as you can well imagine.
We have the HUGE compressor that is driven my a 450 # steam turbine that puts and MEGA power.
Anyway.. we have been "down" for several weeks for a maintenance turnaround and this compressor has been sitting still for about 6 weeks..(not good!) It SHOULD have been rotated every few days just to keep the main shaft from "sagging". Well....since it wasn't turned over, now it is LOCKED UP!
So our HIGH PAID..big name engineering school manager types decided to use some big money equipment for a low tech "REDNECK" solution..
Just disconnect the compressor from the steam drive turbine....used a piece of 12 inch I beam bolted to the "coupler" and bolt up a piece of 4 inch pipe to said I beam and use a 30 ton CRANE to pull on pipe to break it loose.....
HIGH DOLLAR redneck engineering at it finest.

Oh yeah...it didn't work too well......it turns over but when they tried to run it is shook so hard it shut off on vibration warning...

A high dollar education and a big salery doesn't always equate to smart....

[dee004]

Everybody knows a wet behind the ears smartass P-Eng is far more valuable than 30+ years of practical experience any day