The Fault Finder Course
Unit 1: The Root Cause Analysis Method
0/10 coreRead the machine before you touch it.
- LessonRoot cause thinkingCore CurriculumThe frame the whole course trains: fix the machine, then name what let it fail.Demo
- LessonThe 5 WhysCore CurriculumThe walking tool from the opener, held properly: verified answers, no blame, stop at a removable condition.Locked
- LessonWorking the candidate listCore CurriculumThe other tool from the opener: a list of competing explanations, and readings chosen for what they rule out.Locked
- LessonThe diagnostic mindsetCore CurriculumThe four-step loop the rest of the course runs on: gauge, localize, reason, then act.Locked
- MiniOne change at a timeCore CurriculumWhy a repair lands alone. Every live sim from here judges what you changed, and two changes make it unreadable.Locked
- LessonAsk what changedCore CurriculumMost faults have a start date. Where to get the story, and what to do when the answer is that nothing changed.Locked
- LessonKnowing normalCore CurriculumWhere a baseline comes from: the nameplate, the band on the gauge face, the trend, the twin, and a healthy machine.Locked
- SimIt ran fine yesterday, so what changed?Process IndustryLive: the lesson’s question, asked at a running machine. No meter, just looking, reading, and Syd.Locked
- MiniEscalation & shift handoffCore CurriculumThe loop gets its boundary: the stop triggers, and the handoff that keeps your readings working after you clock out.Locked
- SimTS-3 will not get through a startProcess IndustryLive: four start deaths behind one write-up. The step field forgets, the event log remembers. Rebuild the timeline.Locked
Unit 2: Safety & the meter
0/7 coreLock it out, prove it dead, and know when the reading lies.
- LessonSafe troubleshooting: lock it out, prove it deadCore CurriculumThe decision that precedes every measurement in the rest of the course: diagnose live, or lock it out first.Locked
- MiniTest before touchCore CurriculumLive-dead-live, the proof that turns a dead reading into something you can put your hands on.Locked
- LessonUsing your meter: when the reading liesCore CurriculumThe instrument itself, including the readings it invents: phantom voltage, and parallel paths in a resistance check.Locked
- MiniWhere the black lead goesCore CurriculumThe half of every voltage reading nobody states: what the black lead is referenced to, and where else it belongs.Locked
- MiniCAT ratings and test leadsCore CurriculumThe meter is safety equipment. What the CAT number covers, and why the leads wear out before the meter does.Locked
- ScenarioLocked out, but the meter reads 48 VCore CurriculumThe unit's proving ground: a verify-dead check that reads 48 V, sorted with the technique from every reading above it.Demo
- SimStart refused with the panel LEDs darkProcess IndustryLive: one refusal message, three worlds. The meter proves the rail and the device, then hits its limit at the bay.Locked
Optional practice: Free-roam the TS-3 skid: find the disconnect, the fuse blocks, and the overload dials before anything is broken.
Unit 3: Power & circuits
0/8 coreWhat a circuit is, what the numbers should be, and how power reaches anything.
- LessonA circuit is a pathCore CurriculumThe ground the meter unit was standing on: series, parallel, and why an open reads full supply voltage across the gap.Locked
- MiniWhat the numbers should beCore CurriculumThe short list of magnitudes industrial circuits actually produce, so an impossible reading announces itself.Locked
- LessonInside the cabinet: power and the permission chainCore CurriculumThe cabinet vocabulary: the permission chain from E-stop to MCR, relay terminals, card LEDs, and the meter modes.Locked
- LessonThe power pathCore CurriculumThe map nothing has handed you yet: disconnect, supply, rails, cards, starters, and what a fault footprint says.Locked
- MiniNO vs NC in three minutesCore CurriculumWhat "normally" means on a contact, and why every stop in the panel you just walked is wired normally closed.Locked
- MiniRelay coil vs contactsCore CurriculumOne device, two separate circuits. The voltage printed for the coil says nothing about what the contacts switch.Locked
- MiniContactor vs relay vs SSRCore CurriculumThree ways a small signal switches a big load, where each one sits in the cabinet, and how each one fails.Locked
- MiniFuse, breaker, overload: who protects whatCore CurriculumThree protective devices that all interrupt a circuit, and the different thing each one is reporting when it does.Locked
Optional practice: Free-roam the TS-3 skid: find the disconnect, the fuse blocks, and the rails before anything is broken.
Unit 4: Signals
0/10 coreWhat the sensor says, and everything between it and the card.
- LessonReading the machine: sensors and photo-eyesCore CurriculumWhat a three-wire sensor actually says at its pins, and the sensor failures worth knowing by name.Locked
- MiniNPN vs PNP in 3 minutesCore CurriculumSinking or sourcing, settled with one meter reading at the black wire.Demo
- MiniReading sensor wiring diagramsCore CurriculumThe label on the sensor body is its datasheet: supply range, output type, and the pinout a replacement must match.Locked
- LessonSignal chains: from fuse to cardCore CurriculumFuse, device, wiring, terminal, card. Three faults look identical at the PLC, and halving the chain separates them.Locked
- MiniAnti-static devices and why you ground themCore CurriculumYou have just handled a card in a live cabinet. How to hold a board so the swap does not leave the next fault behind.Locked
- MiniReading 4–20 mA loopsProcess IndustryThe live zero: 4 mA is the bottom of scale, so 0 mA is a broken loop, and the shunt read tells those two apart.Locked
- SimThe suction reading diedProcess IndustryThe lessons’ fuse → device → wire hunt, told in milliamps on a live current loop.Locked
- SimFlow reading will not reach setpointProcess IndustryLive: a loop that is alive, legal, and scaled wrong. The work being paid for, held against the number reported.Locked
- MiniThrough-beam vs diffuse vs retroreflective photo-eyesCore CurriculumPlaced here on purpose: the sim closing this unit ends where the meter cannot reach, at the lens and the target.Locked
- SimThe seal temperature reading looks wrongProcess IndustryLive: a reading the operator does not trust, settled at the card. One shunt-volts measurement sorts all three.Locked
Optional practice: Free-roam the TS-3 skid: meter the transmitters and their signal chains.
Unit 5: The PLC
0/5 coreThe controller is an instrument: the HMI banner, the step, and the I/O lights.
- LessonRead the PLC: the HMI banner, the step, and the I/O lightsCore CurriculumThe controller as an instrument: the HMI banner names a step and a witness, and the card LEDs say which end is lying.Locked
- MiniSourcing vs sinking I/O modulesCore CurriculumThe NPN and PNP question one level up, at the card. Some modules can be either one, once you find the jumper.Locked
- SimTS-3 trips seconds after every startProcess IndustryLive: the same bit-direction question on the skid. A valve prox, the air gauge, and X1:6 say whether to trust it.Locked
- MiniForcing I/O: the override and what it costsCore CurriculumA dead input invites the override. This is what the override costs, and the short list of times it is legitimate.Locked
- SimThe rate is falling and no alarm comes upProcess IndustryLive: the warning line is the PLC repeating a switch. A falling rate, a silent HMI screen, and the meter at the dial.Locked
Optional practice: Free-roam the TS-3 skid: read the HMI and the I/O card LEDs against what the machine is doing.
Unit 6: The safety circuit
0/10 coreE-stops, guards, curtains, and the relay that watches them all.
- LessonHow safety circuits work: the circuit that must prove it can stopCore CurriculumThe architecture the unit trains against: de-energize to trip, two channels, EDM, and the never-jumper rule.Locked
- MiniSafety relay: read the LEDs before you reach for a meterCore CurriculumRead the relay face before reaching for a meter: the LEDs separate an open interlock circuit from a dead relay.Locked
- SimTS-3 does not answer the buttonsProcess IndustryLive: three kinds of silence behind one dead-machine write-up. Two readings prove the rail and the string first.Locked
- MiniE-stop anatomy: what the red button actually doesCore CurriculumBehind the red head: direct-opening contacts, the mechanical latch, and a contact block that can work loose.Locked
- MiniGuard interlocks: the switch that knows the doorCore CurriculumTongue, coded, and locking switches, what door sag does to each, and why a spare actuator is the dangerous part.Locked
- ScenarioGuard faults every shiftCore CurriculumGated RCA work: the fix is easy and enforced first. The close names what kept tripping the guard, and why.Locked
- LessonLight curtains: the guard made of light, and how to believe itCore CurriculumA guard made of light. Its outputs test themselves faster than a meter can see, so the LEDs outrank your reading.Locked
- MiniNuisance trip or hard fault: classify before you chaseCore CurriculumWhich kind of trip you have picks the suspect list, and on a safety circuit that list starts out in the field.Locked
- MiniNever jumper a safety circuitCore CurriculumWhere troubleshooting ends and lockout begins, and what a wire across a contact costs once it stays there.Locked
- SimTS-3 will not take a resetProcess IndustryLive: the unit’s one callout where the relay is guilty. Rail, channel, output, and two of three clear the string.Locked
Optional practice: Free-roam the TS-3 skid: find fuse F1 and the safety relay K1S, and probe the string end to end.
Unit 7: Hard cases
0/7 coreAmbiguous readings, faults that hide, prints that lie.
- LessonAmbiguity: when one reading fits several causesCore CurriculumWhat a reading buys you: it shrinks the candidate list, and the next probe is chosen for how much it shrinks it.Locked
- LessonIntermittent faultsCore CurriculumWhen the fault will not appear on demand, stop chasing it. Protect the evidence, log the occurrences, and set a trap.Locked
- MiniGround loops: when two grounds are worse than oneCore CurriculumOne reason an analog signal reads noisy while every part is healthy: the machine is bonded to earth in two places.Locked
- LessonCognitive traps in troubleshootingCore CurriculumThe four ways the searcher rigs the search: the anchor, the friendly probe, the last-time story, the parts cannon.Locked
- SimTS-3 runs, but nothing movesProcess IndustryLive: two trips telling the truth about different mechanics, and one instrument lying while nothing trips at all.Locked
- LessonDocumentation vs. realityCore CurriculumPlaced between the unit’s two sims: both hand you a prior conclusion in writing, and this is what it is worth.Locked
- SimTS-3 keeps tripping on dry runProcess IndustryLive: one dry-run banner over three machines, one a deadhead. The HMI screen against the local gauge breaks the tie.Locked
Unit 8: Rotating equipment
0/8 coreBearings, belts, chains, couplings: read the wear, then find what made it.
- LessonBearings and lubricationCore CurriculumThe film is the part that runs. Five wear signatures on the bench, three free instruments at the machine.Locked
- ScenarioThe bearing that keeps failingCore CurriculumAutopsy first: the bench says how it died, the live machine says the condition is back, the records say why.Locked
- MiniVibration as evidenceCore CurriculumThe free reading: a hand on the housing and a screwdriver to the ear, and when to call for real instruments.Locked
- SimStill short of rate after the impeller was changedProcess IndustryLive: the impeller was changed and the rate is still short. The ear, the sight glass, and amps against Hz decide.Locked
- MiniBelts and chainsCore CurriculumThe part you replace runs on a mate that wore with it. Tension, elongation, and tooth profile have numbers.Locked
- ScenarioThe chain that keeps jumpingCore CurriculumEvery replacement runs quiet at first. The bench measurement and the records say why the quiet never lasts.Locked
- MiniCouplings and gearboxesCore CurriculumThe vocabulary the course capstone assumes: the spider is a sacrificial witness, and how it dies names the killer.Locked
- SimThe amps on P-101 keep climbingProcess IndustryLive: the logged amps have climbed all week. Where the extra work goes is the question, and only the keypad answers.Locked
Unit 9: Motors & drives
0/9 coreWindings, rotation, the drive that commands them, and what really trips the overload.
- MiniMotor rotation direction: what wiring can and cannot reverseCore CurriculumWhat wiring can and cannot reverse. Some motors flip at the terminals, others have it built into the copper.Locked
- ScenarioThe overload keeps trippingCore CurriculumTwo-stage: commit a domain before you commit a cause. The overload named the motor; the cause need not live there.Locked
- LessonRead the VFD keypad before you reach for a meterCore CurriculumThe drive commanding the motor is also watching it: Hz, amps, and the code line, wired in before the fault.Locked
- MiniVFD trip codesCore CurriculumThe keypad code line, decoded: what each of the five trips accuses, and the first thing to check for each.Locked
- SimTS-3 transfer won’t make rateProcess IndustryLive: the VFD keypad is free instrumentation. Hz, amps, and the fault code sort three trips that look alike.Locked
- MiniWye vs delta: motor winding configurationsCore CurriculumWye or delta decides what voltage each coil sees, and the strapping in the terminal box is what amps read against.Locked
- SimP-101 keeps tripping: read the code line before you resetProcess IndustryLive: three trips that read the same on the work order. The code line says who tripped, the HMI banner says why.Locked
- SimP-101 amps do not match the jobProcess IndustryLive: motor current is a work meter. More amps than the job, fewer, and none at all are three different machines.Locked
- SimTS-3 tripped on motor temp againProcess IndustryLive: two machines carry the same HIGH MOTOR TEMP banner on the HMI, and the thermostat contact says which earned it.Locked
Optional practice: Free-roam the TS-3 skid: read the drive keypad against what the motor is doing on a machine that is running well.
Unit 10: Triage
0/3 coreThe symptom lies about its domain. Call the right trade first.
- LessonTriage: when the symptom lies about its domainCore CurriculumPresenting domain against home domain. An overload trip reads electrical and can be a dragging bearing.Locked
- SimTS-3 seal leak alarmProcess IndustryLive two-stage: the tray alarm names the witness. Commit whose problem it is before you touch the seal.Locked
- SimTS-3 refuses every startProcess IndustryLive two-stage: the same refusal on the skid. The keypad, the bay, and one gauge say which system signed the claim.Locked
Unit 11: The pump roomProcess Industry
0/11 coreThe skid in depth: the sanitary side, pump curves, and seals that keep failing.
- LessonThe sanitary side of troubleshootingCIP, tri-clamp, EPDM, and the PMO change what a fault looks like.Locked
- LessonPumps: curves, cavitation, and the amps that lieHead against flow: which is short says where to look. A deadheaded pump draws less current, which catches people out.Locked
- MiniNPSH in five minutesAvailable minus required is the margin. When it runs out, the liquid boils at the impeller.Locked
- MiniStrainer ΔP as evidenceThe pressure drop across the basket separates a blinded screen from a throttled valve faking the same starved suction.Locked
- ScenarioThe transfer can't keep upBracket the pump with its two gauges: fouled strainer, throttled inlet, worn impeller, or a speed reference left low.Locked
- SimP-101 transfer starves mid-shiftLive capstone on the running skid: four quiet underperformers dealt at random. The trend is the tell.Locked
- LessonMechanical seals: reading the autopsyThe faces and the elastomer are the witness, and each failure signature points at a condition outside the seal.Locked
- ScenarioThird seal in five weeksThe failed part is the witness, and the root cause always lives outside the seal.Locked
- MiniWhen valve feedback liesThe prox usually watches the actuator, and the disc can part company with it while the HMI still reports open.Locked
- ScenarioChangeover, and now it pumps nothingTwo-stage capstone: it presents process, lives mechanical, and the HMI is lying about the valve.Locked
- SimLow flow on P-101, second call this weekLive coda: the gauge against the HMI screen. A number that goes flat while the needle walks is the finding.Locked
Optional practice: Free-roam the TS-3 skid: inject faults yourself in the sandbox.
Unit 12: Past the fix
0/5 coreThe machine runs again. Name the condition that killed the part and prove it is gone.
- LessonProving the fixCore CurriculumWhat a clean run is, decided before you start one: real load, enough time, and a check on what the repair disturbed.Locked
- ScenarioThe coupling that keeps shearingCore CurriculumFit the part, run it clean, then earn the close by naming what keeps killing it.Locked
- SimThe new seal is leaking tooProcess IndustryLive: the seal was replaced and the leak callout is back. The temperature history says which fix would hold.Locked
- MiniDocumenting the fixCore CurriculumThe close you just earned, written so the next "what changed?" has an answer. The last two sims spend it.Locked
- SimTS-3 has not run right since the washProcess IndustryLive: the same complaint returns after every CIP wash and the fix never sticks. The recurrence is the evidence.Locked