Eurotec fault finding panel

Our industry came together and designed and produced a specific and unique training panel for apprentices to use in the Wallie Askew Memorial Workskills Competition.

Eurotec is proud to support the Wallie Askew Memorial Workskills Competitoin over many years, and the opportunity to create a specific and unique training panel for apprentices to fault find as part of the competition was welcomed by the Eurotec Control Panel Solutions team

Chris Farmer, Eurotec.

Where did the idea come from?

The idea came about during a catchup with James McLaughlan, who at the time was manager of Realcold in Petone. He had recently held a training evening in their warehouse with support from Peter Oliver, now owner of Absolute Control, on refrigeration components. He recalled having seen an electrical test panel somewhere and we discussed how it could be done and what we would ideally like on this panel.

Who was involved?

Initially it was going to be a collaboration between Eurotec and Realcold. The people involved were Grant Holcroft, James McLaughlan, Rajesh Davuluku and Mark Patching. Eurotec supplied all the electrical components and Realcold supplied the refrigeration components and connected up the compressor, condenser and bottle cooling evaporator copper coil.

How did the design come about?

After initial meetings, the team decided to add some fault switches to train and test the apprentices’ abilities in a basic refrigeration system. During the design, additional switches were added for electrical faults along with other faults on the refrigeration cycle so that the apprentices would learn both electrical as well as refrigeration. Finger protected test points for 24Vac, 230Vac and for known resistance were added to prove that the multi meter is accurate and functioning correctly while testing. A gear plate with electrical and control gear was fitted to the back of the enclosure to make it easy for apprentices to work on it. All safety precautions were covered such as earth fault protection, finger protected test points, emergency stop and no exposed live parts.

When was it first used and how is it now being used?

The panel was first used in the Wallie Askew Memorial Workskills Competition Finals in Rotorua.

In 2023, the Apprentices of IRHACE have amalgamated the Eurotec Panel into the regional challenges previously it had only been used in the final competition. The Panel will move between Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and then back to Palmerston North for the final competition. Both Eurotec and Realcold are providing staff to support the fault-finding component of the regional challenges and final competition.