Industrial monitors, operator panels and touch screens can be found in almost all production environments. Operators have become reliant on the tactile interface and visual feedback offered by these devices. It is therefore no surprise that monitor failure can cause major disruption to a manufacturer’s production schedule.
Unfortunately replacing a broken industrial monitor can be more difficult than you imagine. Weird video signals, software problems and communication protocols can turn replacing a faulty industrial monitor into an almost American Run Multinational impossible task. Fortunately help is at hand. In this article, Steve Turner, Head of Repairs at Direct-Industrial will tell you how you can spot the tell tale signs of monitor failure and how they can be avoided.
—Replacing an Industrial Monitor. It can be more difficult than you think —
As we have already touched upon, replacing an industrial monitor can be very difficult for several reasons. In the past conventional CRT monitors were adapted to the design specifications of the OEM and therefore have oddball video signals that cannot be easily replicated. A replacement monitor may require extensive modifications to the machine or an additional video card. To compound issues many monitor manufacturers have ceased production of CRT monitors and concentrated on producing LCD monitors.
Industrial CRT monitors were eventually replaced by more complex LCD monitors, Panel PCs and touch screens. Each generation introduced an array of new features and communication standards. This in turn resulted in a unique set of problems for manufacturers. Due to the rapid advancement of technology the features found Automobile Is Heavy Industry on older monitors may no longer be commercially available. This is particularly true for Panel PCs, which may use outdated operating systems or obsolete communication protocols and connectors. This often means no direct replacement is available and the user must rewrite the application programme for the new unit.
It would be nice if industrial monitors never failed and just continued to work. Unfortunately, with the exception of Mick Jagger, nothing lasts forever but it is a fact that the majority of industrial monitor problems can be avoided through preventative maintenance.
So why do so many companies neglect to include monitors in their preventative maintenance schedule?
One problem is that many maintenance staff do not understand what goes on inside a monitor and do not understand the tell tale signs of monitor failure. It is often too late when the monitor finally fails. In this article we will tell you what to look out for.
Top 10 Signs that your Industrial Monitor may have a Problem
You turn the brightness all the way up but the screen is still dim
The Monitor display takes longer and longer to come on
Display is flickering
Half the LCD screen is dim
Touchscreen is unresponsive in sections
Picture Shrinks Towards the middle
Horizontal Line across the middle of the screen
Image of screen is rolling
Picture Alignment is offset
No Display at all but other functions still work
The case for Preventative Maintenance
Many of the minor problems identified can cause irreversible damage to your industrial monitor if not treated by a professional repair provider like . Take the monitor display which takes longer and longer to come on. The root cause of the fault could be the electrolytic capacitors found within the monitor. Electrolytic capacitors found in industrial monitors are prone to drying out or leakage. Drying out can cause initially intermittent faults rapidly becoming more permanent, if the electrolytic leaks onto the internal circuit boards it can short between tracks with catastrophic results.
Many people do not realise that major problems can easily be avoided with preventative maintenance. Preventive maintenance is a schedule of planned maintenance actions aimed at the prevention of breakdowns and failures. Preventative maintenance on monitors is cheaper than a breakdown repair and can be scheduled around planned downtime.
During the preventative maintenance procedure, worn components are replaced before they actually fail and cause major problems and monitor failure. An industrial monitor properly specified can last a good seven years before failing but a simple service can ensure trouble free running for twice as long as this. In the long run this would help reduce maintenance spend and avoid the pain caused by downtime.