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What is a K exam for rolling stock?
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Depends on the train / TOC.
The fleet I'm on have only A and Bs. Diesels 30k miles and the electrics 16k miles between each. The A exams comprise of standard tasks but there are various B exams with an array of tasks depending on mileage / time.
There are of course Arrival exams (fuel point) too.
The fleet I'm on have only A and Bs. Diesels 30k miles and the electrics 16k miles between each. The A exams comprise of standard tasks but there are various B exams with an array of tasks depending on mileage / time.
There are of course Arrival exams (fuel point) too.
Like I said exams are specific to the type of train and the TOC or ROSCO but I'll explain a little about the 185s fuel point and A exams & B exams (range from B1 to B22 if I remember correctly) all vary and there are too many tasks to list and remember so I'll keep that short.
Arrival or Fuel Point (happens every depot visit).
Fuel tanks refilled.
Toilet tanks emptied and fresh water tanks filled.
Fluid levels checked & topped up is necessary (engine oil and coolant / cooler group oil / transmission oil / compressor oil / screen wash fluid). I'll include sander box level here too.
TMS display and defect books checked for any unknown faults.
Driving desk, exterior & interior lights checked and a general walk around to make sure there's nothing hanging off anywhere!
A exam
Underframe, bodyside, roof and interior inspection carried out.
Engine oil and filters renewal.
Final drive oil samples.
Radiator grills and engine rock shields removed for cleaning of any debris.
Brake pads measured and renewed if worn (or renewed if the vehicle has engine / hydro-brake isolated).
Cardan shafts greased.
Wheel treads inspected and flanges gauged.
Certain items will then be tested such as engines when running, sanders, lights, doors etc.
B exam
Underframe, bodyside, roof and interior inspection carried out.
Driveline components will have oil and filter renewal. Radiator grills and rock shields removed as above.
Compressor and air dryer will have oil and filter renewal.
Batteries inspected, cleaned and topped up.
Fuel tank breathers removed and cleaned.
Axle end earths removal, clean, inspect and tested (often need to move the train on a clean piece of wheel - rail interface).
Brake EP panel air filters renewed.
Wheel treads inspected, flanges measured, brake and discs measured for wear.
Couplers cleaned, lubricated, measured and tested.
Wiper blades renewed.
Downloads taken off various systems such as engine, transmission, cooler group, doors etc.
Doors cleaned, inspected, lubricated and tested.
Toilets and sanitation systems tested.
HVACs tested. (filters renewed when undergoing heavy clean).
Many functional tests including 'out of course' situational tasks. For example - checking emergency brake governors etc.
Safety systems tests. DRA, OTMR, TPWS/AWS, TCA, DSD, Fire detection etc
Engines run up and radiator air flows measured.
Many more things I can't think of at the moment but I hope you get the idea.
Alongside the actual exams, you have deferred work repairs planned for when it's stopped. There is a cleaning (interior, exterior and underframe) regime which makes up part of the maintenance schedule. Items are often removed for overhaul when stopped on exam (dampers etc) and campaigns (special tasks created to combat safety / reliability issues - for example test the functionality of a really obscure relay!).
Arrival or Fuel Point (happens every depot visit).
Fuel tanks refilled.
Toilet tanks emptied and fresh water tanks filled.
Fluid levels checked & topped up is necessary (engine oil and coolant / cooler group oil / transmission oil / compressor oil / screen wash fluid). I'll include sander box level here too.
TMS display and defect books checked for any unknown faults.
Driving desk, exterior & interior lights checked and a general walk around to make sure there's nothing hanging off anywhere!
A exam
Underframe, bodyside, roof and interior inspection carried out.
Engine oil and filters renewal.
Final drive oil samples.
Radiator grills and engine rock shields removed for cleaning of any debris.
Brake pads measured and renewed if worn (or renewed if the vehicle has engine / hydro-brake isolated).
Cardan shafts greased.
Wheel treads inspected and flanges gauged.
Certain items will then be tested such as engines when running, sanders, lights, doors etc.
B exam
Underframe, bodyside, roof and interior inspection carried out.
Driveline components will have oil and filter renewal. Radiator grills and rock shields removed as above.
Compressor and air dryer will have oil and filter renewal.
Batteries inspected, cleaned and topped up.
Fuel tank breathers removed and cleaned.
Axle end earths removal, clean, inspect and tested (often need to move the train on a clean piece of wheel - rail interface).
Brake EP panel air filters renewed.
Wheel treads inspected, flanges measured, brake and discs measured for wear.
Couplers cleaned, lubricated, measured and tested.
Wiper blades renewed.
Downloads taken off various systems such as engine, transmission, cooler group, doors etc.
Doors cleaned, inspected, lubricated and tested.
Toilets and sanitation systems tested.
HVACs tested. (filters renewed when undergoing heavy clean).
Many functional tests including 'out of course' situational tasks. For example - checking emergency brake governors etc.
Safety systems tests. DRA, OTMR, TPWS/AWS, TCA, DSD, Fire detection etc
Engines run up and radiator air flows measured.
Many more things I can't think of at the moment but I hope you get the idea.
Alongside the actual exams, you have deferred work repairs planned for when it's stopped. There is a cleaning (interior, exterior and underframe) regime which makes up part of the maintenance schedule. Items are often removed for overhaul when stopped on exam (dampers etc) and campaigns (special tasks created to combat safety / reliability issues - for example test the functionality of a really obscure relay!).
millemille
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I'm not aware of a "K" exam as a general term for an exam used across the industry, it may be specific to a certain fleet.
Rolling stock level 1 to 4 (the running maintenance done on depot, not the overhauls done at works) maintenance regimes generally, because they're are always exceptions, break down into one of two types.
Escalating or Balanced.
Escalating is where, as the name implies, the content of each examination (exams) escalates. So you start with an "A" exam, which is pretty much counting the wheels, checking the brake pads etc. The "B" is more arduous than the "A", because it contains everything in an "A" plus more tasks that need to be done less often. Some regimes, like the one above, only have "A" and a range of slightly different "B" exams. Then a "C" exam, which is more arduous than a "B" because it contains all of the "A" tasks and all of the "B" tasks plus more tasks that need to be even less often, and so on...
Tunes can then be played with the sequence of the escalating exams; some regimes go A,B,A,C,A,B,A,D and then start over, others got A,A,B,A,A,B,A,A,C and so on, or options thereof. It all depends on the exam frequency(time and/or mileage) and the frequency at which the tasks need to be done.
Balanced exams are where the maintenance tasks are balanced across the maintenance cycle. So each individual task, like changing compressor oil for example, is done at the correct frequency but other tasks with the same frequency are not necessarily done on the same exam. Balanced exams are generally given an "X" designator followed by a number. So, on class 465's axle ultrasonic testing used to be done on an X24 and X48 exams which means they got done every 240,000 miles because the exam frequency was every 10,000 miles. But there wasn't any other 240,000 mile tasks on those exams, they were on other exams to balance the tasks.
There's advantages and disadvantages to each.
Escalating exams require that units be delivered to depot by painted number and require very careful exam planning to ensure that the correct exam is planned for the service requirements, manpower available, shed space available etc.
Balanced exams are much more flexible, because the workload is balanced across the exams they generally all take the same length of time/resource to complete, so painted number doesn't matter. As a planner you can be pretty certain that no matter what unit is delivered for what exam it will always take the same length of time to complete. Some balanced exam regimes are designed that a train can come on depot as the last end of morning peak arrival, have an exam, and be out of the shed ready for the first evening peak departure.
But balanced exams are generally not good for fixing larger defects and managing deferred work; the planning of the balanced exam allows for a limited amount of "work arising" to be found on the exam and be fixed. It may allow for 4 brake pads needing to be changed, based on the average found on every exam, but you'll get a train on exam where lots of pads need changing (not through any fault just the different wear rates and previous pad changes all coming together) and you've got problems. And if you find something big on an exam, like a defective toilet, that can't be fixed, due to the time needed, on the exam BUT the unit can run with the defect then it gets deferred. But when do you fix it once it's been deferred? When SE still had the Networkers on a balanced regime the fleet, of 190 trains, was running with up to 3,000 deferred defects with no real way of bringing this down.
But for Escalating exams when you get to the higher exams, "C" & "D", you know the train is going to be stopped for several shifts so you've got time to attack the outstanding deferred work. Again, at SE the Networkers were changed from Balanced to Escalating in 2013/14 for this very reason. The "C" and "D" exams were planned to alternate with each other every year and trains were not allowed leave depot after a "C" or "D" with any deferred defects. An extra shift, purely for deferred work, was built into each "C" & "D" exam so at worst your deferred defect would only exist for 12 months.
HTH?
Rolling stock level 1 to 4 (the running maintenance done on depot, not the overhauls done at works) maintenance regimes generally, because they're are always exceptions, break down into one of two types.
Escalating or Balanced.
Escalating is where, as the name implies, the content of each examination (exams) escalates. So you start with an "A" exam, which is pretty much counting the wheels, checking the brake pads etc. The "B" is more arduous than the "A", because it contains everything in an "A" plus more tasks that need to be done less often. Some regimes, like the one above, only have "A" and a range of slightly different "B" exams. Then a "C" exam, which is more arduous than a "B" because it contains all of the "A" tasks and all of the "B" tasks plus more tasks that need to be even less often, and so on...
Tunes can then be played with the sequence of the escalating exams; some regimes go A,B,A,C,A,B,A,D and then start over, others got A,A,B,A,A,B,A,A,C and so on, or options thereof. It all depends on the exam frequency(time and/or mileage) and the frequency at which the tasks need to be done.
Balanced exams are where the maintenance tasks are balanced across the maintenance cycle. So each individual task, like changing compressor oil for example, is done at the correct frequency but other tasks with the same frequency are not necessarily done on the same exam. Balanced exams are generally given an "X" designator followed by a number. So, on class 465's axle ultrasonic testing used to be done on an X24 and X48 exams which means they got done every 240,000 miles because the exam frequency was every 10,000 miles. But there wasn't any other 240,000 mile tasks on those exams, they were on other exams to balance the tasks.
There's advantages and disadvantages to each.
Escalating exams require that units be delivered to depot by painted number and require very careful exam planning to ensure that the correct exam is planned for the service requirements, manpower available, shed space available etc.
Balanced exams are much more flexible, because the workload is balanced across the exams they generally all take the same length of time/resource to complete, so painted number doesn't matter. As a planner you can be pretty certain that no matter what unit is delivered for what exam it will always take the same length of time to complete. Some balanced exam regimes are designed that a train can come on depot as the last end of morning peak arrival, have an exam, and be out of the shed ready for the first evening peak departure.
But balanced exams are generally not good for fixing larger defects and managing deferred work; the planning of the balanced exam allows for a limited amount of "work arising" to be found on the exam and be fixed. It may allow for 4 brake pads needing to be changed, based on the average found on every exam, but you'll get a train on exam where lots of pads need changing (not through any fault just the different wear rates and previous pad changes all coming together) and you've got problems. And if you find something big on an exam, like a defective toilet, that can't be fixed, due to the time needed, on the exam BUT the unit can run with the defect then it gets deferred. But when do you fix it once it's been deferred? When SE still had the Networkers on a balanced regime the fleet, of 190 trains, was running with up to 3,000 deferred defects with no real way of bringing this down.
But for Escalating exams when you get to the higher exams, "C" & "D", you know the train is going to be stopped for several shifts so you've got time to attack the outstanding deferred work. Again, at SE the Networkers were changed from Balanced to Escalating in 2013/14 for this very reason. The "C" and "D" exams were planned to alternate with each other every year and trains were not allowed leave depot after a "C" or "D" with any deferred defects. An extra shift, purely for deferred work, was built into each "C" & "D" exam so at worst your deferred defect would only exist for 12 months.
HTH?
Thanks millemille, really helpful, Appreciated!
FFFC 57
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The only T&RS that I know where a K exam is carried out is the class 390 and it includes interior fitting and exterior paint examination and repair.
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