Westcool WA · technician training

Fault Simulator

A trainer sets a fault on the plant. The trainee decides what to measure, reads the instruments, and calls it. Every reading costs time on site, which is the point.

How to run a session. Open the trainer panel, choose the plant and the fault, set the severity and the site conditions, then hand the screen over. The trainee works through the call out, takes whatever readings they judge necessary, and submits a diagnosis and a rectification. The score rewards getting it right, choosing the right fix, and not burning the day. Every attempt is sent to the server, and a trainer can export everyone's results from the trainer panel.

The Emerson rack works differently. On that system you start at the controller, not at the gauges. Most of its faults are faults in what the screen is telling you rather than faults in the refrigeration. Read the y axis on every graph before you read its shape, because the controller scales it to fit. Ramps are physical, steps are human or electrical.

The plant diagram runs live. Flow speed follows the mass flow the model calculates, and fan speed follows the airflow, so a starved system visibly slows and a stopped one stops.

Readings are modelled from published saturation data and troubleshooting references, and are correct in direction and roughly correct in magnitude. They are a teaching aid, not manufacturer performance data. Always work to the equipment manufacturer's figures, the ARCtick refrigerant handling code of practice and AS/NZS 5149 on real plant.