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Joined: May 2001
Posts: 378
F
frank Offline OP
Member
I work in a hospital and today I was called to repair a large bakers oven that shorted out after the cook had cleaned it(they turned it on to dry it out) It took a total of 5 minutes to find the door switch was the problem and after calling around for parts it became apparent I wasn't going to find one soon.the door switch is just a micro switch that is rivited on to a bracket/plunger combanation.After a closer look i realized that i had these switches in stock so i ground off the rivets and replaced it with screws,lock washers, and a dab of locktight for extra measure and replaced the original fish paper it was wrapped in.Also I had noticed that this circuit was protected by a 15 amp fuse while the original micro switch was rated at 10 amp?After I was satisfied with the repair I did the usual stuff like check the motor starter contacts,check chassis ground continuity with other nearby grounded equipment,check all terminal screw tightness ect.the cook comes and I have her run it through a cycle and she says its great so I pack up my stuff and leave.After getting home the kitchen supervisor calls me up and says theres a guy here from one of the places I had called looking for parts.He has the oven apart and is saying its not running properly.Well its all I can do to keep from driving down there and sticking my boot up his a$$.When he gets on the phone with me (and I'm being nice)he says nothing to me about the oven not working right instead he says I they didn't leave a number when they called so he came down to see what we wanted?Now heres what's bugging me
(1)I called and I know I left a my pager #
(2) why was a 10 amp switch on a 15 amp circuit
(3)when he took the stove apart did he leave me a bomb?!?!
(4) would you go lock out the oven until you could recheck it since he may have done something to it.
(5)would you guys replace the switch the same way I did as I belive it to be safer then what was there in the first place.
O YA WHEN HE LEFT HE TOOK THE SUPERVISORS MASTER KEY WITH HIM.Man is she pissed off.She put them down while talking to him.

Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 218
S
Member
Frank, might not be a bad idea to lock the oven out till you can check it, CYA, you know. Sounds like the guy might be trying to bill for a service call. Is the switch in a control circuit or is it the sole means of breaking the power to the motor? I know I have found similiar set-ups with switches seemingly under rated. Stay cool and be professional with the other guy.

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,392
S
Member
Frank,
Appliance guys seem to be our evil twins in the trade, always fudging what we would take more patience with, or consider inferior in design.

(1) leave a 'return' message on his machine
(2) show up at his house for a service call
(3) fix something that ain't broke
(4) hide his car keys on him.
[Linked Image]

Joined: May 2001
Posts: 30
N
Member
Could it be some company (hospital in this case) policies need to be tightend up? In our company no one uses a tool on a piece of equipment without first clearing it by me.(head of maintenance). All the employees are aware of this and would not let any outside person work on anything without making sure I approved it. I would certainly re-check the oven before letting it go into service again. It sounds like you did a thourgh job on your initial troubleshooting and repair. No outside person can ever know a piece of equipment like a good maintenance person can that is around it all the time and keeps good up to date records on it. He took the Master key? to what? Sounds like a case for law enforcement officials. 10 amp switch on a 15 amp circuit? Could have been that way from factory. I had a piece of new equipment with a 5 hp motor come to me from the factory once with a switch that was only rated for a 2 hp motor.

Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 77
T
Member
All I can comment on (me being a newbie) to the electrical field, but almost an expert in the "medical" biz.....is that communication is of utmost importance.
The policy in re: Master keys and where they should be kept needs to be reviewed by dietary staff. (stretchy cords are wonderful)

Did this repair guy actually fix anything? Or just take it apart, scratch his head and put it back together?

I would send a note to bookkeeping re: the bill from this "service call".

It might not be a bad idea to also draw up a policy, if there isen't one already, on who should be notified prior to any repairs being started. (I once had to call the head of Maintanence to get the ok for the pest control guy).
May need to get some locks changed in that facility too! Can never be too careful.

Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 4,294
Member
Yes, you should be upset. I've run into similar things in new restaurant construction (vendors coming in before the project is completed and "modifying" our electrical system in horrible ways, then having the gall to send a bill).
In this day of newly heightened security, the hospital really needs to tighten up their control over keys and who's working in their facility. You just can't be too careful.
(This guy's even got me mad!)

Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 109
N
Member
Hello From Colorado!!!!

Hey Frank, I WOULD BE SOOOOOO MAD!!!!!!

I do a lot of service work around my area for a lot of different companies and I don't touch anything until I have talked with the head of maintenance. They seem to know everything that has happened to that piece of equipment in the last ten years!


Jon Niemeyer

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