Troubleshooting of a Sheathed Thermocouple Type of Temperature Sensor

Abstract

A kind of temperature sensor designed with sheathed thermocouple was introduced. A suitable procedure for troubleshooting was worked out for the sensor fault case occurred during the process of monitoring the oil temperature of a gas turbine. Depending on the primary analysis of trouble phenomenon, trouble principle was analyzed. Detection means like electrical measurement, flaw inspection, local disassembly, etc. were utilized comprehensively to locate the exact fault cause. The sensor coupling technique for connecting the sheathed thermocouple tail and the electric connector was optimized and improved. In order to avoid hidden trouble resulted from production manufacturing segment and improve the fault tolerance in product assembly, three different optimization schemes were proposed and compared with each other. By an overall consideration of sensor safety, reliability and maintainability, the best solution has been adopted to solve the sensor fault. Experience was accumulated for design optimization of the same type of sensor. Keywords: Sheathed Thermocouple, Temperature Sensor, Troubleshooting, Technique Optimization, Maintainability