Cable tester proves to save cost and improve product quality
The Synor 1202 Cable Tester purchased from Cropico by Control Systems Services of Newport to validate a complex 6-position rotary switch assembly having 242 external pin connections has proved itself in a year's use to bring the company both cost-savings and product improvements.
The control and measurement systems design house first chose the Synor automatic test system because it had sufficient configurability to meet initial needs as well as being adaptable for testing other switch functions. It achieved this and more so impressively that a CSS clients got its own tester as well.
"It has vastly reduced the time to test and repair switches," says CSS managing director Neil Whatley, who also reports that the extremely accurate reporting of individual switch resistances has resulted in high end-user confidence in switch performance. "The repeatability of the lengthy switch test procedures has been greatly improved," he adds.
CSS developed a test management application from which to run the switch test sequence which gives instructions to the operator such as inserting connectors, changing switch position and observing the operation of indicators. The application also provides statistical analysis of the results of multiple tests.
During a demonstration of the Synor tester, the end-user of the switches being tested was so impressed that a duplicate system was ordered for use by their maintenance technicians. This means that in the future the switches can quickly be eliminated or identified as the source of a system malfunction.
"As the automatic test system specifically identifies failed contacts," Whatley explains, "the user's maintenance technicians are often able to repair the switches, without the need to return them to the manufacturer."
