 |
Re: Kinked air hoses, turned angle cocks, FRED, and PTC????
Author: Dr Zarkoff
Date: 11-08-2018 - 23:39
> IF the FRED was actually working and just a case of lost communication. From what I have been reading and hearing FRED gets beat up on regularly and can an intial air test really be depended upon to see if FRED will work?
A plug test with a two-way FRED is required, meaning "try plugging the train with FRED," although I'm not 100% acquainted with when and where it must be done.
> Actually what should be followed up after this accident is what is the failure rate of FRED to respond after x amount of months of use. Should they be required to be fully taken apart and rebuilt every 6 months or a year? Small price to pay for a device that has such a great responsibility.
OK, let's see here, the cleaning interval for ABD, ABD-W, and ABDX is "until failure", which many times can be measured in tens of years. When I started railroading, the cleaning interval for AB was something like 3 or 5 years, which could be extended by an IDT (In Date Test). The electronics in a FRED are a completely different matter.
A plug test with a two-way FRED is required, meaning "try plugging the train with FRED," although I'm not 100% acquainted with when and where it must be done.
> Actually what should be followed up after this accident is what is the failure rate of FRED to respond after x amount of months of use. Should they be required to be fully taken apart and rebuilt every 6 months or a year? Small price to pay for a device that has such a great responsibility.
OK, let's see here, the cleaning interval for ABD, ABD-W, and ABDX is "until failure", which many times can be measured in tens of years. When I started railroading, the cleaning interval for AB was something like 3 or 5 years, which could be extended by an IDT (In Date Test). The electronics in a FRED are a completely different matter.
